After falling on Wednesday, St. Louis’ fifth graders rebounded Thursday with an exciting 22-20 win over Greendale.

Cardinal coach Toby Walsman was excited about the victory.

“This game had everything a spectator would want to take in,” said Walsman. “It was like the ‘Thrilla in Manila,’ one of the greatest fights of all time, Ali vs. Frazier. This was like taking a walk down ‘Tobacco Road’ with one of the best Duke/North Carolina classics.”

Okay, so the game won’t be discussed outside of elementary circles as the game of the century but, by fifth grade standards, it was certainly good stuff.

The Bengals busted out to an 8-2 lead and were up 12-6 at half. St. Louis closed the gap to 16-14 after the third and then the fun really began in the fourth.

Down by two points with 20 seconds remaining, St. Louis’ Avery Roell knocked down an eight footer coming off a great pick by Stella Hillenbrand to tie the game at 20-20. Great defense by Kate Poltrack and Avery Roell gave the ball back to St. Louis with 11 seconds to go.

The Redbirds then channeled Hickory from Hoosiers and ran the ol’ picket fence play. Hanna Hurm drove around the fence and buried another eight-foot jumper as time expired to to give St. Lou the two-point win.

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