Photos: Winter Basketball Highlights

One of the finest sports stories in the entire metro area this past winter was the turnaround of the boys basketball team.

The Bronchos ended their season with a 7-19 record one year ago, but went 23-7 this past season and came one win away from reaching the Class 3 state semifinals. Bayless lost its to Charleston, 82-66, in Poplar Bluff, MO.

“The players knew they gave everything they had, and they were not upset. All year, they played as hard as they could to make that trip to Columbia,” head coach Pat Triplett told Affton Patch. “They did nothing in that game to tell me that they were not playing to go to Columbia.”

Triplett had just seven players on his roster, and featured brothers senior Enis Mehmedovic and freshman Edin Mehmedovic. Edin led the Bronchos this season with averages of 17.5 points and 13.2 rebounds per game. Bayless loses just three seniors, including Enis, who scored 15.8 points per game.

The Bayless girls team finished 10-14, including a 6-4 record in the South Central Athletic Association. The Bronchos were led by freshman guard Tiara Higgins, who averaged 10.7 points per game. Sophomore Brittany Walker averaged 8.7 points and a team-best 10.4 rebounds per game. Senior Jermerica Robinson capped her prep career with solid averages of 7.3 points and 8.4 rebounds.

The boys team went 7-18, and 0-5 in the Suburban East Conference. They will return 6-foot-3 junior Sean Benedict next season. He led the Cougars with 11.9 points per game, and averaged 9 rebounds. He was joined on the All-Suburban East’s second team with senior guard Christian Moreno and 6-foot-4 forward Martez Roberts. Moreno averaged 9.6 points and 4.4 assists per game while Roberts averaged 8.8 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

The Affton girls had a 9-16 mark, including 1-5 in the Suburban East Conference. The Cougars will return junior Hali Ford next season. Ford made the all-league first team after averaging 14 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.1 steals and 5.4 blocks per game.