Some of the best high school girls basketball teams in mid-Missouri and across the state and nation are in Columbia this (Friday) morning and all weekend for the Sophie Cunningham Classic.
Columbia Battle plays in the first game at 11 this morning and there are games all day today, Saturday and much of Sunday at Columbia College. WNBA star Sophie Cunningham, a Rock Bridge and Mizzou graduate, tells Zimmer’s Clear-99 that the classic began as a dream, adding she didn’t know how it would be accepted:
“And now let me tell you it has been mind-blowing. We have had you know close to 4,000 teams across the nation reach out wanting to be a part of this. We have Top-25 athletes and teams ranked in the ESPN rankings who are going to be in Columbia this weekend,” Sophie tells Clear-99.
St. Louis powerhouse Incarnate Word Academy, Long Island Lutheran in New York and MICDS are just some of the numerous schools playing this weekend at Columbia College’s Bob Burchard Court. Former Mizzou star Lindsey Cunningham, Sophie’s sister, notes Rock Bridge only played four home games in Lindsey’s senior year and Sophie’s freshman year in high school. Lindsey Cunningham also spoke to Zimmer’s Clear-99:
“Now to bring teams from New York and Iowa and Texas and not just teams from New York: they were the preseason number one team in the country for high school girls basketball. Coming to Columbia, Missouri … it’s cool,” Lindsey Cunningham says.
The classic includes local teams like Columbia Rock Bridge, Hickman, Battle and Tolton and mid-Missouri teams like Fulton, Tipton and Centralia. It also includes St. Louis powerhouse Incarnate Word Academy and powerhouse teams like Faith Family Academy in Texas. You can listen to Battle’s game against Blue Valley North at 11 am and Rock Bridge vs Olathe South at 9:15 pm on Zimmer’s KTGR (FM 100.5, 105.1 and AM 1580).