High school roundup: Saxony girls team advances to consolation semifinals at Bloomfield

After a slow start in the first quarter, the ninth-seeded Saxony Lutheran boys basketball team erupted in the second half to stave off a valiant effort by the sixteenth-seeded Richland Rebels to advance to the consolation semifinals of the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.

The Rebels held Saxony to a stalemate at halftime before a wild fourth quarter propelled the Crusaders to victory.

"We didn't shoot the ball well in the first half," Saxony coach Tim Winkler said, "but we forced them to make 32 turnovers. That's what saved us."

Graesen Meystedt scored 21 points to lead the Crusaders, who improved to 5-4 with the win. Elwood Voss recorded 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Paris Johnson and Corie Williams each tallied 12 points and six rebounds for Saxony. Chase Steffens dished out six assists for the Crusaders.

Preston Tilley bucketed a game-high 28 points, including six 3-pointers, for Richland, which fell to 2-6.

Saxony was sent to the consolation bracket after a 61-56 loss to eighth-seeded South Pemiscot in Friday's opening round. Steffens led with 14 points and Johnson tossed in 11 points to pace the Crusaders in the loss.

Saxony will face No. 13 East Prairie at 1 p.m. Monday in a consolation semifinal. The Eagles (5-4) downed No. 12 Holcomb (3-5) in a 70-41 upset in an earlier consolation quarterfinal on Saturday.

Saxony Lutheran 79, Richland 65

Richland 9 13 21 22 -- 65

Saxony 8 14 22 35 -- 79

RICHLAND (ESSEX) (65) -- Skyler Harper 4, Marcus Grayson 16, Devin Stoker 5, Brandon Partenberry 1, Preston Tilley 28, Josh Thornton 9, Nick Azure 2. FG 19, FT 17-27, F 22 (3-pointers: Tilley 6, Grayson 3, Stoker. Fouled out: None.)

SAXONY LUTHERAN (79) -- Nathan Schneider 4, Noah Franke 4, Chase Steffens 1, Karsten Short 2, Ryan Palmer 5, Graesen Meystedt 21, Jacob Wunderlich 2, Elwood Voss 16, Paris Johnson 12, Corie Williams 12. FG 25, FT 14-24, F 22 (3-pointers: Meystedt 3, Palmer, Johnson. Fouled out: None.)

South Pemiscot 61, Saxony Lutheran 56

Saxony Lutheran 14 12 13 17 -- 56

South Pemiscot 27 12 12 10 -- 61

SAXONY LUTHERAN (56) -- Noah Franke 2, Chase Steffens 14, Ryan Palmer 10, Graesen Meystedt 3, Dusty Lorenz 5, Elwood Voss 8, Paris Johnson 11, Corie Williams 3. FG 13, FT 9-13, F 18 (3-pointers: Steffens 2, Johnson 2, Palmer, Meystedt, Lorenz. Fouled out: Voss.)

SOUTH PEMISCOT (61) -- Kevin Burton 5, Contrell Johnson 14, Glen Jackson 6, Steve Wilbourn 13, Dante MacIntyre 15, Jabari Herron 8. FG 16, FT 8-18, F 13 (3-pointers: Johnson 3, MacIntyre 3, Burton. Fouled out: None.)

Jefferson 68, St. Vincent 41

Jefferson's Mike Reed scored a game-high 16 points to lead the third-seeded Blue Jays to victory over the sixth-seeded Indians in the opening round of the Valle Catholic Warrior Winter Classic in Ste. Genevieve, Mo.

The Blue Jays had an 11-point lead at halftime and outscored the Indians by 16 points in the second half to clinch the win.

Tyler Monier had 11 points to pace St. Vincent (2-5). The Indians will take on seventh-seeded Valley (Caledonia) on Monday at 3 p.m. in a consolation semifinal. The Vikings (1-8) were ousted by second-seeded Grandview (5-3) 52-40 in an earlier quarterfinal.

St. Vincent 4 16 12 9 -- 41

Jefferson 14 17 16 21 -- 68

ST. VINCENT (41) -- Tyler Monier 11, Trevor Leible 8, Riley Riehn 7, Jordan Rellergert 6, Luke Wibbenmeyer 4, Kaleb Schnurbusch 3, Joe Whistler 2. FG 17, FT 5-16, F 15 (3-pointers: Monier, Riehn. Fouled out: None.)

JEFFERSON (FESTUS) (68) -- Mike Reed 16, Tyler Gosnell 14, Jacob Ellenberger 14, Taylor Kent 11, Kenny Williams 6, Brendan Hammock 6, Campbell Ebersoldt 1. FG 29, FT 7-16, F 17 (3-pointers: Hammock 2, Gosnell. Fouled out: None.)

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Perryville 45, Jefferson 38

Ahnie Hoff recorded a triple-double with 14 points, 18 rebounds and 10 blocks to lead the fifth-seeded Pirates in an upset of the fourth-seeded Blue Jays in the opening round of the St. Paul Lutheran Christmas Tournament in Farmington, Mo.

Kylie Bilek tossed in 14 points and Emma Nelson tallied 10 points and seven steals for Perryville (3-5).

Mackenzie Null had a game-high 15 points for Jefferson (2-6).

The Pirates will face top-seeded St. Pius X (Festus) in a semifinal on Monday at 6 p.m. The Lancers (6-4) trounced eighth-seeded Lesterville (0-5) 83-31 in Saturday's first quarterfinal.

Perryville 16 4 6 19 -- 45

Jefferson 10 6 7 15 -- 38

PERRYVILLE (45) -- Kylie Bilek 14, Abby Robinson 2, Ahnie Hoff 14, Alyssa Stortz 2, Anna Huskey 3, Emma Nelson 10. FG 13, FT 16-34, F 15 (3-pointers: Bilek. Fouled out: Bilek.)

JEFFERSON (FESTUS) (38) -- Hannah Becherer 3, Hanna Floyd 5, Sydney Weik 6, Alyssa Becherer 2, Hilah Fish 2, Mackenzie Null 15, Lauren Rundel 5. FG 16, FT 6-15, F 20 (3-pointers: None. Fouled out: Fish.)

-- From staff reports