Schools
Ladue Runs Past Affton in Key Conference Contest
The Rams have five players score in double figures in a 78-56 victory at home Friday night.
Ladue guard Ryan Daniels found himself seated next to head coach Chad Anderson less than a minute into the Rams' Suburban East Conference game against Affton Friday night.
The senior was back on the court a minute later and he and the Rams put on quite a show the rest of the way, defeating the Cougars 78-56 at home.
"I was real disappointed and frustrated when I came out so soon," Daniels said. "But it was because I didn't run the play and tried to do my own thing."
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The Rams played very unselfishly the rest of the way, finishing with five players in double figures.
"We've got to play team ball to be successful and I thought we did a good job of that tonight," Anderson said. "I feel we have a good shot at competing and winning the conference which is our goal. We played a good solid game tonight."
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Ladue improved to 2-0 in the six-team Suburban East Conference. The Rams defeated Normandy early in the season.
The game against Affton was close throughout the first half. The Rams scored the final five points of the half, three coming on a buzzer-beater by Cornell Johnston which gave Ladue a 36-27 halftime advantage.
"That was a real momentum changer," Anderson said of Johnston's last second 3-pointer. "Cornell is a special player. He made some good decisions tonight. You want the ball in his hands in late game situations."
Johnston opened the second half the same way he ended the first, with a 3-pointer, on the opening possession of the third quarter.
That began a 42-point second half for the Rams.
"We got off to a slow start tonight but we really picked it up in the fourth quarter," Daniels said. "The fourth quarter is when it matters the most."
Affton was able to get as close as 10 points on three occasions late in the third quarter but never cut the deficit to single digits.
Daniels led a well-balanced Ram attack with 15 points. Johnston and Austin DaGue had 14 each, Cameron Harder had 12 and Andrew Maddock added 10 off the bench.
"We have six or seven guys who are capable of scoring on a consistent basis," Anderson said.
Affton's Halid Abera led all scorers with 20 points. Abera had four 3-pointers. Sean Benedict added 14 and Jon Tevebaugh 13 for the Cougars, who fell to 8-5 overall.
Ladue improved to 8-3.