After strong debut, Bank of O’Fallon Shootout returns with more top talent, great matchups

After the success of the first Bank of O’Fallon Shootout a year ago, O’Fallon High basketball coach Rick Gibson agreed the bar was set extremely high for future events.

“What started out as something of a dream for us turned into a great reality last year,” Gibson said of an event that included a dominant performance by Chaminade All-American Jayson Tatum, a standing-room-only crowd of more than 3,000 and a double-overtime thriller between eventual Class 3A state title game participants Althoff and Westchester St. Joseph. “We had five teams that brought home state trophies (last season). We had not only talented team and players here but we had great matchups.

It’s hard to top that. We kind of hit a home run in Year 1.”

The second annual Shootout is set for Saturday with seven games split between a three-game early session and four games in the evening. A limited amount of tickets are still available at $10 for each session.

Gibson hopes there will be a game that tops St. Joseph’s frenetic 97-95 double-overtime win over Althoff last season that saw current Nebraska standout Glynn Watson drop 38 points on the Crusaders. Althoff junior Division I prospect Jordan Goodwin piled up 31 points and 15 rebounds.

St. Joseph’s tops Althoff in double OT at 2015 Bank of O’Fallon Shootout

St. Joseph’s also defeated Althoff 67-63 a few weeks later in the 3A state title game.

“We could have this thing for 100 years and maybe never top that game,” Gibson said of the Shootout meeting. “We’ve always wanted to be able to get some good teams out of Chicago and the St. Louis area and we’ve been able to do that.”

Among the top games this year include Althoff (18-2), ranked second in Class 3A vs. Chicago Kenwood (15-2, ranked third in 4A) in the 8:45 p.m. finale. Just ahead of that one is another potential barnburner between 3A top-ranked Morgan Park (17-2) against St. Louis area heavyweight Hazelwood Central (18-3).

Kenwood (15-2) was ranked first in the state the previous week and has battled teams like Simeon, Curie and others for supremacy all season.

Kenwood’s top players are senior Division I prospects Zion Morgan and Nick Robinson, two of the top unsigned seniors in the state. Morgan was originally committed to Valparaiso and Robinson to Indiana State, but both have since decommitted. Junior Manny Patterson is another Kenwood player to watch.

The Crusaders have won seven straight since losing to nationally ranked Chaminade at the Highland Optimist Shootout. They are a talented and balanced squad led by Goodwin (16.9 points per game), senior guard and Illinois-Chicago recruit Tarkus Ferguson (14.6 ppg), senior Southern Illinois University Carbondale recruit Brendon Gooch (13 ppg), junior Marvin Bateman (12.8 ppg, 51 3-pointers).

Senior Keenen Young and junior C.J. Coldon help handle the guard duties along with Ferguson.

“They put five guys on the court and they’re all very skilled basketball players,” Belleville East coach Abel Schrader said. “They pass it well, they shoot it well, they dribble it well. They’re very tough to match up against. They bring a guy off the bench who’s a lights-out shooter.

“You’ve got to pick your poison a little bit. You either play them in a straight-up man and worry about the dribble drive to the basket or you lay off people and give up the open shot. They’re hard to guard.”

Althoff coach Greg Leib hopes his team will benefit from marquee matchups against top teams like Kenwood.

“It’s just another good opportunity for us to prepare ourselves for what we might see down the road,” Leib said. “You’re playing a really good team in a big venue, so it’s a great opportunity for our kids to get that experience.”

Gibson said a big draw to the Bank of O’Fallon Shootout is the strong mix of teams from different areas. This year’s event includes some top small schools, mid-range teams and the large-school heavyweights.

Morgan Park (18-2), ranked first in 3A and previously ranked nationally, takes on Hazelwood Central in the 7:15 p.m. game.

Morgan Park, which lost to Althoff in the 3A semifinals last season, is led by Memphis recruit and Illinois Mr. Basketball candidate and senior point guard Charlie Moore.

Moore had 23 points for the Mustangs Wednesday in an 89-58 Chicago Public League playoff win over Orr (17-3).

Morgan Park also includes Western Michigan recruit Jarrin Randall and one of the state’s top sophomores in Westinghouse transfer Ayo Dosunmu.

Hazelwood Central 6-6 senior Kansas State recruit Xavier Sneed averages nearly 20 points and seven rebounds.

O’Fallon vs. Peoria Richwoods, 10:30 a.m.

O’Fallon (6-13) has struggled this season but the Panthers are working on a four-game winning streak that includes victories over East St. Louis, Collinsville, Hazelwood West and Eureka (Mo.).

Chance Armstrong, a 6-3 senior forward, is the Panthers’ top scorer at 14.1 points per game.

Richwoods (11-9) is led by 6-6 star forward and three-year starter Kaelen Johnson (16 points, eight rebounds per game).Other weapons are seniors Brylan Green (11 ppg) and Dane Schlafley (10 ppg).

Nashville vs. St Joseph-Ogden, noon

Nashville senior two-time all-state forward Royce Newman (6-6, 250) signed with Ole Miss on Wednesday to play football as an offensive tackle. He leads the team in scoring at 17.6 points per game. The Hornets (15-8) also get scoring from Brady Bultman (10.7 ppg) and Ryan Brink (8.1 ppg, 24 3-pointers).

St. Joseph-Ogden’s top player is junior Brandon Trimble, currently averaging 24.6 points and coming off a 29-point outing in a loss to Monticello.

Centralia vs. Hinsdale South, 1:30 p.m.

Hinsdale South’s marquee player is 6-9 senior and Northwestern recruit Barret Benson.

Centralia (19-2) comes in ranked ninth in 3A and has several talented scorers led by D’Aaron Owens (14 ppg), Tyriq Bilberry (12.5 ppg) and Dawson Berry (10 ppg).

Columbia vs. DeKalb, 4:15 p.m.

DeKalb (20-3) was 14th in the latest Class 4A state rankings and recently handed LaSalle-Peru its first loss. DeKalb’s 6-8 senior Luke Davis is a force inside and recently went over 1,000 points for his career. The Barbs also get a lot of scoring from seniors Robert Mitchell and Michael Pollack

Columbia (15-5) is led by senior guard Jonathan Holmes (14.5 ppg, 29 3-pointers), senior Korbin Farmer (11.6 ppg), sophomore guard Jordan Holmes (10.2 ppg) and senior Drew Huebner (10.1 ppg).

CBC vs. Westchester St. Joseph, 5:45 p.m.

This is the second straight Shootout appearance for St. Joseph’ (14-6), led by unsigned 6-foot-10 Division I recruit Nick Rakosevic, Joffari Brown and freshman Marquise Walker. Rakosevic has numerous offers led by Creighton, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Miami, Texas, Tennessee, UCLA and USC.

Legendary St. Joseph’s coach Gene Pingatore has a state-record 978 career victories in 46 seasons on the bench. He has been coaching the Chargers since 1969 and guided his team to the state title last year, beating Althoff in the 3A championship game,

CBC (13-7) has won seven of its last nine games and is led by Jordan Barnes (17 ppg. 46 3-pointers) and Christian Willis (14.4 ppg). The Cadets are coached by former St. Louis University and McKendree player Justin Tatum, the father of Chaminade All-American Jayson Tatum.

This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 4:57 PM with the headline "After strong debut, Bank of O’Fallon Shootout returns with more top talent, great matchups."