The St. Louis U. High basketball team defeated Vianney on Jan. 15 and Normandy on Jan. 18 before a last-minute loss to Webster Groves on Jan. 20, bringing the Jr. Bills’ record to an even 4-4. SLUH continued its stellar defensive run, holding all three opponents to under a point per possession, but failed to make much of it on the offensive end against Normandy and Webster Groves, leading to a pair of close finishes that the Jr. Bills split 1-1.

Just seven days after an 11-point loss to Vianney, SLUH defeated Vianney on the road, 53-42, to earn its first MCC win of the season and improve to 3-3. Junior Jaden McClain pitched in 16 points, the second most of his career, and junior Nick Kramer added 15 points. SLUH’s defense held Vianney, who entered the game averaging 59.7 points per game, to its second-lowest point total of the season.

Vianney started the game with a quick 14-4 run, capitalizing on SLUH’s 2-for-7 start from the floor and a pair of early turnovers. After Kramer converted an offensive rebound into two easy points, the Jr. Bills defense stole passes from Griffins guard Ethan Lattimore on consecutive possessions and used a 7-0 run to trim Vianney’s lead to just three points. But Vianney connected on a three-pointer at the buzzer to push the lead to 17-11 at the end of the first quarter.

McClain caught fire in the second quarter, leading SLUH to a 9-0 run with seven points that cut Vianney’s lead to one. Kramer drained his first three-pointer of the game to give SLUH its first lead, 27-26, with 36.8 seconds left in the half, and McClain drew a charge on the next possession to take the Jr. Bills’ one-point lead into the half.

Junior Luke Johnston, who nailed the game-winning three-pointer in SLUH’s win against University City, delivered a massive three-pointer to beat the buzzer at the end of the third quarter. The shot gave the Jr. Bills a seven-point lead, their largest lead of the game to that point.

SLUH held its lead for all of the fourth quarter despite a late push by Vianney. The Griffins cut the lead to just four points with 1:46 left in the game, but SLUH capitalized at the free-throw line, spoiling Vianney’s comeback bid.

On Monday, Jan. 18, SLUH squeaked past Normandy with a strong first half performance and a dominant defensive performance. Kramer had 25 points, his season high and second most in his career, and SLUH owned the glass with 14 offensive rebounds to Normandy’s two. SLUH held Normandy to a remarkable 0.733 points per possession, the best against an opponent by a wide margin for the Jr. Bills so far this season.

Senior guard and Normandy’s leading scorer Jamaray Davenport torched the Jr. Bill defense in the first half with 11 points, connecting on three three-pointers and a layup. Nick Kramer also delivered a massive first half performance, scoring 16 points in the half that helped SLUH take a 30-18 lead into the half.

Normandy began the second half on a 6-0 run, stifling SLUH’s offense and forcing several turnovers and poor shots. Jaden McClain calmed the storm with a pair of buckets off Normandy turnovers, but Normandy roared back with another 6-2 run to close the quarter trailing by just six points.

After the two teams exchanged buckets early in the fourth quarter, Normandy again was on the better side of a lopsided run. Thanks to a 9-0 run, Normandy took their first lead of the game late in the fourth quarter. With Normandy leading 43-42 with under two minutes to play, sophomore forward Zachary Ortwerth added a huge bucket to retake the lead. Normandy responded with a quick bucket of its own, but it was again Ortwerth who rose to the occasion for SLUH, tacking on his fourth field goal of the game to put the Jr. Bills back up by one. SLUH’s defense stopped a final chance for Normandy to retake the lead and nailed five free throws to ensure a SLUH victory.

“It was important to go down offensively and create easier shots late in the game,” Ortwerth said. “We needed to score on as many offensive possessions as possible.”

SLUH forced 14 Normandy turnovers in the victory, led by sophomore Aaron Walker Jr.’s three steals. But it was SLUH’s performance on the glass that proved to be the difference maker, outrebounding Normandy by nine and converting on several second-chance opportunities from the team’s 14 offensive rebounds.

On Wednesday, SLUH faced out-of-conference rival Webster Groves, who ended SLUH’s season last year in the district semifinal with a 41-29 victory. After an early Webster Groves lead, the two teams battled with little separating either team throughout the game, but Webster Groves used a late layup and defensive stand to take the victory.

Webster Groves began the game on an 8-0 run with field goals from four different players, but SLUH responded with an 11-0 run to end the first quarter. Kramer scored SLUH’s first bucket of the game on a stellar alley-oop assisted by McClain; he went on to score six more points in the quarter.

SLUH and Webster Groves battled back-and-forth early in the second quarter, but it was Webster Groves who took a 23-21 lead into the half thanks to a late 8-2 run in which SLUH shot just 1-for-5 from the floor.

Webster Groves maintained a one possession lead into the fourth quarter, leading just 33-30, but sophomore CJ Lang drained a triple just seconds into the quarter to push the Webster Groves up to six. McClain responded with a jumper from the elbow, and after a key defensive stop, junior Jack Christanell connected from beyond the arc to trim the lead to one. It was McClain, again, who played dominant down the stretch, draining a step-back three after another Webster Groves basket and later converting on a free-throw to give the Jr. Bills the lead.

With SLUH up a point, Webster sharpshooter junior Matt Enright was fouled on a contested three-pointer with just under one minute to play. Enright, who entered the game shooting 72 percent at the line, made all three, forcing Jr. Bills head coach Erwin Claggett to use a timeout. Claggett’s setup after the timeout isolated Kramer on the low block, and he turned and hit the fadeaway to tie the game at 46 apiece with 29 seconds left.

After electing to drain much of the remaining clock, Webster Groves head coach Justin Mathes called a timeout with 15 seconds left. Senior Luke Maupin received the inbounds pass at the top of perimeter, and a textbook screen from Enright freed up R.J. Henderson for a wide-open route to the rim. Maupin sliced the pass through the lane, and Henderson converted on the layup that broke the tie with 7.6 seconds to play. Claggett did not use a timeout, but Walker Jr. found Kramer along the baseline for a contested two that would have sent the game to overtime, but the shot was long, giving Webster Groves a dramatic victory at the Danis Field House.

SLUH will battle Eureka at home on Jan. 23 with a chance to bounce back from the last-minute loss. Eureka is an impressive 10-2 on the season, posing a tough challenge for the Jr. Bills as they look to return back to above .500 on the season. The game will begin at 12:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on the SLUH Sports Network.