MRH Can't Close Out Cardinal Ritter in Classic Title Showdown

Just when it appeared as though the Maplewood Richmond Heights boys  basketball team would upend Cardinal Ritter and claim the Class 3 District 5 championship, Cameron Biedscheid put a stop to that on Friday night.

Biedscheid displayed his special talents in front of a packed gymnasium and helped the top-seeded Lions rally late, force overtime and eventually escape with a thrilling 62-58 victory over the second-seeded Blue Devils.

“We played a good team with a great player,” MRH head coach Corey Frazier said. “Your good players step up, and that’s what happened. They’re going to finish out the game.”

Ritter’s 6-foot-7 junior forward scored 22 of his game-high 31 points after halftime, including 10 in overtime. Biedscheid also recorded a double-double by grabbing 11 rebounds, leading the Lions to the district title.

Cardinal Ritter (22-5), the defending Class 3 state champion, advances to play Orchard Farm at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Florissant Valley Community College. Meanwhile, MRH finished the season at 16-12.

“It was a hard-fought game. It’s what we expected,” Ritter head coach Marvin Neal said. “It’s what we prepared our kids for because anytime you come play a team on their home floor, they are going to play their best. Our kids showed a lot of character to come back and leave here with a win.”

In a tightly contested title game from start to finish, MRH seized control in the second quarter behind the play of Khalid Hagens.

The sophomore guard scored seven straight points that sparked the Blue Devils on a first-half closing 11-3 run to hold a 31-27 halftime advantage when senior Tony King hit a stepback jumper at the buzzer.

That lead grew to as many as nine points early in the third quarter as Marcus Taylor had a tip-in basket followed by a King 3-pointer for a 36-27 margin.

Biedscheid asserted himself from the point forward, scoring six straight points punctuated by one of his four slam dunks that made it 36-33. MRH pushed its lead back to 42-36 after three quarters as Hagens and Taylor hit consecutive shots.

King’s driving layup to being the fourth quarter stretched the margin to 44-36 before Ritter came charging back behind Biedscheid, highlighted by a two-handed jam. Hagens answered with one of his four 3-pointers as MRH led 49-42 with 4:46 remaining in regulation.

“We didn’t finish the game out,” Frazier said. “That’s something we’ve talked about all season long is playing 32 minutes or 36 minutes tonight. We just didn’t close them out.”

The Blue Devils missed their final six shots and made just 1 of 4 free throws down the stretch, allowing the Lions the opportunity at a comeback.

Bobbie Ward sparked the rally with a layup, Ryan Hill and Kaje Sanford also added layups after a Hagens free throw to make it 50-48 with 2:03 left. Biedscheid knocked down a runner while being fouled but failed to convert the free throw, leaving things knotted at 50 with less than a minute to play.

King ended up having two opportunities for the potential game-winning shot in the final 20 seconds, but had the ball knocked out of bounds on the first attempt and then was called for a travel with 3.8 ticks remaining.

“Maplewood went into a stall game with about four minutes left,” Neal said. “That really opened up the floodgates and allowed us to force overtime.”

Ritter had one last gasp, throwing the ball to half-court where it bounced toward Hill for a wide-open jumper that was barely too strong.

“It’s one of those things where somebody has to win and somebody has to lose,” Frazier said.

Biedscheid dominated overtime, scoring 10 of his team’s 12 points, but MRH still had its chances despite falling behind 60-55 with 1:01 remaining.

Hagens drilled a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession followed by a Ritter turnover. The Blue Devils then misfired on consecutive long-distance shots that would have vaulted them into the lead with under a minute to go. However, Biedscheid pulled down his 11th rebound and promptly converted two free throws to seal the deal.

“Cameron is a heck of a player,” Neal said. “And he’s not finished yet.”

Outside of Biedscheid’s output, Ward had 13 points and Hill added 12. Baron Olden chipped in four points and eight rebounds while Sanford provided two points and six boards for the Lions.

Hagens paced the Blue Devils with 21 points followed by King with 15 and six rebounds. Eric Liska tallied eight points, Aaron Spudich contributed eight and six boards, and Taylor pulled down eight rebounds to go along with five points. Jake Hensel was limited to one point.

“It’s one of those things where seniors are going to be highly emotional,” Frazier said about the postgame reaction in the locker room. “They are the ones who are going to be most down about how things ended up.

"You tell the rest of the guys to be ready to come back next season. Don’t hang your head on this one. Know you gave it your best fight. We did all we could do.”

Of the Blue Devils’ four seniors–King, Liska, Taylor and Greg Jarrett–King and his leadership will be sorely missed.

“Tony had a heck of a career playing four years here and being on two state championship teams,” Frazier said. “You can’t ask for anything more out of him. I told him in the locker room that he has something a lot of kids wished they had. They wish they had one, and he got two (state titles).

“We’re still young though. I don’t think people understand that we had one senior that played a lot of minutes. We’re going to be right back here in this situation next year. I don’t have any doubt in my mind that we’ll be back.”

BOX SCORE

MRH (58) – Hensel 0 1-2 1, Hagens 8 1-2 21, King 6 2-2 15, Taylor 2 1-2 5, Spudich 4 0-2 8, Liska 3 0-0 8, Frazier Jr. 0 0-0 0, Dubose 0 0-0 0, Jarrett 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 5-10 58.

RITTER (62) – Conway 0 0-0 0, Ward 5 0-0 13, Pitts 0 0-0 0, Biedscheid 11 9-13 31, Olden 2 0-0 4, Hill 4 2-2 12, Sanford 1 0-2 2, Fields 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 11-17 62.

MRH   7          24        11        8          8 – 58

RIT      12        15        9          14        12 – 62

3-Pointers – MRH 7 (Hagens 4, Liks 2, King), Ritter 5 (Ward 3, Hill 2). Rebounds – MRH 28 (Taylor 8, Spudich 6, King 6), Ritter 34 (Biedscheid 11, Olden 8, Sanford 6). Turnovers – MRH 16, Ritter 22. Fouls – MRH 20, Ritter 12. Fouled Out – None. Records – MRH finishes 16-12 and Ritter is 22-5.