Panther Boys Basketball Falls In Regular Season Finale

Mehlville's Eldin Dilberovic put on quite a show in his last home high school basketball game.

The 6-foot-5-inch senior forward scored a career-high 28 points, including 22 in the first half Friday night. It was not enough though as the Panthers fell to Ladue 59-50 in the regular season finale for both teams.

Dilberovic had nine field goals in the opening half, including four 3-pointers.

"I had no clue how many points I had scored," Dilberovic said. "I was just shooting it and the ball was going in. It was a lot of fun and the best half I have ever had."

Despite the 22 first-half points, Mehlville still trailed at the half 33-31.

"The guys did a good job of looking for Eldin and finding the hot hand," said Mehlville Coach Andy Guethle. "He can really shoot it and he was definitely on."

Ladue inserted Jehu Chesson in the second half and he did a tremendous job defensively against Dilberovic, who made all six of his free throws but did not have a second-half field goal.

Chesson is a normal starter but sat the first half for disciplinary reasons after being late for a shootaround.

"Jehu did a great job on him (Dilberovic) and that was the difference," Ladue Coach Chad Anderson said. "That was about the best game that anybody has had against us all season. I told Jehu to stick your nose in his chest and don't leave him."

Dilberovic did not even have a field goal attempt in the third quarter and never had an open look in the second half.

"They didn't let me catch the ball on the wing," Dilberovic said. "I tried to post up but they did a good job of pressuring the guards."

The Panthers came out on fire on senior night after Gizzle Uzendu, one of the seniors, sang the national anthem.

Mehlville scored the game's first 10 points,  seven by Dilberovic, and had a double-digit lead midway through the first quarter.

Ladue called a timeout and the Rams exploded in the final four minutes of the quarter, outscoring Mehlville 18-2.

Dilberovic kept the Panthers in the game with his tremendous shooting. Mehlville cut the lead to two points at halftime and actually had a 37-35 lead early in the third quarter.

But Chesson's defense on Dilberovic and a dominant performance inside by 6-foot-10-inch Will Childs-Klein was the difference for Ladue in the second half.

Childs-Klein had three dunks and finished the game with 22 points. Mitch Montaldo added 12 and Malcolm Early hit three treys for nine points for the Rams, who improved to 16-8.

Dilberovic had 28 for the Panthers, who fell to 10-14. No other Mehlville player had more than six points.

"We played a zone in the first half to try and take 44 (Childs-Klein) out of the game and did a pretty good job at times," Guethle said. "We were able to make some stops in the second half but we just could not score. We just started to settle for jump shots and you can't be one dimensional like that. We had a lot of one-and-dones."