Greyhounds Still in Pursuit of District Championship Despite Tough Matches Ahead

At the beginning of the season, Clayton Greyhounds boys basketball coach Ryan Luhning said his goal was to win a district championship.

Heading down the stretch, he has a formula for success.

“We need to get better on the defensive end,” Luhning said. “We have to close out games, and most importantly, we have to keep everyone healthy.”

The Greyhounds have compiled a 16-5 record. The Clayton District Tournament will start Feb. 21. It includes Clayton, University City, MICDS, Westminster and Priory.

Clayton has lost two of its last three games. Westminster defeated the Greyhounds 68-60 on Jan. 25 and 61-56 on Jan. 27.

The Greyhounds snapped the two-game losing streak Jan. 28 with an 80-65 win over Jennings. Ahmad Smith had 44 points in the victory while Christian Thomas had 33. Both are keys to the Greyhounds’ offense: Thomas averages 21.7 points per game, and Smith averages 21.4.

Clayton has struggled with injuries this year. Starting point guard Charlie Harned, who averages 8.2 points per game, has been out with a sprained ankle since the . Tyler Walker, Harned’s replacement in the starting lineup, has been out with an injury since the loss to Westminster.

“Without Tyler or Charlie, we try to make sure that Christian gets his hands on the ball in every possession," Luhning said. "By getting the ball to Christian, Jennings’ defense really concentrated on him, and this allowed Ahmad to have a really super game. Defensively, we’re getting better. We hope when we have our full assortment of players that we’ll have more success.”

Luhning said that he hopes to have Harned back sometime within the next few weeks.

“We were adjusting pretty well without Charlie, but Tyler Walker’s injury really put us in a bind,” Luhning said. “The guys we had playing in our recent losses were good enough to help us win. We just played poorly, and Westminster and Farmington were good teams who played well enough to beat us.”

Clayton and Ladue are tied for the Suburban East Conference—both teams have a 2-0 record in the league. Ladue is 11-6. The Greyhounds have three more conference contests. Clayton plays Ladue at Washington University on Feb. 11, Affton at Affton on Feb. 15 and Berkeley at McCluer South on Feb. 18. The Greyhounds won the league in 2010 and placed third in the SEC in the previous three years.  

“One of our goals at the beginning of the year was to be league champs,” Luhning said. “With our rivalry game against Ladue at Washington University next Friday and road games at Berkeley and Affton, that will not be easy feat. Our guys know what it’s like to be league champs and are shooting for back-to-back titles.”