Bryan Turner knew life would be different when star point guard Yuri Collins graduated.
But even in his most pessimistic moments, the St. Mary’s basketball coach never envisioned the numerous challenges his Dragons would have to overcome this season.
Four players Turner expected to be a part of the team transferred to different schools prior to the season. Already without Collins, who’s become one of the top freshman point guards in the nation at St. Louis U., the transition was turbulent.
“We had to revamp the whole team,” Turner said. “We were pulling kids up from the junior varsity. Our football team made a run, so we played the first seven games without those guys.”
To say St. Mary’s (11-16) took its lumps is too kind. The Dragons were slayed routinely throughout the cold, dark winter. St. Mary’s finished 0-8 in the Archdiocesan Athletic Association large division. The Dragons didn’t win a home game during the regular season. The schedule did them no favors in the win column because it was cupcake free. Nonconference opponents included Chaminade, McCluer, East St. Louis and O’Fallon, both of which are still alive in the Illinois playoffs. The AAA was particularly good this winter as Cardinal Ritter will play in the Class 3 semifinals on Friday. On Saturday, St. Dominic stunned McCluer for its first district championship since 2010. Tolton was eliminated from the Class 3 tournament on a half-court buzzer beater, and Borgia always is tough to conquer.
The Class 4 runner-up last season, St. Mary’s was tested at every turn.
“It can be tough,” Dragons senior guard Sofora Rasas said. “You have to win or learn. You can’t dwell on a loss.”
The Dragons learned plenty about themselves this season. One of the most important moments came during the holidays. The 6-foot-4 and 180-pound Rasas is by far and away the Dragons' most significant offensive presence. He averages 24.3 points per game and has more than doubled the point total of his closest teammate. He’s also good for 6.9 rebounds and was one of the few experienced returners that saw time during last season’s runner-up finish.
Rasas, 18, was out sick when St. Mary’s traveled to play in the Carbondale Holiday Tournament. He didn’t travel with the team and that did not bode well, the Dragons entered the tournament 2-7.
Without its leader and top scorer, St. Mary’s ripped off three consecutive wins for the first time this season and advanced to play in the tournament championship game. Rasas was disappointed he couldn’t be there but was thrilled at what the team accomplished.
“I hated it,” Rasas said. “I was calling those guys between games. I was excited for them. I’m proud of those guys.”
Added senior guard Noah Hamilton, “The Carbondale tournament was big for us and our younger guys. The guys learned what they could do and got more confidence.”
Hamilton has been critical to the Dragons this season as he’s averaging 9.3 points and nearly four assists per game. He’s become more of a leader after taking on point guard duties.
“I feel like I’ve grown into the role, getting my boys in a position to score,” Hamilton said. “I’m continuing to get better at it.”
The wave of the Dragons rode into the Carbondale tournament title game collapsed in eight minutes. Carbondale outscored St. Mary’s 20-1 in the first quarter and rolled to a 62-28 victory.
The result was disappointing, but the progress was tangible for the young team. St. Mary’s strung together another three consecutive wins when it beat Althoff, Madison and Barstow in mid-January. Madison will play in an Illinois Class 1A super-sectional Tuesday night.
The Dragons are riding a two-game win streak after they defended their home court during the district tournament. St. Mary’s beat Gateway STEM 81-55 on Thursday to win its fourth consecutive district championship and ninth since 1967.
St. Mary’s reward is a sectional game against Westminster (23-4) at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday at Northwest-Cedar Hill. After spending the winter getting battered and bruised, the Dragons are right where they wanted to be all along.
“We kept our eyes on this time of year,” Turner said. “As a coaching staff we never held our heads down. We weren’t playing for right now, we were playing for February and March.”
St. Mary’s is one of two teams that remain in Class 4 with a sub-.500 record. Rolla (12-16) is the other. But records don’t mean anything now. It’s all about who executes and performs at the highest level that night. Westminster has been among the best teams in the area all season and did something St. Mary’s couldn’t — it beat Borgia. The Wildcats defeated the Knights in a district semifinal last week.
Pressure does funny things to teams this time of year. St. Mary’s is about as immune to that bug as a team can be. The trials and tribulations of the winter saw to that.
“We were getting our heads pounded in,” Turner said. “We scored one point in a quarter, what more can a team do to us? We just have to come together and play for each other.”
by David Kvidahl