C4D1 girls: Donettes repeat as district champions

DEXTER — The Doniphan Donettes proved Saturday why they are arguably one of the best all-around girls basketball teams in Southeast Missouri.

The Donettes turned a potent blend of inside and outside scoring on offense and stifling defense into a 58-31 win over the Saxony Lutheran Crusaders in the Class 4 District 1 championship game at the Bearcat Event Center.

Saturday’s win marked the third district championship for the Donettes in four seasons, and second since making the move to Class 4.

“We mixed up pressures a little bit, we got out in transition and we made shots,” Doniphan coach Adam Epps said. “Brooke Klepzig hit six 3s, which helped free up some inside stuff on our post player Kenzie Redus, which they were really trying to double down on like everybody else has been doing. But we were able to shoot out of that and we just kept driving and attacking. We did all the little things really good (Saturday), played great as a team team and played all the way up until the end, so it was a good win.”

Klepzig led the Donettes’ offense with 18 points — all coming from behind the arc — while Redus and McKenna Monaghan each added 13 by scoring from the inside.

Doniphan (26-2) led 15-6 after the opening period and 31-22 at the intermission. From there, the Donettes clamped down on defense, allowing just four points in the third quarter and five in the fourth as they broke the game open.

Saxony Lutheran made just two baskets after halftime, none in the final period.

“When when they want to guard they can guard and they did a good job,” Epps said. “(Saxony Lutheran has) got three players that can create and score. … (But) we didn’t let anybody get loose — (our girls) weren’t going to be denied. I was proud of their effort (Saturday) and it was fun game to be a part of, that’s for sure.”

Doniphan will face Park Hills Central (25-3) in Class 4 sectional play at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Farmington Civic Center. The game is a rematch of last year’s sectional, which PHC won 49-38.

Epps said his team was “excited” for Tuesday’s rematch.

“Our team is a lot different than we were last year,” Epps said. “We lost four starters … so expectations weren’t real high. And these girls have been playing with a chip on their shoulder. We’ve got a little bit different makeup of a team and I think we may be a little bit more well rounded offensively.”

Tuesday’s game also will be the sixth time the two schools have met in sectional play. The two teams met each year in the postseason from 1998 to 2001 and split those four contests before PHC won last year’s meeting.

“We’re obviously going to have to play like (we played) Saturday, like we played against Jackson and when we (rallied to) beat Chadwick, who’s going to the final four in Class 1,” Epps said. “We’re going to have to play like that. We won’t be able to have a bad shooting night and beat them, because they’re going to try to take something away — and it’s probably going to be (to) take away our inside. So we’re going to have to shoot good and come out determined, not desperate.”