St. Charles West Basketball Loses to DeSmet

St. Charles West boys basketball team lost to the DeSmet Spartans on the road, 54-45, on Tuesday. 

The teams clutched and grabbed to a St. Charles West lead of 11-9 after the first quarter as both teams were generally cold, especially from long distance.

"We were obviously slow to get started. We really didn't get in a rhythm until the fourth quarter," Spartans Head Coach Kevin Poelker said as his team returned to play after a 10 day layoff. "We still have to answer the bell better than we did."

Guard Jimmy Barton led all scorers with 13 points, but foul trouble kept the Spartans from finding that rhythm until the second half, when Mitch Plassmeyer found the bottom of the net with consecutive three pointers to grow the lead to 8 points, Isaiah Walker contributed key buckets and interior defense, and Alec Bausch made a difference by forcing fourth quarter turnovers and turning them into points on the offensive end.

"He brought us energy, he brought us a couple big stops, those were some pretty key plays in the whole thing," Poelker said of Bausch, who has taken on a larger role with Nolan Berry's extended absence due to injury. He finished the night with 10 points.

Davis Soderberg led the Warriors with 9 points, all in the second half. St. Charles West returns to action December 17 at home against Borgia. After Christmas, the Warriors and Spartans will hook back up again in the Meramec Holiday Tournament December 27.

"They're a good team, they've got good guard play, they play hard so it'll be a battle," Poelker said.