LADUE – With a labyrinth of staggered screens and bevy of backdoor cuts, the Vianney motion offense has produced headaches for opposing defenses this season.
So, prior to the matchup with the Griffins, MICDS coach Travis Wallace introduced several ways the Rams could try to slow down the high-powered Vianney attack.
“We went back and forth as to how we wanted to guard them. We practiced a bunch of switching (on screens), and then we asked the kids, ‘What do you want to do?’ Wallace said. “They told us, ‘We just want to play our normal defense.’”
The Rams’ normal defense was extraordinary Wednesday.
Gabe Weaver led four scorers in double figures and MICDS held Vianney to its lowest point total of the season in a 61-45 victory Wednesday at McDonnell Gymnasium on the snow-covered campus of MICDS.
MICDS (13-3), which avenged a narrow loss to Vianney last year, reached 13 wins before the end of January for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.
Vianney (16-3), ranked second in Class 5 in the latest MBCA coaches poll, and MICDS, ranked third, engaged in a classic battle at Vianney last season – a game which the Rams led by five points after three quarters only to have the Griffins outscore them 21-9 over the final eight minutes to claim victory.
This year, MICDS entered the fourth quarter with a similar 42-36 lead and a determination not to let history repeat itself. With Vianney employing a triangle-and-two defense, the three players not being guarded man-to-man took over. Slick passing between Tyler Ray, Keshon Mims and Gabe Weaver resulted in layups and mid-range jumpers that pushed the MICDS lead to 50-41 at the 5:27 mark.
“(Vianney) was focused on Brandon (Clemens) and Jason (Stokes). They were faceguarding them and me, Tyler and Keshon were getting open middies,” Weaver said.
As the deficit expanded and time shrank, Vianney was forced to play full man-to-man defense. MICDS spread the floor and Weaver found himself guarded on the perimeter by Vianney 7-footer Mamadou Barry. On consecutive possessions, Weaver caught the ball on the left wing, exploded with a quick first step, drove to the hoop and converted layups to increase the lead to 54-41.
Ten of Weaver’s game-high 16 points came in the pivotal fourth quarter. The University of Minnesota football commit finished his outstanding game with a full-court baseball pass to a streaking Ray to leave no doubt of the outcome.
“Tyler made a fake, ran down the court and was wide open. I saw him and just had to throw it down there for him to get a free layup,” Weaver said.
Ray finished with 14 points, Stokes added 12 and Mims contributed 10. Brandon Clemens, a 1,300-point scorer for the Rams, was held to four points and only attempted seven shots, as Vianney tried to take him out of the game.
“For us to be to as good as we want to be, there are going to be nights when Brandon is not scoring and other people are scoring. It’s good to see Tyler, Keshon, and Gabe step up and make plays,” Wallace said.
While Clemens did not fill up the scorebook, he made an impact in other ways. The senior contributed five assists, made two steals that led to breakaway layups, and chased Vianney sharpshooter Ben Karsten through a maze of pop-up screens.
The normally prolific 3-point shooting Griffins finished just 7-of-28 from long range and attempted only three free throws.
“Our team identity is defense. We’re really a hard-nosed defensive team,” Weaver said.
That hard-nosed defense was evident from the start. Weaver drew charges, Ray cleared away rebounds and the Rams double-teamed dribble handoffs. The intensity on defense created hurried shots, live-ball turnovers and a 19-6 lead after one quarter.
“They were the superior team tonight,” Vianney coach Kevin Walsh said. “They outplayed us, they out-toughed us, they out-coached us, they out-executed us, they out-everythinged us.”
In the second quarter, the shots began to fall and the Griffins slowly crept back into the game. Three-pointers by Chase Duke, Matt Reeves and Ben Karsten sliced the deficit to 26-22. Karsten’s left-wing triple touched nothing but net and the soothing splash produced a fitting sight and sound for his 1,000th career point.
In the third quarter, Mims spearheaded an 8-0 MICDS run with a short jumper and a three-pointer to push the lead to 42-30, but two free throws by Duke, a breakaway layup from Karsten, and a putback by Barry sliced the Vianney deficit to six points heading to the fourth quarter – a final eight minutes controlled thoroughly by MICDS.
“I saw us grow up,” Wallace said. “Last year, we were up by five at Vianney and we ended up losing. I saw maturity. We made plays we didn’t make last year.”
The Rams demonstrated comfort in playing both an up-tempo style and in slowing down the pace, while finding point production from a multitude of sources.
“We want to play up-tempo, go up-and-down, and we have some good players coming off the bench. We have a whole team,” Weaver said.
And with a defense that travels, the Rams are excited for the journey ahead.
“We’re excited for a state run,” Weaver said. “Defense wins ‘ships.”
For a photo gallery of this game visit: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Boys-Basketball-Photos/Boys-Basketball-2025-26/Vianney-at-MICDS-1-28-26
For a photo gallery of more Vianney and MICDS basketball games from this season, visit: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Boys-Basketball-Photos/Boys-Basketball-2025-26