Lueders flashes form for Missouri coach

Saxony Lutheran's Lauren Lueders finished on a strong note at the Mississippi Valley Conference tournament on Friday.

The junior guard scored 14 points, hitting four 3-pointers, in the Crusaders' 85-81 victory against top-seeded Meadow Heights in the third-place game. She was second on the team in scoring behind Tim Lorenz's 18 points.

"They were all scored in the first half," Saxony coach John Daniel said of Lueders' points. "Oak Ridge had done a good job on her [Thursday] night."

Lueders had just three points in the 62-57 loss to Oak Ridge.

She opened the tournament with 16 points, including three 3-pointers, in Saxony's 84-47 victory against Zalma on Feb. 1. Among those who watched that performance was Cindy Stein, the women's basketball coach at Missouri, which is one of several Division I universities recruiting Lueders.

Daniel said Friday's third-place game took on a different tone after Michael Collier, one of Meadow Heights' top scorers, was injured in the first quarter. Collier did not return.

"I hated to see the Collier kid get hurt," Daniel said. "He's really a good player, and it changed the game when he got hurt."

The teams were meeting for the first time since canceling their second game of the 2004-05 season due to incidents in a previous contest.

Back on their game

Scott City posted a 73-70 victory Friday against East Prairie with plenty of help from the usual suspects: All-state senior Mark Dannenmueller scored 30 points, and fellow senior Mark Johnston added 17.

The Rams even returned to form from the free-throw line, hitting 20 of 24 after going 20-for-30 on Tuesday in a loss to Bell City.

"We came into a tough environment and really battled tonight," Scott City coach Lance Amick said after the game. "It really shows the character of this team to come out here tonight after a tough loss on Tuesday, play hard and win a tough ballgame.

"The biggest thing was we stayed poised and showed the maturity of a team that's won before."

The Rams had some help from other sources as well.

Travis Glueck scored eight points Friday after struggling from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter Tuesday. Daniel Jackson triggered a late inbounds play that led to a Dannenmueller layup. And Ethan Watkins hit a free throw with 16.5 seconds left that gave the Rams a 3-point cushion.

"Scott City's a good bunch," East Prairie coach Jason Irby said, "and Dannenmueller's an all-stater for a reason. He made some unbelievable shots on us.

"I thought the Glueck kid stepped up and made a couple of big shots. You know Dannenmueller and Johnston are going to score, but for him to step up and hit a couple of big shots, that was big in a two- or three-point game."

Scott City came out of the game 4-1 in the Scott-Mississippi Conference standings, tied with Scott County Central for the top spot, while conference tourney champion East Prairie is 3-2.

Cubbies taking shape

Defending Class 1 state champion Bell City hammered Oran 84-27 on Friday night, holding a 20-8 lead after one period.

"I think that we are starting to get healthy, and when you've been injured, you're also rested," Cubs coach David Heeb said. "This team is finally getting used to playing together and the next three weeks we should get better and maybe make a run at it in March."