TOWN AND COUNTRY – Ladue senior Sam Goellner tipped the ball away from a Westminster dribbler at midcourt and performed a Superman dive to retrieve it.
While lying on the floor, he located senior Dwayne Foley for a crucial, fourth quarter layup.
Goellner’s hustle play perfectly symbolized a two-year stretch in which Ladue has shown an uncanny ability to make winning plays at crunch time.
“We’ve played together a long time. In the final minutes, it comes down to our experience and trusting each other,” Goellner said.
Foley provided the scoring, Goellner added the hustle, and the Ladue defense shut the door as the Rams remained undefeated with a hard-fought, 39-35 victory Wednesday at Westminster.
Ladue (11-0) won for the sixth time in the last seven meetings against Westminster, with all six victories decided by four points or fewer.
“We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game,” Westminster coach Dale Ribble said. “Both teams played extremely hard. Both teams played well defensively. Give them credit, they made plays at the end of the game.”
Making end-of-game plays has become synonymous with Ladue, which increased its record to 16-3 in games decided by eight points or fewer over the past two seasons.
On Wednesday, the Rams found a way to overcome a stiff challenge from a Westminster team that withstood intense, defensive pressure and refused to engage in a track meet.
In the first half, Westminster freshman Will Powers and junior JD Robertson drained three-pointers after long possessions. Sophomore Tobi Akinyede and freshman Darrell Crump crashed the offensive glass for putbacks, and the young, poised Wildcats entered halftime trailing 16-15.
“They had the pace in the first half, but we just had to stay with our game,” Ladue junior Jack Edgerton said.
In the second half, Ladue’s full court press became more intense and chaotic, even sending double-teams at Westminster players after they cleared defensive rebounds.
“Our team plays fast-paced,” Foley said. “We try not to play their game, we like to play our game, so we tried to speed them up and force them to make turnovers.”
A steal and dunk by Foley opened the second half. Nine seconds later, a steal from junior Trisiah Edwards sent Goellner for a breakaway layup and propelled Ladue to a 20-15 lead.
But Westminster remained composed. After a lengthy possession, Powers sank a 15-foot baseline jumper. Late in the quarter, he connected on a corner three that gave the Wildcats a 25-24 lead in the closing minute.
The freshman Powers led the Wildcats with 11 points. He drained contested shots, managed the Ladue press and helped organize the Westminster half-court offense.
“He’s coming along. He continues to get better every day and more comfortable. He did a lot of really good things tonight, and I think he’s going to be a really good player,” Ribble said of Powers.
A long Edgerton triple put Ladue in front 27-25 after three quarters and foreshadowed the answers the Rams would continue to provide in the fourth.
A corner three in transition by Westminster senior Asher Amanual trimmed the deficit to two, but Goellner’s Superman dive and assist to Foley increased the Rams’ lead to 34-30.
Another Powers’ triple cut the deficit to one, but Ladue senior Piersson Calvert drained a 17-foot jumper moments later to increase the Rams’ lead to 36-33 with 1:12 remaining.
Each Westminster score was answered by Ladue, and after the Rams forced a pair of turnovers in the final minute, they went to the free throw line to secure yet another narrow victory.
After scoring at least 53 points in every game this season, Ladue found a way to win on Wednesday despite scoring nearly 26 points below its 64.9 points per game average.
“It proves we can play different types of basketball, slow or fast-paced,” Foley said. “We can score a lot of points or win with 40 points on the board.”
And in the final minutes, the Rams excel.
During their magical run to the Class 5 state title game last season, Ladue survived a flurry of De Smet shot attempts during the final possession to win the district title, 48-47.
In the state quarterfinal, the Rams survived a buzzer-beater attempt by Westminster that missed by inches. Ladue advanced to the final four, 42-41.
While a fortunate bounce may be involved from time to time, the Rams’ poise and execution in the closing minutes is the result of hard work and preparation.
At practice, Ladue simulates late-game scenarios at least once per week during a segment that coach Chad Anderson calls ‘situational scrimmages.’
“A lot is executing, but I also attribute some of the success we’ve had in close games to playing hard,” Anderson said. “Our kids don’t quit. They play hard, they compete, and they don’t give up until the very last horn.”
This season, the Rams overcame a 19-point second half deficit to defeat MICDS and outlasted both Pattonville and Francis Howell in overtime.
On Wednesday, despite playing at an undesirable pace, and at times, staring up at a silent scoreboard, Ladue once again made the necessary plays to win a close game.
“Kudos to Westminster. They’re a great defensive team and they play hard. We knew it was going to be a dogfight, and we’re just happy to get away with a win,” Anderson said.
Goellner added, “They wanted a tight, slow game, but we still found a way.”
And ‘finding a way’ is what Ladue does best.