LADUE – There is a zombielike quality to the Ladue boys basketball team.
On Tuesday, trailing by double digits and with their top two scorers plagued with four fouls, the Rams’ had grim chances for victory.
But once again, after appearing down and out, Ladue displayed its freakish ability to rise up.
Dwayne Foley scored 21 points, including the go-ahead hoop in the final minute, and Ladue scored the final eight points of the game to defeat Lindbergh 60-57 in a Suburban Red Conference thriller at Nielson Gymnasium.
Ladue (20-1, 5-0), raised its record to 6-1 in its last seven one-possession games and 18-4 in games decided by eight points or fewer over the past two seasons.
“They’re fighters, they’re dawgs,” Ladue coach Chad Anderson said.
It required all the fight the Rams could muster to defeat Lindbergh (16-5, 2-2) and break a three-game losing streak to their Suburban Red rivals. Flyers’ senior Greg Leavitt scored a career-high 20 points, and his hoop with 1:53 remaining gave Lindbergh a 57-52 lead.
But the final two minutes belonged to the senior duo of Foley and Sam Goellner, each who played the duration of the fourth quarter with four fouls.
“I had to play smart, but we were still down, so I had to play hard,” Goellner said. “Might as well go for it.”
While Goellner caused havoc on the defensive end, Foley made clutch plays on offense. He drove baseline, used the rim to shield his shot from Lindbergh rim protector Quinn Sunderland, and connected on a left-handed, reverse scoop to cut the deficit to three.
Goellner intercepted the ensuing inbounds pass, drew a foul and drained both free throws to put Ladue within one.
After a steal in the midcourt by senior Piersson Calvert, Foley executed an almost identical left-handed scoop to put Ladue in front, 58-57, with under a minute to play. It was the Rams’ first lead since yielding the opening basket of the second half and erased what was once a 12-point second half deficit.
“We came into the game knowing we hadn’t beaten this team in three years. We knew it would be an intense, close game and we’d have to push through adversity to win,” Foley said.
Goellner snagged a physical, defensive rebound in traffic and drained a pair of free throws to give Ladue a three-point lead with eight seconds remaining.
Goellner, who did not score through the first three quarters, went 7-for-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and nabbed four second-half steals, most while living on the brink of disqualification.
“Sam and Dwayne have been through the fire, so they didn’t panic,” Anderson said. “We just made plays when we needed to make them, got some key turnovers and hit some big shots.”
On the Flyers’ final possession, Lindbergh senior Zac Goss lined up a left-wing, three-pointer that bounced off the front iron and Ladue celebrated yet another nail-biting win.
In the first half, Calvert was the big shot-maker for Ladue. He scored 10 of the Rams’ first 16 points, including back-to-back triples that helped build a 16-9 lead.
But Goss successfully negotiated the trapping Ladue pressure, Leavitt made shots near the rim and senior Quinn Sunderland denied them on the other end as Lindbergh seized momentum with a 17-3 run. During the spurt, Sunderland controlled the paint, blocking three shots and altering several others.
“In the fourth quarter, we tried to pull (Sunderland) away from the rim so if we got to the rim, we’d have a better chance of making it. That was pretty effective, but we probably should have done it sooner,” Anderson said.
Late in the second quarter, Calvert and Foley led Ladue on a 10-0 run of its own. Calvert dished two assists to Foley, including a 20-foot delivery as he was falling out of bounds near the Lindbergh bench.
He drew a backcourt charge that resulted in a Foley hoop off the ensuing inbounds play, and Calvert’s breakaway hoop in transition sent the Rams into halftime with a 29-28 lead.
“I just didn’t want to lose,” Calvert said. “We were down six or eight at that point, and I was just trying to make plays and get us back in the game.”
The Rams went 4-for-6 from three-point range in the first quarter but missed their next 10 attempts from behind the arc, and Lindbergh took advantage in the third quarter.
Leavitt drew a charge after a long Ladue possession and set the tone. Hustle plays, defensive rebounds and rim-front rejections helped propel the Flyers on an 16-5 run to open the third quarter. A three-point play in transition by Aiden Rush gave Lindbergh a 10-point lead.
But in the fourth quarter, the foul-plagued Foley and Goellner continued to eat, combining for 18 of the 21 points scored by the Rams. The only basket not scored by the duo was a corner three by Calvert to slice the deficit to 55-52 with 2:36 to play.
“I knew I didn’t shoot a three the whole half, so when I finally had a chance in the corner, I didn’t hesitate,” said Calvert, who ended the night with 17 points.
After Goss found Leavitt to increase the Lindbergh lead to 57-52, Ladue scored the final eight points and once again showed their ability to excel in pressure situations.
“We know that our fans and our press eventually will wear teams down, and it finally happened with three minutes left,” Goellner said.
Anderson added, “These guys are finding ways to make plays when they need to. It’s fun to watch.”