Crusaders' 'D' puts squeeze on Leopold in 56-40 home win

~ Saxony Lutheran yielded a combined nine points in the first and third quarters.

Saxony Lutheran's defense choked Leopold's offensive efforts in the first and third quarters.

The Wildcats shot a combined 3-of-23 (13 percent) in those two quarters Friday night.

The Crusaders capitalized on their defense to slow down Leopold and earn the 56-40 victory in boys basketball.

"We take a lot of pride in our defense," Saxony senior Ben Courtois said. "That's how we win most of our games."

Saxony Lutheran (16-5) threw pressure at Leopold (9-10) from the opening tip. Every time a Leopold player touched the ball, a Saxony defender got in his face to disrupt the Wildcats' offense. Saxony forced Leopold into eight turnovers in the first quarter alone.

"It's tough," Leopold junior Darren VanGennip said. "You have to find room to get through and get yourself open. You've got to pop out and get yourself free."

VanGennip went to work in the second quarter, scoring seven points in the period, to help keep his team within striking distance at 31-23 at halftime. Saxony coach John Daniel wasn't pleased with his team's efforts against VanGennip in the second quarter.

"The first quarter, I was really pleased with our intensity early in the game," Daniel said. "Once we built a 10-point lead or so, I was disappointed in our defensive intensity in the second quarter. That's when VanGennip really hurt us. We talked about that at halftime and I thought we did a great job defensively in the third quarter again, and especially on VanGennip."

The Crusaders did a good job of keeping the Wildcats on the perimeter. Saxony collapsed on any Leopold player who tried to drive toward the basket.

"Our defense is inside out, and we just want to make them take the harder shots from 20 feet away then the 5 foot shots," Saxony junior Bret Steffens said. "If we collapsed and make them kick it out, then we close out on them."

Courtois provided an offensive boost for the Crusaders in the opening half, scoring nine points. Daniel appreciated Courtois' effort since senior forward Austin Kwikkel spent most of the night in foul trouble before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

"Ben did have to play a lot more minutes and did give us a boost on both ends of the floor," Daniel said. "He did a great job on the boards."

But when the Crusaders needed points, it was Steffens who stepped up. He finished with a game-high 14, and added 10 rebounds and five assists. He said the key to his team's offense is its defensive prowess.

"We try to get in the passing lanes and get easy baskets," he said. "If a team plays zone, it's tough to get easy baskets. We just tried to get easy buckets off turnovers and try to make things as easy as possible."

Saxony led by as many as 13 in the second quarter, but Leopold's Clayton Stoverink nailed a long-range 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the Crusaders' lead to 31-23 at halftime.

Saxony led by 18 late in the third quarter, but Leopold kept chipping into the lead. Leopold cut the lead to 14, but by then it was too late to mount a comeback.

"It is frustrating because you just want to put them away and know that you got one," Steffens said. "But they kept making it tough on you. You just got to keep your composure and take it one possession at a time."

Leopold 5 18 4 13 -- 40

Saxony 13 18 14 11 -- 56

Leopold (40) -- Dustin Thiele 2, Cody Van de Ven 5, Wade Wiseman 9, Darren VanGennip 13, Larry Nussbaum 7, Clayton Stoverink 4. FG 13, FT 9-12, F 16 (3-pointers: VanGennip 3, Stoverink 1, Van de Ven 1. Fouled out: Thiele)

Saxony (56) -- Zach Bohnert 8, Ben Courtois 11, Austin Kwikkel 2, Garrett Ruppel 3, Max Wieser 10, Ross Gage 3, Chris Roth 5, Bret Steffens 14. FG 23, FT 8-13, F 18 (3-pointers: Courtois 1, Ruppel 1. Fouled out: Kwikkel)