Relaxed but focused Saxony Lutheran girls basketball team has special relationship -- and bet -- with coach Sam Sides

Take a peek at one of the Saxony Lutheran girls basketball team's practices and you'll notice a common exchange between the eight Saxony juniors and coach Sam Sides.

While shots go up and plays are executed, it's all business for the Crusaders, who remain perfect and are celebrating their third straight district title. Their precision and focus is impressive to watch, but it only takes a moment for their mood to turn from serious to a resounding chorus of laughter and grins from players and coach, which make the gym at Saxony Lutheran High School light up.

The Crusaders, who are preparing for a state sectional, have maintained a balance of the two with just two more wins need to reach the final four for a second consecutive season.

While winning the program's first title remains the ultimate goal for Saxony, there are many driving factors that have helped make that goal a very real possibility. Some remain more important than others, but there is one driving force -- a bet -- that will keep the Crusaders both focused and laughing right up until they hoist the state trophy.

"If we win state, then we get to shave off his mustache," said junior Maddie Brune while pointing to Sides' long gray mustache. "I think everyone is going to take turns at it and just keep going until the job is done and you can finally see that upper lip."

While no one could quite recall who came up with the bet, Brianna Mueller remembers exactly when the idea was brought up.

"I think it got brought up freshman year, but it didn't come into play until last year because we made it to state last year," Mueller said. "I think we all just kind of came to the conclusion. Someone may have suggested it, but then we were all like, 'Yeah, it has to be done.'"

With the way the Crusaders have been playing as of late -- Saxony is 28-0 and ranked No. 1 in Class 3 -- Sides said the realization that this bet might actually happen have begun to set in, but it doesn't bother him one bit.

The fourth-year Crusaders coach, who said he's been sporting his upper lip mane since he was a teenager, welcomes the idea of shaving it all off for the right reason.

"It came up last year. They started talking about it. They asked me if I'd do it and I said, 'That's no problem. I'll make that trade any time. That's not a big deal to me,'" Sides said. "It's something to have fun with, and that's fine because that's what we do, we have fun and win basketball games. Again, like I said, I'll gladly trade my mustache for a state championship. That's a no-brainer."

Sides added that he's only shaved his mustache off completely a couple times since he began growing it.

"I think I shaved it once when I got bored working the midnight shift while I was going to college," Sides said. "I had an overnight job and as I got bored I decided to shave it. After I did, I went home to my family. My little boy, I think he was 6 or 7 years old, he didn't know who I was because he had never seen me without it. He's 40 years old now, and he's seen me with it ever since then."

His possible new look has his players both curious and concerned with what Sides will look like without a mustache.

Saxony Lutheran girls basketball coach Sam Sides talks to his team during at time at last year's Class 3 final four. (Laura Simon)

"I think he will look so weird. I think he will look like a naked mole rat, and I'm not so sure I'm OK with that," Mueller said while trying to hold back a burst of laughter with Sides looking on from close by. "But I really hope that we do get to shave it. He said he could grow it back in like a week, so I'm not too worried. By the next basketball season it will probably be back, but still, it's going to look so weird."

Other players, including Grace Mirly, aren't sure what to expect but think it could be more of a youthful look for the veteran coach.

"That's what makes coach Sides, coach Sides. It's a signature mustache," Mirly said. "And we've never seen him without it, so that will be different. I don't know what to expect, but maybe he will look younger."

The Saxony girls aren't the only ones invested in Sides' mustache. While they give him plenty of friendly grief about it, the mustache has also seen minimal fame on social media, according to Mueller.

"We're always joking around with him about it. The one thing you can always count on with that thing is that he's going to get food stuck in it. It's just inevitable," said Mueller while Raegan Wieser stood close by laughing uncontrollably and nodding her head yes. "We give him grief about that, but then also there was a time on Instagram when this one girl posted a picture. It was of her playing [basketball], but he was standing in the background coaching. Another girl commented on his mustache and about how great it was. That's how much attention it gets. Some random girl who doesn't even know who he is comments on his mustache."

The always modest Sides thinks little of the attention he garners from his mustache, which he said he started growing because that was the style of the time he grew up in.

"People talk to me about it once in awhile. Most of the time I let it get too long and it gets hard for me to eat. It gets in my way," Sides said. "I don't think much about it to be honest. It's just a part of me."

It wasn't always easy for Sides and his players to get along as much as they do now.

When the eight juniors first stepped onto the court three years ago, Sides overall demeanor scared them.

"I was intimidated by him because going from grade school to high school is a big transition," Wieser said. "He's a very, you know, 'Work hard and give 100 percent effort all the time' type of person. And I always thought if I didn't he'd be upset about it. It was intimidating, but as the season went on we learned to love him and found out he was a really great coach."

Sides said he never intends to come off that way. Despite a rocky start with his current players, Sides found a way to connect with them on the right level.

"I get that a lot. I guess I'm scary looking, I don't know," Sides said. "Before too long they figured out my sense of humor and my personality. It takes a while. I have to grow on you, I guess. I try to have fun with them, and I enjoy being around them. They don't know sometimes if I'm kidding them or being serious, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but I think probably halfway through the year they figured me out a little bit. We've gotten along fine really since the beginning, and that has continued to grow."

Since then, the relationship between players and coach has reached heights both never thought possible.

Saxony Lutheran coach Sam Sides talks with his team during a time out against Notre Dame during a semifinal at the Kelso Supply Holiday Classic Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014 at the Show Me Center. (Glenn Landberg)

"It has blossomed. Every single day we find another reason to love coach Sides. He has the funniest stories. Sometimes they're a little out there and you don't really know what he's saying, but that's what makes it so funny. He has great life lessons, too. He teaches us about basketball mainly, but he always looks out for us and makes sure that we text him on our little group chat when we get home. He just really cares about us and we care about him," junior Tess Daniel said.

One of the many reasons it's grown includes the list of Sides' quotes Mirly keeps on her phone.

"There are funny ones and there are sweet ones, too," Mirly said. "He always says, 'Girls, I'm going to treat you like my daughter. I don't have a daughter, but that's how you should expect to be treated.' That's probably his go to and one that we hear all the time."

Others have to do with the Crusaders' performance on the court.

"There's one that he's been saying for a while and he says it to get us to move around when we're on the court," Mirly said. "He always says, 'Don't stand like statues because pigeons come and stand on statues. You know what pigeons do? They poop on statues.' That one makes you laugh, but it also gets you to think, so his quotes do have some real meaning."

All eight Saxony players said they've always tried to keep things light and fun during their postseason run, which is where the bet comes into play. But it's not by any means their main focus. Wieser said they're keeping a level head and not getting ahead of themselves.

"Especially since it's a state thing, we don't want to look ahead," Wieser said about the bet. "We know that's not even a factor for our next game, and it's going to take three more until we even reach that game. We have so many more stepping stones until we can even get to that point."

What they can count on during their run to state is each other. Mueller said the chemistry and friendship Saxony has developed over the course of three seasons is at an all-time high.

"I'm not exaggerating when I say we are all literally best friends on the team," Mueller said. "Not only on the court, but we hang out on the weekends, we have sleepovers. We are best friends on and off the court. We would not be 28-0 if that weren't the case."

While the conclusion of the bet may still be a few weeks off, Saxony is mindful that Sides is the reason they remain such a relaxed team and how they've been able to experience so much success.

"We play for coach Sides. He's molded us into this kind of a team," Ali Galemmo said. "He really is the driving force behind this whole thing. We go out and play, but if it wasn't for what he has taught us, both in life and on the court, then I don't think we would be where we're at right now."