Webster Groves knocks off defending champion Cardinal Ritter

Helias Catholic survives buzzer-beater to defeat Springfield Catholic.

Author:
Cody Thorn
Publish date:
Mar 19, 2022 5:25 AM EDT

By Cody Thorn I Photos by Cheap Seats Photography

SPRINGFIELD — Webster Groves hit six free throws in the final minute to ensure there would be a new state champion crowned in Class 5.

The Statesmen knocked off Cardinal Ritter, 60-57, in a semifinal game Friday night at JQH Arena. The Lions, ranked No. 5, won a title in Class 5 last year and won Class 3 the year prior.

“We knew those kids over there. They are as tough as anybody,” Webster Groves head coach Justin Mathes said. “RJ (Ryan Johnson) does a great job with them. They play hard as hell. Right? But, you know, we pride ourselves on the exact same thing. We pride ourselves on the exact same things. We thought we matched them punch for punch.”

The No. 7-ranked Statesmen trailed for all of 23 seconds in the first half. The Lions (20-10) were down by eight at halftime but surged back by scoring the first for baskets of the second half, tying the game at 30.

A jumper by Robert Lewis with 3:11 left in the third quarter gave Cardinal Ritter a 34-32 lead for the first time since an initial 2-0 lead in the first quarter.

Tied at 36, a pair of 3-pointers by Matthew Enright in the final two minutes gave Webster Groves (23-8) a 42-37 lead going into the fourth.

“It's what needed to be done at the moment,” Enright said. “I think our defense was bigger. Getting stops was what we really needed.”

The Statesmen never trailed after Enright’s three and went up by nine points at the 4-minute mark in the fourth quarter. The Lions trimmed the deficit down to one on two different occasions, on layups from Kristian Davis and Jordan Nichols at 1:13 and 52 seconds, respectively.

Webster Groves answered with free throws as Calvin Lang hit two between those baskets. A missed one-and-one free-throw attempted with 32 seconds left gave the Lions the ball with less than 30 seconds remaining and a chance to take the lead. A turnover inside the paint with 20 seconds left turned into a foul and Ethan Chartrand hitting two free throws with 15 seconds left.

“I think we had a good play call, and I didn't see what happened,” Johnson said. “I asked him. I didn't see it go off his leg, so I didn't have that angle, but he said he didn't touch it. You know, so I don't know. Definitely had it open and if we weren't open, we had another option. It just didn't go and that’s on me.”

Down by a possession, 58-55, Cardinal Ritter missed a 3-pointer with 10 ticks on the clock.

Iziah Purvey hit two free throws with 7 seconds remaining.

Enright, a senior guard, finished with a game-high 23 points and was 3-for-4 on 3-pointers. Purvey had 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Cardinal Ritter had three in double figures, led by 18 from Lewis. Braxton Stacker had 14 and Davis scored 12. The Lions struggled with fouls, with a 17-7 advantage and only had three trips to the free-throw line on the offensive end.

This will be state title berth No. 6 for the Statesmen. In the previous five trips to the final, the St. Louis school has won four of them.

Helias Catholic 53, Springfield Catholic 50

In the seventh trip to the state tournament, the Jefferson City school will play for a state championship for the first time after surviving a late scare.

In the finals, Helias Catholic will play one of its own in Mathes, a graduate from the parochial school in 2009.

The unranked Crusaders trailed by two at halftime but carried a 40-39 lead into the fourth quarter. Springfield Catholic (24-7) quickly took the lead on a 3-pointer by Quinn Roubal on the first basket of the fourth.

The game was tied at 42 and 46, but the Fightin’ Irish went up by two, 48-46, on two free throws by senior guard Zach Howell with 1:38 left.

A 3-pointer by Helias’ Henry Neuenswander with 1:16 gave the Crusaders (17-14) the lead for the final time. Free throws by Desmond White and Malcolm Davis accounted for the final points for Helias.

The No. 4-ranked Irish had a few chances late but didn’t take advantage of them. With 5.4 seconds left, Springfield Catholic threw the ball out of bounds with 1.5 seconds left down by three.

Then, the Irish forced a turnover with 0.04 seconds left – after conferring with the head table that initially had 0.01 remaining. That gave the Springfield school one more chance to tie it but a shot at the buzzer fell short.

Howell had a double-double for Springfield Catholic with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Liam O’Reilly hit three 3s and had 11 points. This game was the seventh at Missouri State for Catholic, which had only six home games this year.

White and Davis were the top two scorers for Helias, tallying 19 and 16, respectively.