OWEN-LED HOOP TEAM DOES WELL NATIONALLY

John Owen knew he was taking a pretty talented basketball team to the AAU Junior Olympic Games in Charlotte, N.C.

And the SEMO Warriors 19-under squad that is primarily made up of players from Southeast Missouri proved Owen right by going 4-2 before ultimately losing in the round of 16 last weekend.

"I thought our team played very well out there," said Owen, who coached the squad along with Doyle Canady. "We've been out there before, but this is the first time we've ever won a game in the national tournament.

"Some of the best players in the country were out there, players who have signed with some of the top college programs in the nation. And there were so many college coaches out there. It was just a great tournament. We had never played that well before out there."

Nathan Owen, John's son, stole the show for the Warriors. The 1997 Cape Girardeau Central High graduate averaged 32 points per game to lead all scorers in the tournament and he was one of 15 players named as an AAU All-American based on tournament play.

Owen, a two-time all-stater for Central's Tigers, will play for Southeast Missouri State University next season.

"I'm Nathan's father so I hate to build him up too much, but he really played great out there," said John Owen. "We lost our last game 71-70 to a team from Michigan that was led by (NBA star) Chris Weber's brother. The day before the game, the Charlotte newspaper had a big article about the Weber kid and then Nathan went out and scored 34 against him."

Ed Farr of New Madrid County Central added 18 points in that final loss that knocked the Warriors out of the tournament.

"Farr had a really good tournament and so did quite a few of our other kids," John Owen said.

In addition to Owen and Farr, other area products on the team, which won the gold medal at the AAU Ozark Association Championships in June to qualify for the national event, were:

Jackson's Justin Keen; Perryville brothers Bruce and Paul Weinkein; Scott County Central's Eric Canady and Demetrish Williams; Sikeston's Henley Montgomery; and Poplar Bluff's Martin Johnson. Notre Dame's Dirk Dirnberger and Woodland's Shawn Massa were on the squad for the state competition but did not make the trip to nationals.

"It was a great experience for all the local kids," said John Owen. "I think the team really made a tremendous showing and showed that there are some very good basketball players in Southeast Missouri.

The Louisiana Kings ended up winning the tournament for the second year in a row.