Cade Pestrue leads Sharks with incredible senior season so far

Cade+Pestrue+has+been+putting+up+impressive+numbers+for+the+Sharks+so+far+this+season.

Courtesy Photo

Cade Pestrue has been putting up impressive numbers for the Sharks so far this season.

Keegan Honig, Staff Writer

The crowd watches in awe as the basketball flies toward the hoop, and frustrated sighs from opposing fans fill the gym as the ball sinks through the net. Senior Cade Pestrue just hit his ninth three-pointer of the game to extend the Sharks’ lead…and it’s only the third quarter. Pestrue then sits out the rest of the blow-out win against the home team from Whittemore-Prescott, but he finished with an astounding 27 points. His nine three-pointers made the record books as he tied Danny Richardson (2002) for the number one spot in St. Louis boys’ basketball history regarding converted three-point attempts in a single matchup. This is just another dominant performance by one of the most skilled shooters in St. Louis basketball’s recent history.

Pestrue has been playing basketball since elementary school, and it’s been his favorite sport ever since. The sport has played a monumental role in his life. He shared, “Basketball has been a huge thing in my family forever, so when I was younger, it was a huge part of my life, and I fell in love with it.”

He added, “I think my favorite thing is playing with my forever best friends since fourth grade. It’s been a ton of fun being with the same guys.”

The senior star has been a force for the Sharks so far this season. He’s averaging 19.0 points, 2.3 assists, and 1.9 steals per game, and he’s also averaging almost 5.3 made three-pointers a game at an impressive 39 percent shooting. If he keeps his scoring average up, he’s on par to break into the school’s record books for scoring average in a season. The number 10 spot currently sits at 16.8 points per game, so Pestrue will make his way to the list if he keeps up this level of play.

The varsity boys’ head coach Doug Knauf stated, “He’s probably one of the better shooters [I’ve coached], especially [with] three pointers. He’s putting up all-state numbers. Shooting-wise, he’s gotten better and better. He’s just improved every year in shooting and shooting percentage.”

Pestrue has been on varsity all four years of high school, and his game has steadily improved. His freshman year, he scored a total of 107 points, including 25 made threes. His sophomore outing resulted in 147 points and 33 threes. Last season, as a junior, he made a leap in scoring by having an outstanding 278 points, including 72 threes. So far in his senior season, Pestrue has scored 152 points and made 42 three-pointers through eight games. The team won’t have their normal number of games this year due to COVID-19, but Pestrue may still surpass his total from last year because of how efficient he’s been playing.

Pestrue pointed out, “My goals for this year are to beat the three-point record and hopefully reach 1,000 points, and I want to win districts.” The season record for made threes is 127, so he has a legitimate shot at the record.

Though the Sharks have had a somewhat rocky start to the season, going 2-6 thus far, most of their losses have been within just a few points or ended in overtime. This team has great potential. If they can close out games dominantly for the remainder of their schedule, they can achieve big things toward the end of the season, especially with Pestrue at the helm. He mentioned, “This season has been very up and down. At some points when we’re playing all together, it goes great. But at other times, we can fall apart if we start out slow and we can’t get going and we get down on ourselves.”

Pestrue has been a bright spot for the team despite their down-to-the-buzzer losses. In fact, the Sharks lost their last matchup against Standish-Sterling at home by only one point after holding a double-digit lead early in the game. However, Pestrue ended with 25 points, five assists, three steals, and two rebounds with 56 percent shooting from the floor. He’s been able to do great things so far as a major force on the basketball court for St. Louis.