KIRKWOOD – They call it “jumping the spin.”
It is a defensive concept drilled at Vianney basketball practice that forces a dribbler to make a spin move while a second defender swoops in from behind to steal the ball.
Ben Karsten forced the spin, Chase Duke swiped the ball and then dropped in a buzzer-beating layup to give Vianney a thrilling 81-79 victory over Clayton to win the Rotating 8 Tournament championship Friday in front of a packed gym at Vianney High.
The steal and score punctuated a magnificent 32-point night for Duke, who eclipsed his previous career high by 10 points with an assortment of strong drives, mid-range jumpers and long-range bombs.
“He’s a grinder who is constantly working on getting better,” Vianney coach Kevin Walsh said. “It’s not a surprise to see what he’s doing because he works as hard as anybody I’ve ever coached.”
Clayton (11-4) erased a 10-point, second half deficit and soared to a 72-68 lead on consecutive, rainmaking floaters by Matthew Hurst and Damarion Verges. It was a shot the Greyhounds practiced specifically to combat Vianney 7-footer Mamadou Barry, who blocked 12 shots in the Griffins’ semifinal victory over Parkway North, but managed only one against the Greyhounds on Friday.
But Duke showed his true grit in bringing Vianney (15-1) back. He retrieved an offensive rebound, utilized a head fake and produced a three-point play to change momentum. His next journey to the free throw line sliced the deficit to 75-74 with 2:26 remaining.
Early in the season, Karsten was the Griffin producing 30-point performances, but an injury during a holiday tournament slowed him down. Duke and junior Brock Long, who added 19 points on Friday, accepted the challenge to raise their games to another level.
“We don’t have one set player on our team. Ben stepped up early, and at the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament, he tweaked his ankle. He took a break, and it made other people have to step up,” Duke said.
Trailing 78-77, Vianney called a timeout to draw up a play with 25 seconds remaining. The Griffins went with their bread-and-butter play – a back door cut from Karsten to Long that had produced layups all three times they had tried it during the game.
But Clayton junior Sabastian Bolden, the area leader in steals, anticipated it, stole it, and the 91 percent free throw shooter headed to the foul line to try to increase the Greyhounds’ lead.
“If you would tell me before the game that my best player is at the free throw line up two with 20 seconds left, I’ll take it every single day of the week,” Clayton coach Sumner Ahearn said.
Bolden sank the first free throw but missed the second. Karsten grabbed the rebound, raced down the floor and scored a tough layup in traffic to tie the game at 79 with 10 seconds remaining.
Clayton quickly inbounded the ball to Verges, who raced down the right sideline. Before he reached half court, Karsten forced him to spin and Duke closed in from behind. Verges lost control of the ball and Duke headed the other direction with time running out. He avoided a steal attempt from Bolden and approached the rim.
“Ben played great defense and I got (the ball),” Duke said. “I thought I had about two seconds left. I knew I had to go up with it. It was a weird angle, a little scary, but it was good.”
As the ball passed through the net, the buzzer sounded, and the Vianney student section mobbed the victorious Griffins. It was a playoff-like scene that could have easily passed for a moment in mid-March.
“I grew up going to MCC games, my cousin played at De Smet. Friday night MCC basketball is intense, some of the best basketball in the state,” Ahearn said. “We played in a similar environment in the semifinals of the Christmas tournament at MICDS and got blown out. In three weeks, we’ve gone from getting blown out in a big situation to having the basketball with a chance to win. To grow that much makes me extremely happy and proud to go forward with this group of guys.”
The game was played at a breakneck pace, with a 35-second shot clock barely noticed above the backboard. The teams combined for 25 three-pointers, with Clayton making 14. There were eight lead changes in the fourth quarter alone.
“It’s a little nerve-wracking. You feel like every possession matters. If you miss a shot, you have to transition right to defense and not worry about it. It’s a quick game, but it’s fun,” Duke said.
The largest Vianney lead was 58-48 late in the third quarter, but Verges, who led Clayton with 25 points and Bolden, who added 20, led the Greyhounds back. A 3-ball by Andrew Kuhlmann put Clayton ahead 64-63 and began a wild, back-and-forth, final seven minutes in which Vianney eventually prevailed on Duke’s buzzer-beater.
“We told our guys that that’s the kind of mettle and toughness necessary to win games in our conference and to win games in the playoffs. They showed a ‘never say die’ attitude and literally had to play to the final buzzer,” Walsh said.
He added, “It was a heck of finish to a heck of a game.”
For a full photo gallery from this game, visit: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Boys-Basketball-Photos/Boys-Basketball-2025-26/Clayton-at-Vianney-1-16-26
