Down to the Wire Again, but Rams come up Short

The Ladue Rams for the second consecutive year drop a close one in the Vianney Invitational. This time it was to Hazelwood Central, who might have been considered the favorite anyway going into the game because they have been there, done that, for so long. In fact, this is now the eighth time they have won this tournament in ten years. However, Ladue was the number one seed and that means they are technically the favorite. Then again the Hawks are just as good as the Rams so it may have well been two number one seeds up against each other.

After begin postponed on Friday December, 6th, the Rams looked the more eager team at the start. They ran out to a 16-8 lead after the first quarter and forced numerous turnovers on defense. Central only scored on two 3 pointers and more importantly, they had made little impact in the paint where they do most of their damage. Also the Hawks' two starting big men, Marcus George and Demarco Buchanan, both had 2 fouls and had to sit for awhile.

When a big important game is occurring, and Ladue is playing in it, and the player you would go to would be Cornell Johnston. He proved that on Monday. He finished with 23 points and 5 assists. Yes. Just another night at the office for Mr. Johnston.

However, when the second quarter arrived, the game took a big 180. Hazelwood Central came alive and Ladue went quiet. The Hawks figured out a way to attack the Rams aggressive defense by doing whatever they could to drive into the lane and either dish it off down low for an easy two points or keep it and float it in. One thing that helped them was the absence of Andrew Maddock because of foul trouble. Meanwhile, the Rams looked frozen on offense. There were numerous possessions that would last 30 to 50 seconds and have no end result.

By the end of the half the Rams were overtaken by the Hawks and went into the locker room down 22-20, but it could've been worse.

Johnston had 12 points by halftime, which was a game high, most of it was in the first quarter and as a team the Rams' only scored 4 points in the 2nd quarter and were even struggling near the end of the 1st quarter as well.

The start of the 2nd half did not look great for the both teams. They traded baskets for almost three minutes and Central got out to a 5 point lead and it seemed as though they were in control of the game.

However, just as signs were showing the Rams' might be fading away, they finally hit their stride and showed how great they can be.

Playing in their half court trap, Ladue finally forced a turnover, which was a steal by Jon Collins and instead of dishing it off to Johnston for a layup, he kept it himself and shocked everyone by using all of his 6'4 frame to dunk the ball into the hoop. That got every one of the Ladue crowd, especially the student section into a heap of energy and hope. However, just as the Rams' were feeding off of their new found momentum, they were caught pressing up too high at half court, which allowed the Hawks' to find a wide open man under the basket and respond with a wide open dunk of their own.

However that didn't faze the Rams' one bit. They answered again with a dazzling layup by Connor Spirtas as he drove into the lane surrounded by Hawks', but he faked a pass in mid stride, which fooled everybody, and freed room for himself to lay it in. This was followed by another Johnston 3 pointer. A couple of possessions later on a broken play, Andrew Maddock inadvertently found himself wide open for a three pointer. Funny thing is that he usually makes them. He did again, which extended the lead to seven. Moments later with the Rams' having all of the momentum, Mark Rogers nailed another 3 pointer from the corner to make it a 10 point lead.

By the end of the 3rd quarter Ladue were up by 8 and 8 minutes away from going to 3-0 and finally claiming the Vianney Invitational Championship that eluded them last year. But, this was going to be a slow 8 minutes for sure.

Hazelwood Central again came alive and yet again Ladue went quiet. A couple of open layups here. A couple of floaters there. A 3 pointer over there and before anyone knew it, the Hawks had come back again with a huge 12-0 run. Then again the Rams' were not going down without a fight.

Ladue battled back to tie it with under 3 minutes to left thanks to a 3 point play by Johnston. He is 5'7 and driving to the basket against guys that are 6'5, 6'6, and 6'7. He doesn't care. Size matters not.

Central though just calmly answered with another basket. Ladue has already been through a pressure packed game and this is the first time the Hawks' have had a game this close. However, they never lost their nerve.

With under a minute to play, the Rams' had battled back to a 1 point game, but it was time to foul. For the Hawks' everything had worked for them up until this point. Everything except their free throws. They were shooting 5-13 from the line. Obviously the pressure was on them to come through and make shots to hold off a re-energized Ladue team.

It turns out Hazelwood Central's savior was guard Steve Holloway.

Ladue fouled him with under 30 seconds to play and made both shots. It was time for Ladue to make a game tying 3 pointer. They ran a designed play by handing the ball off to several players in hopes of trying to find a man open enough. They didn't thanks to a stingy Hawks' defense. Johnston then from NBA range heaved up a prayer with time running out, but it missed everything.

The Rams' were forced to foul again and the ball wound up in Holloway's hands again. All he had to do with 5.7 seconds left was to make 1 out of 2 free throws to seal it. He cooly made both. Game, set, and match. 56-51 was the final score.

The players faces said it all as they shook hands and headed for the locker room. It was the same faces when they could hear the awful pain of the roar of triumph from the Bellville West Maroons locker room last year and how close they had come. This year they are an older team and have learned what it feels like to lose in games like these.

A couple of years ago if the Rams' had pulled a result off like this then they would most likely be the happier of the two teams even though they were on the losing side. Now Ladue is a proven team based on last years results and feel these are games they need to win or could win.

However the players can only think about it until they wake up the next day for it is they take on the mighty McClure North Stars in our home opener.

Hopefully when the sun rises in the morning the kids can be ready to play and move on after a difficult experience and possibly create a great experience.