Senior Send Off

I want to give a big shout out to the 4 Ladue seniors, Connor Spirtas, Jon Collins, Andrew Maddock, and Cornell Johnston. I believe this 2014 class is the best to have ever played at Ladue High School in its 60 plus year history. Collins made varsity last year, Maddock and Spirtas have been on varsity for 3 years, and then Johnston has been an instant impact since his first game as a 5'5" freshman.

These seniors led Ladue to their first ever MICDS Holiday Tournament championship in school history. Their first ever D.C. Wilcutt Tournament championship. Have a combined 77-27 record over 4 years. In 2012 the Rams were the Suburban East Conference Champions for the first time since 2003.

Lets not forget the unforgettable win against CBC to win the D.C. Wilcutt championship last year. That CBC team had 3 Division-1 recruits on their team including Texas bound Jordan Barnett. However, the Rams still pulled it out thanks to a Jeremy Loftin three-pointer and a Connor Spirtas charge on Barnett in the finals 20 seconds of the game.

Andrew Maddock has over 700 points and 700 rebounds in his 3 years at Ladue. Cornell Johnston has scored over 1500 points, which is the school record and shattered the all time assists record with over 400 for his career. He probably has played and started the most games for a career as a Ladue Ram in history too. He has played in every game the Rams have played for the last 4 years, which 104. He has started in 103 of them.

As for tonight, the Rams won again beating Parkway South 68-44. Ladue as a whole played terrific. They got out to a 26-10 lead and never looked back. Johnston amused the crowd with his assists and offensive attack. Spirtas nailed a couple of three-pointers and played gritty defense as usual. Maddock muscled his way for points and rebounds as he usually does. Collins played hard the whole game after coming off his 22 point performance against Clayton.

It was just a typical night for the team. Mark Rogers hit 4 three-pointers and finished with 14 points. He also played good defense as well.

They are now 21-4 for the year, which has equalled last years win total at 21. Many thought the Rams wouldn't' do as well as last year, but I think it is safe to say that they have overachieved. They have one more game to play before districts, which will be at Parkway West, who beat SLUH 56-49 tonight. There is still work to do.

The one thing that has eluded the seniors is the coveted district championship victory. Each year since 2011 they have lost in the quarterfinals, lost in the semi-finals, and lost in the finals. All to Metro Catholic Conference teams, SLUH, CBC, and Chaminade respectively. It would mean the world to the players if they could make it out of the district. It will be very hard because they will have a rematch with SLUH from February 11th and if they win then they will most likely take on Chaminade led by super sophomore Jayson Tatum, who is one of the best sophomores in the country. It will be a battle every night, but the Rams have the team to pull it off.

The Ladue seniors will go out proud when it happens.