In one of the season’s best high school boys basketball games, the Lindbergh Flyers came up short on Feb. 6 to Ladue, 60-57.

While Ladue moved to 20-1 on the season, Lindbergh slipped to 16-5.

Lindbergh was up by five points with just a couple of minutes left in the contest but could not hold on. Turnovers played a significant role in the loss.

“We’re definitely playing some of our best basketball at the right time of year,” head coach Nathan Biggs said. “We just didn’t close it out last night. It was a combination of turnovers and mental errors that cost us last night.”

Despite taking the loss, Lindbergh had three players in double-digits in scoring.

Greg Leavitt led the team with 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting, while Aiden Rush added 13 points. Zac Goss had 10 points on a tough shooting night, and center Quinn Sunderland finished with six points and 13 rebounds.

“Rush and Greg have been key contributors all year,” said Biggs. “They contributed on the scoreboard a significant amount last night, which gave us a chance to win it.”

While Rush and Leavitt were key contributors, they weren’t alone. Several players made significant contributions to the game.

“In order to have success against great teams, it is important to have many guys who can score the ball, making it difficult to be scouted,” Biggs said. “For that reason, it will be important that those two are at their best for us at the end of the season.”

Biggs also spoke about Sunderland’s role in the game. He has been one of the best defensive players in the area this season.

“Quinn is one of the best, if not the best, high school rim protectors I have seen live in my time around basketball. Of course, I may have a little bias,” Biggs said.

While Goss had a tough shooting night, his contributions handling the ball were a big help for the Flyers.

“Last night, Goss was the primary ball handler against a team that pressured us very hard,” Biggs said. “When he handled their pressure calmly and made plays for others, we scored easily. Without his play last night, we would not have been in the game.”

While the loss was a heartbreaker for the Flyers, Biggs said the team must learn from it and move on to the next opponent.

“It can be hard for teenagers to move on quickly after a tough one like last night,” he said. “They played their hearts out, and we didn’t come out on top. We have to learn from the errors made last night so we don’t make them again in the postseason. Playing in these games against great competition are necessary for us to be prepared for tough competition when it is win or go home, even if we didn’t come out on top this time.”

Biggs said the Flyers will have to bounce back quickly with a contest against Parkway West ahead of the team on Feb. 9 – which LHS won 56-39.

“I have a lot of confidence in our guys’ ability to beat anybody we face,” he said. “We will need to bounce back quick against Parkway West, who isn’t going to let up on Friday night because we had a tough game on Tuesday.”