Ladue Outlasts Vianney in Double OT. Advance to Finals.

Senior guard Connor Spirtas scored 11 points and all of them were from the free throw line. Seven of them were in overtime, which made a huge difference and perhaps was the biggest push that the Rams needed to beat a surprising Vianney team in their own house.

The Ladue Rams survived an early season road test against the up start Vianney Golden Griffins Wednesday night in a wild game that had a total of 56 fouls, 60 free throws, and four players foul out. Luckily for both teams, they used up nine players each for the whole game.

The player of the game was Cornell Johnston who led the way for the Rams with 24 points, 4 steals, and 7 assists. He made four 3 pointers and was 8 of 9 from the from the foul line.

Both teams started out well with Ladue clinging onto short leads for most of the first half with Vianney right on their tail. Star point guard Tanner Cochran picked up his second foul in the second quarter, but his absence did not stop the flow of the game for the Golden Griffins.

The Rams extended their lead to eight and got a huge break on the last possession of the half when Johnston was fouled attempting a 3 and sank all of his freebies to put the Rams up by eleven at the break and had huge momentum with that by getting the ball to start the second half. Also to add insult to injury, Cochran picked up his 4th foul after a couple of possessions to start the half.

With Cochran out, that meant the Golden Griffins had to bear down and rely mostly on inexperienced underclassmen to play tougher defense and find a way to score effectively. No problem. With two minutes into the third quarter, Vianney had got the deficit down to a one possession game.

For the rest of regulation the game was a tight race with Ladue being barely ahead. However as the game got more intense and every possession was under the microscope, it seemed as if things were finally swinging towards Vianney's way and it did when Senior J.J. Mandina hit a 3 pointer to go up by one and give his team their first lead of the night with 2 minutes remaining. However Ladue had an answer of its own in the form of Cornell Johnston as he hit a 3 pointer to go back up by 2 with 110 seconds to play.

Eventually Ladue found themselves up by 1 with Johnston at the line with under a minute to play shooting a 1 and 1. He made the first and missed the second. Vianney now had a chance to tie or win with 30 seconds to play and tied it on a 15 foot jumper by Sophomore Zach Colletta, which was probably the most important shot of his career.

Ladue then put the game in Johnston's hands to win the game. He dribbled down the court and called timeout on orders by coach Anderson. Out of the timeout the ball was inbounded with 15 seconds left. Johnston dribbled into the paint joined by a wall of white jersey's. He hanged in the air for what seemed like an hour and floated the ball to the rim, but was off the mark.

Overtime.

This was the first time Ladue had been in an overtime since the 2011-2012 season when they defeated Clayton 84-80 on the road.

The first overtime started with Andrew Maddock, Johnston, and Jon Collins with 4 fouls. Vianney had Cochran, Colletta, and Jordon Hardwick at 4 apiece as well.

Ladue were the first to score thanks to Connor Spritas free throws. However, on Vianney's first possession, Maddock fouled out. The Golden Griffins only made one of their free throws.

The score was tied when Mandina came up big again and hit a baseline jumper to go up by 2, which sent most of the gym rocking.

With under a minute left, Spirtas drew another foul and made both of his shots to tie the game again. Now Vianney had the option of holding for one shot, but with 52 seconds left they decided to take a chance sooner rather than later. They failed to score, which gave Ladue another crack at winning the game.

Johnston had the ball again. Again he drove into the paint. Again he was met by a wall of Golden Griffins surrounding him. Again he jumped and hung in the air, which seemed like an hour. However this time he laid the ball off for Collins down below on the baseline, but under the goal, which gave him a slightly bad angle. He sky hooked his shot, but it didn't fall in.

Overtime number two.

Ladue scored first again and on the next possession the climax of the game arrived when Tanner Cochran picked up his 5th and final foul on an offensive foul. Vianney would now have to bear down again for a third time. However, Junior Jordan Cosby had a response of his own in the shape of a huge 3 pointer to go up by five with under 3 minutes to play and Vianney was finally fading away with Colletta and Mandina fouling out.

Piece by piece Ladue chipped away with free throws and finally won the contest of the evening 76-68. The tip off was at 5:00 and the game ended a little past 7:00.

This was a very great experience and quality game on for the Rams. A great game to prepare for the playoffs. Now Ladue will take on the Hazelwood Central Hawks on Monday after the games on Friday were postponed.