Hartmann, Eggemeyer combine for 46 to lead Crusaders over Pirates

CHESTER, ILL - A dominant second-quarter proved to be the catalyst for the Saxony Lutheran Crusaders as they routed the Perryville Pirates 72-46 on Monday at the Chester Invitational Tournament in Chester, Ill.

The Crusaders’ offense got off to a hot start in the first quarter, but Perryville was able to hit some shots to keep the Crusaders lead at 22-11 after the opening quarter.

Saxony’s offense was carried heavily in the first-quarter by Luke Eggemeyer who scored 8 points in the first eight minutes.

“We talked about in the locker room coming out ready to play,” Crusaders coach Justin Callahan said. “I thought Perryville came out ready too though because we tried to put a little pressure on them and they handled it well.”

The deficit increased in the second quarter however as the Crusaders began to get stops defensively and the offense continued scoring.

Saxony Lutheran won the quarter 22-4 behind a trio of three-pointers in the quarter by John Hartmann to take a 44-15 lead into the locker room at halftime.

“It’s nice,” Callahan said of having both Hartmann and Eggemeyer. “Luke’s averaging 22 points a game and John is averaging 18 so it’s pretty consistent game in and game out.”

The large deficit didn’t phase the Pirates out of the locker room as they opened the third-quarter on a 13-5 run to cut into the lead.

Leading the charge for the Pirates was Jake Cissell who knocked down three triples to cut the deficit.

“I called two timeouts to remind them that (Cissell) could shoot it,” Callahan said. “It was just like we had forgotten everything we talked about.”

After a pair of timeouts from Callahan, the Crusaders managed to turn the faucet off on the Pirates, taking a commanding 64-30 lead into the fourth-quarter.

“We went back to man and eventually got it figured out,” Callahan said.

Saxony’s offense featured three double-digit scorers largely because of the way the Crusaders were moving the ball around.

“We need to move the ball quickly,” Callahan said. “I agree though it looked really good (tonight).”

The leader of the three in double-digits for the Crusaders was both Hartmann and Eggemeyer who each poured in 23-points.

Also in double-digits was Owen Bucheit with 12-points in the win for the Crusaders.

Perryville was led by Cissell who had 18-points on 6 made threes in the loss.

Perryville (1-11) will play the loser of Valle and Valmeyer at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at Chester High School.

Saxony Lutheran (9-4) will play the winner of Valle and Valmeyer at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at Chester High School.

“Either way we’re going to have our hands full,” Callahan said.