Ladue Rams Weekly Review: Back to Action

Westminster 2/2/14

First up was the Westminster Wildcats. They were 10-6 going into the game and their best win was perhaps against now 11-6 Hazelwood East early in the season. The Rams started well on offense by breaking down Westminster's zone, finding the big men underneath, and getting fouled. However the Wildcats came out red hot. Their first four shots were 3 pointers and they hit them all. One shot even got a very friendly shooters touch. The score after one quarter was 19-14 in favor of the Rams.

The second quarter started off well as the Rams went on an 8-0 run to burst out to a 27-14 lead. The Rams defense held Westminster to no field goals for half of the quarter. However with under four minutes to go, the Wildcats heated up again, while the Rams went cold. Willed on by Shane Benes, who is going to play baseball for Mizzou next spring, Westminster fought back to within six points with under 2 minutes to play. However Ladue put together a late surge, which put them back up to a ten point lead at halftime.

Coming out of halftime, the Rams quickly built up a 13 point lead and held it until the five minute mark. That was when Westminster awoke again. A couple of 3's and inside baskets later, the Wildcats cut the deficit to four points. By the end of the quarter the Rams only had a six point lead at 49-43.

Once again the Rams broke away from the Wildcats by getting out to a 13 point lead, but once again the Wildcats made another run. Benes was hitting everything he threw up. It did not matter if he was set or not set, he still made them. However the Rams had a response. Most of it was by a surprising candidate in Nahom Assefa. He hit a late basket in the 3rd quarter, but then exploded with 9 points in the 4th quarter. He even converted on an and 1. Although all of his baskets were within five feet of the basket, he made five out of six shots.

With under three minutes to go the Rams went to Cornell Johnston to dribble the air out of the ball and run away from the defenders. It is almost like he is playing chase with the defenders in tight space, yet they still can't get him. He dribbled and passed and dribbled some for a minute until he was fouled.

All game long Johnston broke various traps. One of them took place when he was trapped in the corner off of an inbounds and broke it, then he was momentarily triple teamed when another Wildcat joined to try and strip the ball away. Johnston broke out of it and found an open Ram down low for an easy layup because it was like a 5 on 2 for Ladue.

The game which hinted of some late drama throughout the game because the Wildcats, kept coming back, ended blandly again as the Rams ran away from Westminster, 65-53.

Four Rams were in double figures. Jon Collins had 12 points and made all 5 of his shots, including his 2 free throws. Jordan Cosby had 12 as well with 5 steals to go with that. Assefa had a season high of 11 points with 4 rebounds. Probably his best game of the season. Andrew Maddock finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Cornell Johnston tied his season low of points with 5, but dished out 12 assists, and tallied up 5 steals.

Parkway North 2/6/14

Three nights later at Nielson Gymnasium the Rams welcomed Parkway North, who were 8-7 coming into the contest having just won the Fort Zumwalt North Tournament.

The game started well again for Ladue, but so it did for Parkway North. It was even until with two minutes to go that the Rams separated themselves momentarily from the Vikings. The score was 24-15 after one quarter. Both teams were making baskets with ease.

Then Parkway North came out and took advantage of Ladue's 2nd quarter woes. The Vikings even took a one point lead when Ben Campbell made two free throws. Immediately the Rams took the lead back with a Cornell Johnston 3 pointer. Then the Rams started getting stops and baskets at the right and were rewarded with a 40-34 halftime lead when it could have been just the opposite.

The Rams started off well in the 3rd quarter as they got stops and baskets, while enjoying the better of play. However Parkway North wasn't done yet as they were led by Edin Bracic. Ladue held them off enough before the quarter was over and had  only a nine point lead. At this point the Vikings had to be thinking that they have a legitimate shot at toppling Ladue. They were only down by nine points. Only a simple 3 pointer, which they had been hitting all night, would make it a two possession game and then go from there.

None of that would actually happen.

In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, "You are terminated." That is what Ladue did to Parkway North in the 4th quarter. They went on a big run to put the game out of reach with the help of solid defense. The Vikings started taking quick shots and trying their luck with 3 point attempts. Cornell Johnston and Andrew Maddock took over the game. The Rams forced steals that led to transition baskets. They started hitting 3's consistently. Everything clicked. 

With four minutes left, it was twenty five point game and both teams unloaded their benches. The game ended with the final score of 85-58.

Johnston had a monster game with 27 points, 12 assists, and 3 steals. Maddock finished with 16 points, had a whopping 17 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Both are season highs for a game. Assefa finished in double digits again with 10 points, collected 5 rebounds, and 4 steals as well. That is a season high for him in that department. Jordan Cosby did a little bit of everything with 9 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 assists. Jon Collins had a perfect shooting night at 4-4 from the field with 8 points.

St. Louis Christian (Public-Private Shootout) 2/8/14

Nobody knew a lot about STL Christian going into the game on Saturday at Whitfield, but soon they got to see who they were very easily. Easily because they are tall. Tall as in having eight players over 6'5". Tall as in having two players listed at 6'10". Tall as in making Andrew Maddock feel like 6'7" is an average height. Tall as in it is almost unfair they are that tall kind of tall. They are tall, but they freakishly athletic tall. None of their players looked uncoordinated. One of the 6'10" players is actually a prolific 3 pointer shooter. He is European and he totally fits the Euro basketball stereotype of being tall and can shoot.

STL Christian is an academy where they recruit players from around the world the play for them. Looking their roster they have several player names that are not English. Yet with all of that being said, Ladue was still apparently favored to win because they were 15-3 going into the game and ranked in the STLToday large school basketball poll. STL Christian had played only 2 other St. Louis schools. One with CBC when they lost by 30. The other was to Gateway STEM, which they won.

However, Ladue came out like a favored team would. They started out with a 4-0 lead then quickly came the Cougars. Their main form of attack was having one of their guards drive to basket by dishing it off or taking and scoring. That worked well. Ladue got points by using the same technique pretty much, but did a great job of finding an open man outside for a 3 pointer. That worked because the Rams came out hot. At one point Ladue had an 8 point lead, but STL Christian made sure that the deficit would get no further. Mark Rogers hit a 3 pointer right before the buzzer sounded to give the Rams a 23-19 lead.

Both teams paced each other going back and forth. However the offensive outlet slowed down because both teams started concentrating on defense with playing zone defense. That still didn't dampen the excitement. Prott of STL Christian, at 6'7", threw down a ferocious ally-hoop dunk, which amused the crowd, but didn't faze the Rams one bit. They still held their own and played even with the Cougars thanks in large part to Johnston who did it all on Saturday.

The Rams still had a 4 point lead going into the 3rd quarter at 39-35. The Rams have won the majority of their games by outplaying their opponents in the second half, however it was different today. STL Christian came out hitting their shots like they were all game, but Ladue wasn't. They finally cooled off. The Cougars took advantage of that with dunks and 3 pointers, while on defense they slowed up Johnston and blocked shots. They overtook Ladue and outscored them 16-10 in the quarter.

Still they were only up by 4 and all season the Rams have come back from leads like that in seconds. STL Christian made Ladue work for their points, but when opportunities presented themselves, the Rams didn't take them. They had about five open 3 pointers, but they didn't fall. However, Johnston got his to fall. He tied the game at 51 with a 3 and then stole a pass and scored to give the Rams the lead. again. Yet the Cougars kept coming. Whenever they didn't score it felt like a moral victory for the Rams.

All game long STL Christian were dynamite at the free throw line and finished the game making 21-25. That being said down late, and needing to get the ball quick with the Cougars shooting well, rebounding well, taking care of the ball well, and hitting free throws well. In summary, it was hard to get a stop.

With under a minute to go the Rams were down by 4 and hoping for a miracle. Johnston helped get there by hitting a pull up 3 pointer with under 30 seconds to go. After the Cougars inbound the ball, Johnston jumped as high as he could and deflected the ball on to the floor, but an STL Christian player pounced on the ball in time. Ladue fouled and the Cougars made both of their free throws and set Ladue up to tie or lose the game. Jordan Cosby brought the ball up because Johnston was being face guarded so tightly it looked like the defender was hugging him. It ended up paying to perfection when Cosby tried to get the ball to Johnston, but it hit a leg and was picked up by STL Christian and ended Ladue's chances of winning.

The final score was 68-63.