When the Houston Rockets staged their improbable run to their second consecutive National Basketball Association world title as a No. 6 seed in 1995, head coach Rudy Tomjanovich gave us one of the best sports quotes of the 20th century. “Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion.”
Cardinal Ritter College Prep boys’ basketball coach Ryan Johnson and his Lions are the epitome of Rudy T.’s famous quote. The two-time state champion Lions entered last week’s Class 5, District 3 tournament with nine losses and the No. 3 seed behind Westminster and DeSmet. There were struggles along the way against a rugged schedule, when the calendar turned to March, the Lions were ready to roar once again. And did they ever roar.
On Wednesday, the Lions toppled No. 2 seed DeSmet 52-45 in the semifinals. On Saturday, Ritter pulled off the improbable as it defeated No. 1 seed Westminster Christian 50-48 to win the district title on the Wildcats’ home court.
Cardinal Ritter (19-9) advances to the Class 4 state quarterfinals next Saturday night against St. Dominic at St. Louis Community College at Meramec. Tip-off is at 7:45 p.m. The winner will earn a berth to the Final Four. Westminster completes its brilliant season at 26-2 with victories over CBC, Chaminade and Vashon in the final weeks of the season.
The Lions controlled the game for much of the night as they built leads of 25-19 at halftime and 36-29 at the end of the third quarter. Westminster battled back to tie the game at 39-39 in the fourth quarter, but senior guard Braxton Stacker scored to give the Lions the lead to stay at 41-39. Stacker, a 6’5″ Murray State recruit, scored 16 points to lead the Lions. He was tremendous in the second half as he scored 12 points and turned in two game-changing plays on the defensive end. He had a big chase-down blocked shot late in the game, then came from behind to poke the ball away from Westminster’s EJ Williams in the closing seconds to save the Lions’ victory.
Senior guard Jordan Nichols joined Stacker for team leadership with 16 points for the Lions. He scored 12 points in the first half, including eight free throws. Senior guard Casen Lawrence scored 14 points to lead Westminster. Senior Caleb Thompson and junior Kobi Williams added 10 points each.
