In a battle of state-ranked teams the St. Francis Borgia Lady Knights got a late field goal to clip the St. James High School girls’ basketball squad 46-44 in non-conference action on Saturday.

The St. James High School wrestling team placed fourth in a 16-team field Jan. 23 at the McCluer South Tournament.

The trapping defense of the St. James High School girls’ basketball team put Salem’s offense on ice over the first half, as host St. James coated to a 51-23 non-conference victory Monday night.

The third-seeded Sullivan High School boys’ basketball team repeated as champion of the 65th annual St. James Tournament by knocking off top-seeded Blair Oaks 57-42 Saturday in a rematch of last year’s final.

The St. James High School boys’ basketball team has replaced a game it lost earlier in the season, when the Tigers host Southern Boone on Feb. 10.

St. James had been scheduled to play at Dixon Jan. 5 but that game was canceled due to a scheduling conflict for Dixon.

Tiger Athletic Director Phil West said the Southern Boone game will replace the Dixon contest.

St. James is to host Southern Boone Feb. 10 at Donati Gym with junior varsity action starting at 5 p.m. and the varsity contest to follow.

The St. James Lady Tigers are back where they probably belonged all along...in the Missouri Class 4 state poll.

The St. James High School girls’ basketball team made its first appearance in the state poll this week, being selected No. 6 in the Class 4 state poll, which is compiled by the Missouri Sportswriters/Sportscasters Association.

St. James dropped two games with all-state junior guard Rachel Connell sidelined after toe surgery. However, Connell returned to the St. James lineup last week and the Lady Tigers are again clicking. St. James knocked off state-ranked Four Rivers Conference foe St. Clair last week and currently has a 14-2 record.

Exactly half of the Four Rivers Conference girls’ basketball teams are state-ranked this week. Hermann, which entered this week with a 13-2 record, is ranked No. 4 in Class 3 while Pacific (15-1) is ranked No. 3, St. James No. 6 and St. Clair (15-2) No. 7 in Class 4.

Last season St. James was ranked as high as No. 2 in the regular-season state poll while advancing to the state tournament quarterfinals and ending with a 27-2 mark.

It will be a battle of Class 4 state-ranked teams on Saturday when St. James travels to Washington to take on St. Francis Borgia. The junior varsity game is to begin at 5 p.m. with the varsity contest to follow. Borgia is ranked No. 5 in the girls' Class 4 state poll.

On Friday the football frenzy of filling schedules begins at high schools across Missouri.

Friday morning the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) is scheduled to release its football classifications and district groupings for the two-year cycle of the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

Many conferences around the state will meet Friday morning and, after finding out their respective district pairings, will quickly try to fill out the remainer of their 2010 and 2011 football schedules. Usually most schedules are completed by Friday evening. Those that are not may not fill a full 10-game schedule, making Friday’s legwork extremely important.

Athletic director Kelly Hinshaw and football head coach Josh Smith from Rolla High, as well as Waynesville football head coach Rick Vernon, will be in Springfield with an Ozark Conference contingent at 7 a.m. Friday morning.

St. James Athletic Director Phil West and Tiger football head coach Greg Harlan will be in St. Clair at 6 a.m. Friday with other Four Rivers Conference officials.

The St. James High School freshman girls’ basketball team improved its unbeaten record to 5-0 on Jan. 15 by beating New Haven 37-19 in St. James.

The St. James High School girls’ basketball team is back at full speed, and that’s bad news for the rest of the Four Rivers Conference.

The 65th annual boys’ high school basketball St. James Tournament began Monday night with top-seeded Blair Oaks and fifth-seeded Rolla recording first-round victories.

The normally high-scoring St. James High School boys’ basketball team had its coldest-shooting night of the season on Friday, as the Tigers were whipped by Linn 35-22.

A full-house greeted a contingent of St. Louis Cardinals past and present during Saturday night’s Cardinal Caravan event at Matt’s Steakhouse, located between Rolla and St. James off I-44.

Several area teams state-ranked

The St. James High School wrestling team placed fourth in the 11-team Owensville Tournament, held last Saturday.

The St. James High School freshman girls’ basketball team improved its record to 3-0 by beating Cuba 47-26 on Tuesday, Jan. 5.