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Sports

Top Teams Hoop It Up at St. Louis Summer Basketball Classic

Mary Institute and St. Louis County Day School was one of the sites of the prestigious basketball tournament. Players from Eureka participated.

The ultra-modern and air-conditioned center at Mary Institute and St. Louis County Day School (MICDS) gave fans from throughout the country a respite from the 100-degree St. Louis heat, and also provided some scintillating basketball from some of the best young players throughout the country.

MICDS was one of several sites for the St. Louis Summer Classic, which featured nearly 300 of the top select basketball teams from the United States.

The NCAA-certified event had players as old as seniors-to-be in high school, and as young as third graders.

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Missouri Impact coach Donnie Wilson has been involved in area summer basketball for more than 25 years. But the coach of the boys' team, which includes incoming juniors, had a real challenge coming into the summer with the first-year Impact program.

"This is a first year organization, so I was dealt a pretty tough hand to start with, but the guys started off real fine," Wilson said.

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He had a long talk with the team, which includes players from throughout the St. Louis area, after a 79-70 loss Friday night to the Elite from Illinois.

"Tonight it was too much me, me, me," Wilson said. "We have to make that become team, team, team. July is a very important month for these kids as it is an exposure period for college coaches. And my main focus is for these guys to be seen by these coaches, who will then follow up and see them in the fall."

"This is my first summer doing it and I think it is helping me out a lot," said Brayton Bennett of . "I love it. My goal is just to get myself ready for high school. I like the coaching we get here and the competition we play. The games can get very intense."

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