The Class Five Gateway-South District consists of Francis Howell North, Francis Howell Central, Francis Howell High School, Timberland, Fort Zumwalt West and Troy Buchanan. After losing last year to Zumwalt West (68-51), who then went on to the state championship games, the boys have a year of hard work ahead of them if they plan to secure the district title. Though challenging, this goal is not impossible.

Howell North defeated Timberland (50-48) and Howell Central (74-66) in 2016-17 district play. Assuming winning over these two teams will continue, theoretically, there are only three opponents standing between them and the title.

Starting with Howell, the Knights fell to the Vikings last year 77-36.  After suffering a loss by such a large point margin, the boys will look to strengthen their defense to bring out a win in the district game.

Losing to Troy in both matchups last year with an increasing point margin of 58-54 and then 71-52, the boys must demonstrate the learning curve which they did not in the 2016-17 season. Luckily, Howell and Troy face each other early on in the season on December 8th, providing the perfect opportunity for scouting reports and to learn from a potential loss. 

The main problem the boys will face is Fort Zumwalt West, currently the only team in the district who is making STL high school sports ranking boards for week 2. After last year’s loss of 68-51 in district play, senior Drew Killmer understands that the only way to pull out a win over these state qualifiers is to pull the team together.

“The main change is going to be a change in attitude. The mindset of everyone is lacking right now, just like negativity and bringing people down,” said Killmer. “So we’re going to change that and come together. We’re going to work on lifting each other up and buying into the whole program and what we’re going to do.”

With these big games on the horizon, the boys plan to put in hard work to secure the district title starting with their home opener on December 15 against Howell Central.