Ladue Stays Red Hot With Blowout Win Over Bayless

Fresh off a pair of wins over highly-ranked CBC and much-less regarded Wentzville Holt, the Ladue High boys basketball team looked like it was in the mood for a much easier night when it took on Bayless High Wednesday night.

The Rams, who have been a stalwart defensive club all season, came out of the locker room and played perhaps their best eight minutes of defense this entire season during in the first quarter, and held the visiting Bronchos to just two points, on their way to a comfortable 57-39 victory at home.

Ladue, which has eased its way up to the No. 5 spot in the area Top 20 rankings, has now won seven straight ballgames dating back to the semifinals of the MICDS Holiday Tournament.

Last week, the Rams had perhaps their best week of the season, when they blew out Fort Zumwalt West and Fort Zumwalt North, and then outlasted then-No. 2 ranked CBC to win the DC Wilcutt Invitational.

This week, Ladue will play three games in five days again, and thanks to Wednesday’s win, the Rams already own impressive victories over Holt and Bayless, with the chance to sweep the week again coming on Friday, at home against McCluer South-Berkeley.

Wednesday’s contest was essentially over by the midway point of the first quarter.

By then, Ladue was already up double-digits and was playing swarming defense that at times wouldn’t even let Bayless get a shot off.

The shorthanded Bronchos, who only had eight players available on Wednesday, gave a valiant effort.

But they just couldn’t match up with a Ladue team that despite its own high-scoring ways, has earned a reputation as one of the toughest defensive teams in the area -- evidenced by the 15 steals the Rams collected against the Bronchos on Wednesday.

Junior Connor Spirtas had a team-high five steals, while teammate and potential Player of the Year candidate Cornell Johnston added four of his own, to go along with a team-high 16 points and nine assists to lead the Rams.

While fellow junior Andrew Maddock controlled the lane for Ladue with 12 points, seven rebounds, a steal, and a blocked shot of his own.

For Bayless, junior Patrick Triplett was the one shining light, with a game-high 17 points, eight rebounds, and four assists.

Unfortunately for the Bronchos, with talented post player Edin Mehmedovic possibly not playing the for the rest of the season, the just don’t have the horses to run with a team like Ladue.

SCORING SUMMARY

Score by Quarters ........... 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 -- Final Score

Bayless ............................ 2 . 13 .. 7 .. 17 -- 39

Ladue ............................. 13 . 16 . 14 . 14 -- 57

Individual Scorers

Bayless -- Patrick Triplett 17, Muhamed Poljo 11, Billy Tran 5, Munir Hirkic 4, Edin Husic 2.

Ladue -- Cornell Johnston 16, Andrew Maddock 12, Jordan Cosby 8, Austin DaGue 6, Adehkeem Brown 5, Mark Rodger 3, Connor Spirtas 3, Jon Collins 2, Cameron Harder 2.