Webster Groves downs De Smet to win Coaches vs. Cancer Holiday Basketball Tournament

Freshman Scottie Adkinson scores game-high 20 points

TOWN & COUNTRY, MISSOURI – Webster Groves boys basketball coach Justin Mathes knows how difficult it is to win the Coaches vs. Cancer Holiday Tournament.

Mathes’ Statesmen, led by Iziah Purvey and Scottie Adkinson, downed De Smet 60-55 on Saturday night to emerge from the four-day grind with four victories and the tournament title for the second time in three seasons and third time in six years.

“I always say it's a lot like life, right, anything that's worth celebrating is hard to do,” Mathes said. “And to win four games in four days against really good teams and just to keep grinding it out is hard. And so it's a it's an unbelievable moment and then on Tuesday, we’ve got to get back and make sure it's not the highlight of the season and that we keep getting better. But I told the guys it's my second favorite trophy because it's hard as heck to win and over a great opponent that's big time.”

The No. 3 seed in the 16-team tournament, Webster Groves (8-3) trailed 32-27 at halftime but rallied in the second half behind its dynamic duo of senior forward Iziah Purvey and freshman standout point guard Scottie Adkinson and its stingy overall team defense.

“I thought coming out of halftime we ran better offense the second half, continued to to guard them well, they run a great stuff with with really big-time playmakers – (Riley) Massey was incredible today – but we strung together some shots when we needed to that allowed us to make a run,” Mathes said. “So we ran better offense, and you know, we hang our hat on our defense and I thought it came through big.”

Fourth-seeded De Smet (7-3), which had a six-game win streak snapped, scored just six points in the third quarter.

The Statesmen outscored the Spartans 15-6 in the third quarter and then 18-17 in the fourth to secure the victory.

“I thought we saw some maturation of this team, even throughout the week,” Mathes said, “but especially, you know, going back to a couple of our losses in early December, seeing us respond better and playing a more complete 32 minutes today.”

Adkinson scored a game-high 20 points, including 14 in the second half and nine in the fourth quarter. He knocked down seven of 10 free-throw attempts in the final frame.

Purvey, a bruising forward headed to UMSL, scored nine of his 17 points in the first half but shook off some struggles at the free throw line to knock down his final two attempts in the waning seconds.

“Iziah’s been on this stage before,” Mathes said. “I expected a big game out of him. That's what he does on this stage. And when your best player wants to be coached – and he's an absolute warrior on the glass – you know you’ve got a chance.”

Junior guard Carl Whitehead Jr. added 12 points in the victory.

Riley Massey, a junior guard, led De Smet with 16 points and six assists. Junior forward Dillon Duff and sophomore forward Jordan Boyd each added 10 points and seven rebounds.

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Coaches vs. Cancer Holiday Tournament All-Tournament Team

Andrew Moore, jr., G, Troy Buchanan; Conner Henke, sr., F, Zumwalt South; Luke Walsh, jr., G, Vianney; Zac Goss, sr., G, Lindbergh; Scottie Adkinson, fr., G, Webster Groves; Riley Massey, jr., G, De Smet; Mason Dunlap, sr., G, Eureka; Iziah Purvey, sr., F, Webster Groves; Langston Stroupe, sr., G, Hickman; Owen Duff, jr., G, De Smet

Webster Groves - De Smet boys basketball

Photos from Nate Latsch

Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

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- Nate Latsch | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveMiz