The start of basketball season doesn’t seem like a distant memory. In fact, holiday tournaments seem like yesterday, so does the beginning of conference play. The season has been a blur over the past three months, but now is the time when things slow down and teams literally take one game at a time. The end of the basketball season approaches and the area teams are trying to hold on and keep advancing to keep their season alive. For the Ladue Rams and the MICDS Rams district play begins Monday and the paths for both teams to make it to the Mizzou Arena are treacherous and tough. For both …

The John Burroughs Bombers boy’s basketball team is on a run unlike any other small school St. Louis area team on the Missouri side of the river. With big road wins over Lutheran South and Priory, Coach Steve Wilcutt and his squad have won eight games in a row, including their last four games which have all been conference opponents. The Bombers are now 9-5 overall and atop the ABC Conference standings at 4-0. They have defeated every team inside of the conference with the exception of Lutheran North (9-6) in which they have a date with this Friday at Lutheran North. This weekend will mark …

 The Ladue Rams (7-6) are on a roll as of late. The team has won three of their last four games and finished third in the DC Wilcutt Basketball Tournament at CBC High School. Ladue defeated Whitfield and Lutheran North in the eight team tourney and lost to only the eventual tournament winners CBC. The Rams have suddenly become a team that has become adept at winning close games.  “We (Ladue) were pleased with the outcome of the CBC tournament,” Ladue head coach Chad Anderson said. “Getting wins against Whitfield and Lutheran says something about our team.  They are both good teams and well …

The upcoming week will be telling inside of ABC Conference play as MICDS (6-6) and John Burroughs (5-5) go to battle this upcoming week. Ladue  (6-5) passed the first test by beating nemesis Whitfield 58-53 in the opener of the CBC Tournament.  The Ladue Rams are fresh off a conference win over Affton and are currently 2-0 and leading the Suburban East Conference standings.  Ladue (6-5) was facing the top seeded Cadets in the D.C. Wilcutt Classic at publication time.  “Get at least two wins,” Anderson said. “Beat Whitfield first round, that’s my goal. Anything can happen after that. To have a…

With just about half of the regular season under way for area teams, 2011 will bring some interesting matchups and will begin the heart of the conference season. The next few months will be telling for MICDS (4-5), Ladue (4-4) and John Burroughs (3-5) as the teams try to work out some kinks and get prepared for district play in late February. All of the area teams competed in recent holiday tournaments as MICDS and Ladue did battle in the MICDS Holiday Tournament and John Burroughs played in the Chaminade Tournament. Each team had decent showing in their respective tournaments with MICDS and …

This week will begin some of the best holiday tournaments around the St. Louis Metropolitan area. The Ladue-Frontenac area is blessed to have a couple great ones in their backyard. The MICDS Holiday Invitational Basketball Tournament and the Chaminade Tournament are two that we will take an in-depth look at in the next couple of weeks. The Chaminade Tourney runs December 27-29 so that preview will be next week. The MICDS tournament is imminent though and both Ladue and MICDS will be middle seeds inside of the 16-team bracketed tournament that runs from Wednesday December 22 through Thursday …