2023 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions

The 2023 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions is finally here, and The Basketball Movement has your inside scoop.

One of the biggest high school tournaments in the country, the 2023 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions tips off in just a few hours. The action beings at 4:30 pm (CST) tonight (Thursday, 1/12) and concludes with the championship this Saturday, January 14th, at 9:00 pm.

A full tournament bracket can be found below:

Opening night action begins with Christ the King (NY) facing Bartlett (TN).

Christ the King is a basketball program out of Queens, New York, that features 2025 guard Kiyan Anthony, son of NBA star Carmelo Anthony. Brandon Williams (2023) is a UCLA commit, Brandon Gardner (2023) is a St. Johns commit, and junior Dwayne Pierce holds offers from Mizzou, Florida State, and St. Johns.

Bartlett High is a relatively younger squad with an impressive junior class - Jack Shackelford, Christian Alston, and Rashad Williams all hold mid-major D1 offers, as does senior Javar Daniel. 2025 KJ Neville already holds multiple offers as well.

Link Academy (MO) is set to open the eyes of area basketball fans that have yet to see the squad in action. The team has too many impressive players to name, sporting commitments to UNC, Baylor, Memphis, LSU, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. So just come out and see for yourself as these players make their mark as one of the top prep programs in the nation.

St. Rita (IL) has another excellent crop of juniors with James Brown (not that James Brown, UNC commit), Morez Johnson (Illinois commit), and Nojust Indrusaitis (offers from Maryland, Marquette, Iowa State, and Ole Miss). In addition, senior Melvin Bell holds offers from Michigan, Mizzou, Iowa, and Illinois.

Sunrise Christian is another top-10 national program. Out of Bel-Aire, Kansas, they are coming off of a win against IMG Academy. With another lineup almost too impressive to break down here, it will feature Matas Buzelis (2023), who has committed to playing for the NBA G-League Ignite. Layden Blocker (Arkansas commit) and Scotty Middleton (Ohio State commit) are the other most notable seniors, while Mikel Brown Jr (2025) and 7’2 John Bol (2024) are players to watch as well.

Kickapoo is the lone Springfield, Missouri representative in the tournament this year. Sometimes those hometown fans can push the local guys enough to make some real noise, as we saw with Parkview last season. Kickapoo is led by seniors Brayden Shorter (Washburn commit) and Harrison Doennig (offer from Evangel).

Staley (Kansas City, MO) rounds out the Missouri teams and will lean on seniors Kayden Fish (Iowa State commit), Kyan Evans (Colorado State commit), and Cameron Manyawu (offers from Oral Roberts, Indiana State, Valpo, and more).

Calvary Christian Academy (FL) was a pre-season top-25 team nationally that will get a great chance here to prove itself. Memphis commit Carl Cherenfant (2023) is their top player. In addition, point guard Jaylen Curry (2023) holds offers from several big programs, and 6’10 junior Ethan Lathan is undoubtedly a player to watch.

Tournament of Champions - 2022 Championship

One of the best Bass Pro Tournament of Champions yet finished up on Saturday night.

Officially the most attended Bass Pro Tournament of Champions in history, night three of the 2022 edition wrapped everything up nicely. JQH was packed Saturday to nobody’s surprise, building on the ToC’s claim to being the most heavily attended prep tournament in the country.

In most tournaments, a seventh-place game would not be worth noting. However, the Bass Pro ToC was stacked this year, and we got an exciting game between local and outside talent.

New Madrid County Central was able to defeat Springfield Catholic behind Jadis Jones’ 15 point, seven-rebound effort. As usual, Zach Howell inflicted major damage for the Irish, netting 26 points coming from all three levels. Look for Howell’s stock to rocket soon as big-time programs snap out of it and take notice.

“I’ve been saying it for a while now: Zach Howell is one of the top high school shooters in the country,” Rob Yanders says. “It isn’t just shooting either; he can take it to the cup, hit floaters, and find teammates when he drives. He is a threat to punish defenses anytime he has the ball.”

The fifth-place game was a local affair, pitting Parkview against Nixa. Parkview had a knack for keeping games close all tourney long, but they were on the wrong side this time as Nixa won 48-44. Colin Ruffin had 14 points to go along with seven boards and four assists for the Eagles. He was the game’s only double-digit scorer.

In the battle for bronze, Milton rightly took home the W with a dominating performance over Whitney Young.  Bruce Thorton of Milton had 34 points and may have had the best individual performance of any player in the tournament.

“Everyone knew (Amari) Bailey was going to show out, and most people know Zach (Howell) would put on a show,” Yanders says. “This kid Thorton must have a chip on his shoulder. That guy was cold.”

The championship game featured Paul VI going against Sierra Canyon. While the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers were the favorites, tourney MVP Dug McDaniel (Michigan commit) and Paul VI came away victorious.

McDaniel had 18, but it was a surprise 23 from DeShawn Harris-Smith that put Paul VI over the top.

Amari Bailey had 18 for Sierra Canyon, and tourney-goers finally got to see Bronny James flash his upside with his 13 point, six-board performance (5-14 FG, 2 steals).

The Bass Pro Tournament of Champions is always a blast for local basketball fans and voracious hoop-heads. As always, the talent level impressed, and Bronny James and Sierra Canyon drew a crowd like never before. The Basketball Movement always enjoys covering this event, and we’re already looking forward to the next one.

Keep it locked to The Basketball Movement Exclusive for coverage at the highest level when it comes to Southwest Missouri hoops.

Tournament of Champions - Night Two

Night two of the 2022 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions had just as much excitement as the first and set up a great championship Saturday.

Night two of the 2022 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions led to more memorable performances from the area and nation’s best. Things started with a bang in the consolation bracket with New Madrid County Central facing Parkview. Local Parkview played Sierra Canyon tough and built some expectations going into day two of the tourney.

The Vikings would not disappoint, with senior Xzavia McDaniel drilling a buzzer-beating three in overtime to lift Parkview. McDaniel played bigger than his stature all night and got plenty of help from teammate Elijah Whitley as well. Whitley is a product of Yanders Law and displayed bounce and upside that is sure to tantalize Drury fans as the Panther commit continues to improve year after year.

“If Parkview can take the consolation championship, they are going to open a lot of eyes around the Springfield area,” says Robert Yanders, founder of The Basketball Movement. “If they keep this up, there is a power shift coming.”

Speaking of the local powers… The next game in the consolation bracket featured Nixa and Springfield Catholic, a rematch from the Blue and Gold Tournament just a few weeks ago. Catholic got the best of Nixa in that tourney, but Nixa had their sights set on revenge on Friday.

Nixa stars Kael Combs and Kyle Ruffin got help this time from Jordyn Turner, who had 16 points in the win. Nixa was able to implement a balanced attack that the Irish could not overcome.

Once again, Zach Howell of Catholic (and Yanders Law) had an impressive showing with 18 points. Anything short of 30 has become a disappointing effort for Howell at JQH, which should tell you all you need to know about the top player in Southwest Missouri.

The next game featured Sierra Canyon vs. Whitney Young. While Sierra Canyon showed some kinks in the armor against Parkview, they had the look of their usual, elite selves throughout this contest.

UCLA commit Amari Bailey is a consensus top-five player in the country and showed why Friday night. Bailey had 20 points and ten boards, converting shots that no one else in this tournament could regularly replicate.

The final game of Friday night featured another overtime contest. But, this time, the winner got to advance to the championship game on Saturday.

On Thursday, Bruce Thorton of Milton proved himself and got multiple opportunities to show off again Friday. The Ohio State commit went for 19, looking especially good in overtime. His final heave did not go down, though, and Paul VI will advance. Dug McDaniel and Paul VI have big shoes to fill after the graduations of Trevor Keels and Jeremy Roach. They will certainly get that chance facing Sierra Canyon in the championship Saturday night.

Tournament of Champions - Night One

The Bass Pro Tournament of Champions is one of the biggest events in high school hoops, and night one was covered, as always, by The Basketball Movement.

Unsurprisingly, night one of the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions did not disappoint. High flying dunks, local talent measuring up, and some of the nation’s most prominent names in prep hoops drew a bigger crowd than ever before.

Night one saw Whitney Young dismantle New Madrid Country Central 57-32. Matt Sommerville and A.J. Casey scored 13 apiece for the Whitney Young Dolphins. Casey is committed to playing for Miami next season.

The next game had JQH buzzing with anticipation. Bronny James was in the building with Sierra Canyon to face Parkview. Crowds were ready to rally behind Parkview, but seeing Bronny and hoping his Dad, LeBron James, might be in attendance kept them on the edge of their seats.

LeBron was a no-show, but the game was thrilling regardless. Parkview jumped out to a 16-8 lead and held a one-point advantage at halftime over the number four team in the country. However, Sierra Canyon eventually shook loose, winning 63-46. The Trailblazers got 16 apiece from 6 foot 9 Kijani Wright and Amari Bailey, one of the top players in the nation.

“(Bailey) showed everyone here what hoop-heads already know,” Yanders says. “He can ball. He has a great looking shot, but his ability to get to the rim, finish with either hand and absorb contact was the difference in the game tonight.”

Next, Nixa kept locals excited once more, hanging tough against Milton until the last shot. Bruce Thorton (Ohio State commit) crushed Nixa’s spirit with a buzzer-beater to bring his total up to 21 and advance his team to the semi-finals.

As usual, Nixa’s offense came from Kael Combs and Colin Ruffin. Ruffin had 21, and Combs had 12, but it was Combs’ defense that stood out to Yanders.

“I thought the way Kael competed on both sides of the ball is what kept Nixa in it,” Yanders says. “I know people around here wanted Nixa to get the win, but that was a hell of a performance either way.”

Paul VI is back again this year and opened up their first night with a bang. DeShawn Harris scored 18 for the Panthers, but he did not have the performance most fans will remember. In the loss, Zach Howell went off for 30, with the Yanders Law product draining multiple deep threes and getting his shot no-matter the opposition.

Howell is popping up on more radars all the time. Why it has taken this long is a mystery but count on more offers pouring in for Howell soon.

Check out The Basketball Movement exclusive recap of night two next!