While most of the sports attention this past week has been on the hockey team—who play in the state championship tonight—the Saint Louis U. High basketball team (16-10) has been making its own headways in the District Tournament. SLUH dominated Pattonville (7-18) on Wednesday night, and will face off against Chaminade (19-8) in the District Semifinals tonight at 5:30. 

The Pattonville Pirates, the No. 6 seed, was supposed to be a cakewalk for the Jr. Bills, and the veteran leadership on SLUH made sure it was. SLUH beat the Pirates 54-35. Pattonville had been a powerhouse program the previous two years, even beating SLUH in the District Championship in 2021; however, this season was something of an off year for them. They had lost seven straight going into this matchup, and SLUH made it eight. 

SLUH got off to a shaky start. The energy was low, there was a lack of a student section, and the team came out flat. In any other game, that would have been a major cause for concern. Luckily, it didn’t matter because despite the low energy, the U. High got out to an early 17-6 lead, thanks in part to a three ball from senior Cayman Butler and 6 points from sophomore Landon Pace. 

On the defensive side, SLUH had Pattonville locked down and unable to break through.

“We harped all week at practice on defense,” said junior Charlie Isom-McCall. “And we knew that if we didn’t play our best, they could have pulled off the upset.” 

It was more of the same in the second quarter. SLUH was pretty much getting whatever they wanted. Isom-McCall and senior Trey Phillips each had four to lead SLUH’s offense. On the defensive end, they stayed strong. A few big stops by Phillips and steals from senior AJ Walker kept Pattonville to only nine second quarter points. SLUH was up 30-15 at half. 

“We came out a little flat early, but we locked in because we realized that we needed to get the win,” said Phillips. “Even though we had a dominant first half on the scoreboard, we got to play better for us to win districts.”

SLUH took their foot off the gas a little bit in the third quarter. It was the only quarter that Pattonville outscored the Jr. Bills. SLUH started with a Walker bucket and an and-one from senior Trey Phillips. Pattonville went on a run to close out the quarter but SLUH was still up 37-24 going into the fourth. 

SLUH had a substantial lead, but Pattonville was fighting back. They cut the lead down to 10 with under six to play. Then came the U. High. Ortwerth and Isom-McCall each knocked down threes, Kreuter got on the board, and Pace knocked down the end of the game free throws to close out the win. SLUH won 54-35, advancing them to the District Semifinals.

“I’m glad we got that win and advanced,” said Kreuter. “There were moments to learn from and improve, but we got out with a win and that is all that matters.”

SLUH can narrow in their focus to Chaminade. This will be the third time these two teams square off and they could not be more evenly matched. In the first matchup, SLUH took home a 72-69 win while Chaminade bested the Jr. Bills 56-52 the second time around. And for SLUH, it's all about playing their game. 

“After coming back from down 20 in that second game, I think we know them well,” said Isom-McCall. “I think it’ll be a close game and if we play our game, we can beat them again.”

Defense truly will be the key. Chaminade is led by senior Nilivan Daniels, who is averaging 19.5 points per game. Yet SLUH has held Daniels to 14 and 11 in the first two meetings. Keeping Daniels off the scoreboard will be the key to advancing past the Red Devils and making it to their second straight District Final.   

“We’re gonna need to stop BJ (Ward) and Nilivan,” said Kreuter. “Were gonna have to disrupt them on the defensive end early and keep doing what we're doing on offense. We’ve been playing four years for this moment so let’s go out and get a win.”

SLUH faces Chaminade tonight at 5:30.