While the Olympics may be over in Milan, a new rivalry continues: the longstanding rivalry between Clayton and Ladue High School students. 

The week kicks off with a student-initiated spirit week and winter dance, a revival of the historic “Pepper’s Prom” tradition. Driven by a junior-led proposal and backed by peer research, the goal is to create a spirit surrounding the Coaches vs. Cancer Basketball game against Ladue on Friday Night.

“When we play that basketball game here, that’s the height of school spirit in Clayton,” Hutson said. 

Coaches vs. Cancer was started by Norm Stewart, a former coach at Mizzou.

“It’s been a tradition, raising funds for the American Cancer Society. At halftime, when we had the different students running about the crowd, trying to get their fans section to donate the most money,” Hutson said. 

At the concession stand, the students count out the money to see which school collected the most. 

“That’s fun to see. Then, if time allows, we add additional games at halftime [and] between the games. That really kind of changes and ebbs and flows based on the ideas of the different student councils,” Hutson said.

According to Huston, this game typically has the largest student attendance. 

“We’ll fill the lower seating that’s down on the floor, and then it’ll transition into the balcony seating as well. So this place will be full, which is fantastic. It just adds to the excitement of the game,” Hutson said.

While Ladue has a 44% higher enrollment, the student body does not let size get in the way of the competition.

Robert Kodner, a Clayton alumnus, adds that this did not affect the atmosphere, and everyone still looks forward to these match-ups. 

“Being a bigger school, they have a lot more kids to choose from, and so the competition was greater, but we always got excited about that game, and it was always a big time to play them,” Kodner said.

One time when Kodner was working the press box in a game against Ladue, the Ladue fathers were hosting a barbecue, and they had invited the broadcasters to come get a sandwich.

“I said, ‘Is it okay if I was a Clayton alumni?’ then the guy said, “Oh, well, in that case, you can’t have one,”’ Kodner said. 

Chase Taylor, a freshman basketball player on varsity, looks forward to the matchup.

“It’s exciting because I’m a freshman and Ladue’s our rival. So [we are] just focusing on beating them, and it always gets our team hyped,” Taylor said.