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Dexter, Missouri - When high school sports end in May, many athletes find a summer sport like baseball to play, or practice with their school teams during MSHSAA-allowed contacts days and participate in area shootouts and camps to prepare for the upcoming fall and winter sports seasons. 

Ethan Flowers, a Dexter High School junior, had enough individual success in varsity basketball this past season as a sophomore that he was contacted by Riley Swinford, coach of the Southern Illinois Select Basketball 16U Team, to play summer basketball. 

With the SI Select team slated to play around 30-40 games from April through July, Flowers stated, “I thought a chance like this might give me more practice and experience that I could bring back to our school team for the fall.”  

Flowers was not the only Southeast Missouri athlete pursued by Swinford.  The team currently has three other Missouri players:  Zach Beel, a 6’6” center from Leopold High School; Al Young, a 5’11” guard from Cape Central; and Jalen Reddin, a 5’5” guard from Cape Central.  The rest of the team’s players come from the Marion and Carbondale, IL areas. 

The 16U Select team has acquired several first and second place trophies in their last eight weeks of play, but their two biggest wins were earned the last two weekends.  Two weeks ago, the Select Team participated at Lindenwood University in Belleville, IL in the Reebok Series United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) National Qualifier Tournament.  The Select 16U beat a #4-ranked USSSA team from Illinois in their pool to advance into bracket play where they won the championship.  Along with the SI Select 15U team (whose Dexter’s Jason Jarrell plays for), the 16U team has now qualified for the USSSA Basketball National Championships held in Gainesville, FL at the end of June.  They are currently hosting fundraisers to cover expenses for this 4-day tournament that is sponsored by Reebok, ESPN, Mizuno, Hershey’s, and several other companies. 

This past weekend, the Select 16U team earned a 2nd place trophy in the Western Kentucky Super Regional Qualifier in Paducah, KY that secured them a spot in the Midwest Youth Boys Basketball High School Championships held in Indianapolis, Indiana in July.  The team currently has a 12-4 record. 

Congratulations Ethan Flowers and the Southern Illinois Select Team on a job well done!