Seckman Hockey in Second Place in Suburban South Conference

The winter has been a good one so far for several area teams in the Mid-States Hockey Association.

Rockwood Summit and their respective conferences. Seckman, Lindbergh and Lutheran South are also all within striking range as the regular season comes to a conclusion shortly.

Summit is a perfect 9-0-0 in the Suburban South Conference. The Falcons, who are 13-2-2 overall, have been especially strong defensively as they have given up just 27 goals.

The Falcons also feature a well-balanced offensive attack with three players, Brandan McClew, Kory Rekowski and Devin Mayer.

Seckman has played its best hockey within the Suburban South. The Jaguars have not won out of conference but they are second in the Suburban South with a 6-2-1 mark. Phillip Adams (nine goals, nine assists) and Jacob Champaign (11 goals, five assists) have led the way for Seckman.

Northwest is fourth in the league (3-6-0) but the Lions are a dangerous team for any of the league leaders. The Lions have actually outscored their opponents and are second in the league to Summit in goals scored (68). Justin Welch (16 goals, 16 assists), Michael Ribble (16-14) and Tyler Reineri (14-18) are a potent trio.

Mehlville and Fox have struggled in the conference. The Panthers are 2-7-0 while Fox is 1-6-1.

Oakville leads the way in the Suburban Southwest Conference with a 6-0-1 record. The Tigers are 12-3-1 overall. Tommy Heinzman has scored 15 goals for the Tigers, who have one of the area's top goaltenders in Zach Jost.

Lindbergh is second to the Tigers in the conference having given the Tigers their only conference blemish with a tie. Jacob Henderson has been the biggest scoring threat for Lindbergh with 14 goals and five assists.

Lutheran South remains within striking range in the Suburban Central Conference. Westminster Christian and MICDS are battling for first with records of 9-1-0 and 8-1-0 respectively. Lutheran South is 7-3-0. Lancer defenseman Christopher Hill has shined this season with 11 goals and 13 assists. Cameron Durham was 12 goals and 12 assists.

Lutheran South and Oakville will be participating Saturday in the Mid-States Winter Classic on the outside rink at Shaw Park in Clayton.

Lutheran South will meet Clayton in the first game of the day at noon while Oakville takes on Marquette in a key Suburban Southwest game at 5:30 p.m.

BASKETBALL

The 2011-12 season has not had a lot of highlights for the basketball teams at Bayless. But the Bronchos have both the Patch Male and Female Athlete of the Week this week.

The Bayless boys snapped a six-game losing streak Friday night with a 69-54 win over Waynesville at Washington. Patrick Triplett led the way with a triple-double. He had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Triplett was 9-for-12 from the field and made both of his 3-point attempts.

Tiara Higgins helped the Bayless girls to just their second win of the season. She scored 22 points on 10-of-18 shooting and also had seven steals in a 50-34 win over St. Elizabeth's Academy Thursday. That win avenged a loss to the Hawks in the Southside Classic.

The game of the week in the area came Friday night as Cor Jesu needed two overtimes to defeat Cape Notre Dame 73-67. The Chargers had four players in double figures led by Audra Horn (20) and Monica Simon (19).

The Lindbergh boys found out Friday why Vianney is still undefeated through 16 games. The Flyers came into the game with a three-game winning streak but could score just 29 points in a 53-29 loss to the Griffins.

About this column: Miss a game this week? Catch the latest Panther and Tiger sports news in this weekly South County Round-up. Read about scores, highlights and our player of the week.