The Jr. Billikens’ season ended after a thrilling District Tournament run, as they were knocked out in Sectionals by CBC 53-40. 

SLUH, who had already lost to the Cadets twice in two attempts this season, came out of the opening gates firing. They led for the entirety of the first quarter, largely controlling the rhythm and flow of the game, and, as a result, they carried a 14-12 lead into the second quarter. 

Yet, the Jr. Bills’ offensive momentum sputtered for the remainder of the first half and they were only able to muster eight second quarter points. 

The game remained tightly contested, but the Cadets strung together a 9-0 run to end the half, rewarding themselves with their largest and most comfortable lead of the half, up 29-22 at the break. 

SLUH battled and clawed with the Cadets, playing them evenly through the third quarter and the back-and-forth basketball led to a 39-36 deficit for SLUH heading into the final quarter. 

The Cadets extended the lead to six points early on in the fourth quarter, but senior Nick Kramer gave the Jr. Bills a burst of life with an old fashioned three point play on a driving layup to cut the lead to 41-39.

Yet, thanks to senior Rob Martin and his 29 points on 10 of 13 shooting, CBC continually answered the Jr. Bills, staving off the Jr. Bills’ comeback efforts and ultimately burying them. 

SLUH’s offense was stymied by the Cadet defense, which allowed the Jr. Bills to score just one point for the remainder of the game en route to the 53-40 loss. 

Big man senior Kevin Hogan locked up 7-foot-2 sophomore John Bol for the third time this season, holding him to a measly five point,s and Kramer added 16 points on the offensive side of the court, but that wasn’t enough to knock off the Cadets. 

CBC went on to eliminate Chaminade 70-52 in the state semifinals en route to beating Nixa 68-51 in the state championship, winning their first state championship in seven years. 

Although it did not end in a glorious fashion filled with championship hardware and ring fittings for the Jr. Billikens, this was an incredibly successful season that the team held pride in. 

“I’m very proud,” Kramer said. “We won districts, we won the tournament we hosted, we had some great wins and we really grew as a team.” 

SLUH compiled its best record (18-8) and first season over the .500 mark since the 2016-17 season when the team finished 21-7. When the  current seniors first joined the program as freshmen, the varsity team posted a miserable campaign of 5-22, but these seniors are the ones responsible for turning the program around and finally coming full circle this year, as they finished ten games above .500. 

“This team had a higher drive and confidence than any team I’ve ever been a part of,” senior Jack Christanell remarked. “We set our goal in the fall to make a run, and we never lost sight of that goal.” 

The team was led by its stellar five man lineup consisting of Kramer, who averaged 19.2 points per game and 5.8 rebounds; junior Zach Ortwerth, who averaged 9.9 points and 5 rebounds per game; senior Jaden McClain (9.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 4.3 assists per game); junior AJ Walker Jr. (10.5 points, 2.2 steas, and 4.6 assists per game); and Hogan, (4.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.0 blocks per game).

Christanell and sophomore Charlie Isom-McCall served to be spark plugs off the bench down the stretch run of the season, and seniors Nick Witcher and Charlie Stewart never failed to lead the team in morale off the bench. 

While it may sting for a while, the basketball team won’t hold that final loss to Cadets at the forefront of their mind when reminiscing upon the season. They’ll think fondly of team trips to Kansas City and Quincy, signature wins over Chaminade and Webster Groves, or simply the company of their teammates in the locker room. 

“I’ll always remember this season and how successful we were,” Hogan reflected. “We’ve been playing together for four years, and this year all our hard work finally paid off. I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to enjoy this season with.”