Playoffs? Playoffs! All eyes are now turned to next week's round district matchup against Pattonville after the St. Louis U. High Basketball team (15-10) wrapped up their season with back-to-back losses to Vianney on Senior Night and Cardinal Ritter.

The Vianney Griffins (12-13) have had some moments where they've fallen flat and lost games that they should have won, while in other moments, they’ve shined and looked like one of the best teams in the area. On Friday, it was the latter. They are led by sophomore Luke Walsh and freshman Eddie Smajic, who combined for 36 of Vianney's 57, and they pride themselves on living behind the three point arc. The difference in this matchup compared to these teams first meeting in January is defense. SLUH scored 21 fewer points this time around and it cost them the game. 

Everything went wrong for SLUH for the first five minutes. Something was off. Maybe it was because the focus was on the Senior Night festivities, honoring seniors AJ Walker, Zach Ortwerth, Cal Kreuter, Trey Phillips, and Cayman Butler. Maybe it was because SLUH was off school for a faculty day. Or maybe it was because the JV game before went to double OT causing the game to be delayed 35 minutes. But immediately, Vianney’s 7-foot-3 big man Symon Ghai was throwing down lobs and the Griffins’ perimeter players were letting it fly from distance, and SLUH had no response. 

But then Ghai picked up two quick fouls and Vianney’s paint presence went to the bench. In the last 90 seconds of the quarter, the Jr. Bills got in a groove and went on a 7-0 run which gave them a 9-7 lead after one.

“They would throw random traps at us at the start,” said Kreuter. “We weren’t running plays, forcing bad shots, and were flustered.”

Then came Luke Walsh. Walsh hit threes on back-to-back possessions to give the Griffins a lead that they would not give up for the rest of the game. Walker put the SLUH squad on his back with acrobatic layups and perfection from the charity stripe, scoring 8 of the 10 points for SLUH in the second. However, Walker’s heroics could only do so much when Vianney hit 5 threes, three from Walsh and another from Smajic. SLUH couldn’t match the Griffins’ offensive production and were down 27-19 entering the half. 

“We had a game plan to stop the three point shooting,” said Phillips. “We were supposed to play tight D, close out on shooters, and not to help on drives. They were just knocking ‘em down.”

The second half started with a Walker steal that equaled two quick points on the other end. However, Vianney did not let SLUH go on any type of run. Walker would score then Walsh would go down and do the same thing. Ortwerth hit a three and then Vianney would go back down and feed Ghai in the post. SLUH was able to get their offense going, but they needed to make more stops to get back in it. They went into the fourth trailing 41-32. 

“We were still in it,” said Kreuter. “We needed to string together stops on D … but we didn’t.”

SLUH was nowhere near out of the game at the start of the fourth. And they came out with energy. Walker hit a silky smooth runner and junior Jalen Jones converted on a momentum changing And-1. Vianney responded with a quick two but then Ortwerth bodied the smaller Vianney defender for a bucket and Walker got another steal that led to a layup. The lead was cut to seven. 

But unfortunately it was too little too late as SLUH, having to go for steals, started playing ultra aggressive defense that gave Vianney some easy buckets. Vianney is also the best free throw shooting MCC team with their closing lineup all shooting above 70 percent. SLUH saw a glimpse of success near the end but Vianney pulled out the win 57-50, spoiling Senior Night for the U-High. 

SLUH then trekked to Cardinal Ritter on Tuesday after having the previous contest canceled on the Jan. 30 snow day. Cardinal Ritter (20-4) has been one of the most dominant teams in the area this season and went into the matchup with SLUH having won 17 of their previous 18 games. They are led by junior point guard Clayton Jackson, who is averaging 15.9 points per game. SLUH played the Cardinals tight for most of the game, but a bad defensive fourth quarter cost them the win. 

The game started out perfect for SLUH as Cardinal Ritter was assessed a technical foul for wearing gray uniforms at home (NFHS rules state that the home team has to wear white jerseys), and SLUH took the lead before any time had come off the clock. And then the tight-end duo of Ortwerth and sophomore Landon Pace got involved, with a dunk by the Iowa commit and a baby hook shot by Pace. Kreuter was knocking down threes and SLUH was clicking on all cylinders on offense. Unfortunately, Ritter stayed right in the Jr. Bills shadow, and SLUH only had a 20-18 lead after one.

“We kept going back and forth with them,” said Kreuter. “We got up with easy transition buckets. We kept them out of transition and made them play in the half court.” 

SLUH’s offense is not a 20-point per quarter type of team, and Ritter made some adjustments to control the Jr. Bills. But as teams all year have learned, it's nearly impossible to make any adjustments to stop AJ Walker. Walker had 7 of the teams 11 in the second, including a deep contested three that silenced the Cardinal Ritter fans. But when it's just Walker, it's not enough, and Ritter took their first lead on a buzzer-beater layup and went into the half up 32-31. 

The Lions started the second half with the ball and did not waste any time getting going. They hit a corner three against Jr. Bills new 1-3-1 defensive look. SLUH had a good offensive quarter but needed to come out with a different defensive mindset this half which was the reason for the defensive change. That might not have been the best option as the Lions set the tone for the second half going on a 7-0 run to start. However, the Jr. Bills were only down 47-42 at the end of the third. 

Despite only being down five, the fourth quarter was all Cardinal Ritter. The Jr. Bills did not get much going on offense and were struggling to contain the shifty Lions. Ritter showed their ability to convert on stops and in transition. Once the game was out of reach, freshman Keenan Harris, a key player on the SLUH football defense this past season, saw some important minutes for his development, playing a lot of the fourth quarter. The Cardinal Ritter Lions comfortably won this game 71-51. 

Not having Charlie Isom-McCall on the court against the Lions proved to be a problem. Isom-McCall brings a defensive presence that the Jr. Bills will need through postseason play. He is also the Jr. Bills’ second leading scorer, averaging 9.9 points per game. 

“We lost a big scoring chunk and defensive presence without Charlie,” said Kreuter. “Looking forward we will be glad to have him back because he is a key part of our team.” 

The energy is now fully towards next week's matchup against Pattonville (7-16) who have regressed from their last two seasons after graduating SLU freshman (and current teammate of Nick Kramer ’22) Kellen Thames. This year, those shoes have yet to be filled. Pattonville has no 10 point per game scorer. However, with that, the scouting report gets more complicated since their seven top guys are all averaging between five and nine points per game. 

If SLUH can get past the Pirates, they will face the winner of Chaminade and Francis Howell North. SLUH plays Pattonvlle next Wednesday at 5:30 in the Danis Field House.