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Health & Fitness

Ladue vs Hazelwood Central: Round 2 in the Sectionals

Who would have thought both of these teams would make it to this point, yet it is strange to rule them out because of their talent. Ladue had to go through heavily favored Chaminade, led by the #2 player in the class of 2016, Jayson Tatum. Yet they persevered. Hazelwood Central, despite their great records in the past years, have not won districts since 2009. They finally got past McClure North and are back.  As for the Rams it is the first time since 2003 when they beat MICDS to win districts. Arguably this team is much better than the 2003 team even though they had a harder road.

Both coaches have been on different paths and scrutiny. Coach Josh Martin of Hazelwood Central has been under the microscope for years because of the talent that has consistently come through Central, but has failed to win a district title when many believe he has had state title caliber teams. Chad Anderson of Ladue has been at the helm since 2008 and has been hailed as great hire as the years have gone by. In his 6th year Anderson has had only 1 losing season, which was his first year as head coach. This past year and this season have been the 2 biggest years of his time at Ladue and maybe in school history. With a 44-11 record you would think so. He passed his biggest test when the Rams upset Chaminade and that is where he and Martin meet again on a much bigger stage than the Vianney Invitation Championship game.

That game was won by Hazelwood Central 55-51 when Ladue had two separate 10 point leads and had an 8 point advantage going into the fourth quarter. If that game was played much later in the season and the Rams had that lead, it is hard to think that they would let it go. Ladue is undefeated in games when they have had a 2 possession lead with under 5 minutes left in the game.

Cornell Johnston has been the catalyst for Rams all year and has come up big when need be. He rallied Ladue past SLUH in the second half and then again against Chaminade on a big stage again having a big second half. Andrew Maddock came up huge as well as he hit 3 crucial free throws with under a minute to play to secure Ladue's place in the sectionals. Jon Collins and Connor Spirtas did their parts as usual. Collins got 2 dunks and one of them came by picking Tatum's pocket. Spirtas' biggest play came when he fouled Tyler Cook, who probably would've tied the game with a layup if he didn't get fouled by Connor. It was his fifth foul, but didn't mope or dread it. He accepted it and ran to the bench. Cook made 1 of 2 shots and didn't tie the game. Jerrid and Jordan Cosby played roles as well. Jerrid played great defense all night and guarded Tatum on the last play of the game and got the rebound to secure the Rams win. Jordan hit 2 three-pointers at crucial times. One of them was at the buzzer of the third quarter to push the lead to 45-40.

As for Central the Hawks have turned it up on their opponents. They crushed McClure 76-34 and got past long time foe McClure North 56-54. As for their recent form, a lot have the Hawks winning this one and they would have too if they knew these two teams would have met up with each other a long time ago. However since Ladue upset Chaminade, others have now believed in the Rams to keep going.

Both teams have a nice chance of keeping it going if they win on Wednesday night. The winner of this game will play either Fort Zumwalt South or Troy. Zumwalt has a nice record and are led by stud Preston Whitfield. Troy on the other hand came into the playoffs with only 5 wins. They beat Timberland on a miracle and controversial last second layup, defeated Fort Zumwalt West by 2 points, and then beat Holt, who Ladue beat by over 30 points, who upset Francis Howell to get to the district finals. Troy also started the season at 0-10. Yet their story is what makes high school basketball amazing. You have talented teams, hard working teams, and 7-19 teams in the sectionals.

However that is down the road and the Rams have to concentrate on a much bigger opponent. Ladue knows they can beat Hazelwood Central. A team just a couple of years ago was light years better than Ladue, but a couple of years is a lot of time in certain cases. High School basketball is one of those cases. We will see at St. Charles West High School at 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday night.

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