ST. MARY'S SENDS SENIORS OUT IN STYLE

St. Mary's has the most elaborate pregame introduction in the area. The gym lights go dark, faux green flames shine behind the bench and green dots swirl across the walls as AC/DC's “Thunderstuck” blasts.

It's an experience unlike any other. One coach Bryan Turner wanted all of his seniors to experience this season.

The No. 4 small school, St. Mary's (23-3) switched up its starting lineup on senior night Friday against No. 10 Cardinal Ritter. Gus Dattoli and Asa Prograis got to experience their names being called and taking the court to a raucous home crowd.

“It was a reward for those guys. They've busted their butts all year,” Turner said. “They got to go out under the lights. Basketball and sports is about memories. I wanted them to have that. This was special.”

St. Mary's rolled to its eighth consecutive victory with a 78-62 win over Ritter. The Dragons have one more regular-season game before opening up postseason play in the Class 4 District 3 tournament at St. Mary's, where the Dragons are the top seed and No. 3 small school Confluence (21-4) is the No. 2 seed.

But that one regular-season game will be no picnic. St. Mary's travels to Borgia (12-11) for a 7:15 p.m. tip Wednesday. What will make this one challenging is the Dragons will be short-handed. A school-required retreat is the same day. The seniors have the option to participate in the retreat in the first or second semester. The basketball players who were on the football team in the fall elected to go on the retreat in the second semester. St. Mary's will be without center Yahuza Rasas, guard Tony Burks, guard Lavell Harris, forward Darius Houston, forward Cliff Teague, Dattoli and Prograis.

“It's a chance for other guys to step up,” Turner said. “We're still trying to win a conference championship. We're going to go out there and play to win the game.” David Kvidahl of the St. Louis Post Dispatch