Class 2 and 3 state‏

Four St. Louis area teams are still in the hunt for state titles as thesmall schools take center stage at the upcoming Class 2 and 3 statechampionships in Columbia.Area powers Cardinal Ritter and Whitfield will meet in a big Class 3 state semifinal showdown on Thursday at the Mizzou Arena. Tip-off is at 3:20 p.m. It will be the second meeting between the two schools.Whitfield won the first game 77-65 over Ritter in the WhitfieldTournament at the beginning of the season.

Whitfield advanced to its second consecutive Final Four with a 64-35victory over Schyler Co. in the Class 3 state quarterfinals at Hannibal.Sophomore guard Zach Ellis scored a game-high 26 points to leadWhitfield,which advanced to the state championship game last seasonbefore losing to Maplewood.Ritter advanced to Columbia after defeating Kennett 76-62 in the quarterfinals in Farmington. Seniors Mylin Jordan and Evan Jonesfinished with 16 points to lead the Lions,who made their last Final Fourappearance in 2006 when they won the state title.The winner will meet either Hogan Prep or Mt. Vernon for the state titleon Saturday. Cardinal Ritter's girls are going for the second consecutive Class 3state championship after advancing to another Final Four. The Lionsdisplayed their usual stingy defense in defeating Greenville 37-25.Cardinal Ritter will meet Macon on Thursday in the semifinals at theHearnes Center. The magical final run of Wellston's boys continued on Saturday when theTrojans defeated Stoutland in the Class 2 state quarterfinals inJefferson City. The Trojans were led by junior star Ben McLemore with 31points and 13 rebounds. Wellston will face Bernie in the statesemifinals at noon. It is the final year for Eskridge High in Wellstonas the school district will be closed down at the end of the schoolyear. Finally, my congratulations to coach George Merritt and the girls ofNorth County Tech on an historic season. The Eagles' season ended onSaturday when they lost to Macon in the state quarterfinals at Hannibal,but it was still an outstanding season. North County Tech won 20 gamesand the school's first district title in history. The Eagles followed upwith a dramatic come-from-behind victory over a highly regarded BowlingGreen team in the sectionals.Great season girls.