Saxony Lutheran boys basketball team sees Bayless heat up late, falls 63-50

HILLSBORO, Mo. -- The Saxony Lutheran boys basketball team picked its poison in the second half of the Class 3 sectional contest Wednesday night at Jefferson College.

It just so happened the Bayless Bronchos had a double dose.

After hitting just 1 of 8 3-pointer attempts in the first three quarters, the Bronchos knocked down 4 of 6 in the fourth quarter to knock off the Crusaders 63-50.

Bayless (23-6) advanced to the Class 3 quarterfinal game, where it will face Charleston at 1 p.m. Saturday at Poplar Bluff High School.

Senior Enis Mehmedovic hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and scored 13 points in the game to complement his brother, 6-foot-3 freshman Edin Mehmedovic, who had a game-high 29 points.

Saxony Lutheran's Brayton Klaus takes a shot over Bayless' Taylor Johnson during the second quarter of a MSHSAA Class 3 sectional game at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Mo., on Wednesday, March 9, 2011. Saxony Lutheran lost 63-50. (Kristin Eberts)

"He's a freshman," Saxony coach Sam Sides said about Edin, "but he looks like he's 20 years old. He's so big and strong. Not only that, but he's so smooth. He makes it look so simple. He'd catch the ball in there, and we just couldn't stop him. And when we tried to concentrate on him, they hit those 3s out there.

"We got in a bind where we had to do one or the other and pick our poison. We had to come out and defend and that opened up the inside. They're a good team. They can shoot inside and outside, and they're obviously bigger and stronger than we are."

Edin scored 23 of his points over the first three quarters to torment Saxony (15-14) in a game of spurts while the Bronchos' shooting was trying to find the mark.

He and 6-2 junior Aldin Kovagevic, who scored eight points, had plenty of success against a Crusaders lineup whose tallest starter was 6-0.

"We don't have a whole lot of size," said Clayton Carver, who led the Crusaders with 17 points.

Saxony Lutheran coach Sam Sides waits for players to join him on the sidelines during a first-quarter timeout at the Class 3 sectional game Wednesday against Bayless at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Mo. Bayless won 63-50. (Kristin Eberts)

It showed on the boards.

While Bayless struggled with its shooting, it had eight offensive rebounds that it turned it into six points. Saxony Lutheran had five offensive rebounds, with four of those on two possessions in the second half.

"We gave them too many shots," Sides said, "but that's been our story all year. We've been outrebounded almost every game, and we've got to work on getting position. There's only so much you can do when you're not very big."

Saxony, which had made late rallies at the end of the first and second periods to keep from getting too far behind, seemed to have the Bronchos solved in the third period.

With their defense packed in on Edin, the Crusaders found their own offensive rhythm for an 8-0 spurt midway through the third period that resulted in a 37-32 lead.

Carver hit a 3-pointer with 5:04 to play in the third and broke a 2-minute scoreless drought by hitting another with 2:56 to play in the third, tying the score at 32-32. Gus Klaus made a driving layin and Carver knocked down another 3-pointer with 1:29 to play in the period.

"That's my role on the team to shoot the outside shot," Carver said. "Tonight they were falling, and I got some confidence and kept shooting them."

Klaus, who scored 12 points, said it started with the defense.

"We got some big stops, and we came down and got some shots and knocked them down," he said. "Carver stepped up and hit some 3s for us. It was just all-around defense and clamping down on defense."

The Crusaders took a 39-36 lead into the fourth period, but Bayless came out on fire with Enis hitting a 3, Patrick Triplett hitting a 3 and Enis hitting another for a 45-41 lead.

After Saxony misfired on a 3 and Edin scored inside on a feed from Enis, the Bronchos led 47-41 with 5:32 to go.

After Saxony closed to within four, Edin answered. After the Crusaders moved within four again, Enis hit a 3 for a 52-45 lead with 3:34 to go.

Kristopher Cook hit one more 3 for Saxony, but Lamont Davenport and Edin had back-to-back baskets for Bayless to make the score 56-48.

When Klaus, who scored more than 16 points per game this season to lead the Crusaders, missed a 3-pointer with less than 2 minutes to go, the Crusaders resorted to fouling. And Bayless hit seven of eight free throws to close out the game.

"We had a good year and did some good things," Sides said. "We just got outphysicaled. We had to count on them having a bad shooting night, and they didn't do that."

The first half was a series of four spurts, with Bayless opening on a 10-2 run that turned into a 14-7 lead 6 1/2 minutes into the game.

Edin had 10 points and Kovagevic had the other four as the Bronchos were unstoppable inside.

But Saxony closed the half on a 5-0 run -- including three free throws by Klaus -- to get within 14-12.

Bayless outscored the Crusaders 7-0 over the first 2:10 of the second period for a 24-12 lead, as Edin dropped in five more points.

The Crusaders finally scored on Carver's jumper with 4:51 to play before the half, then went on an 8-2 to run over the final minute of the quarter to cut the lead to 26-22 by halftime. Carver hit two 3-pointers in that run.

"We battled pretty good," Sides said.

Bayless 14 12 10 27 -- 63

Saxony Lutheran 12 10 17 11 -- 50

SAXONY (50) -- Gus Klaus 12, Kristopher Cook 9, Clayton Carver 17, Clay Roth 2, Matt Willis 0, Shawn Hadler 0, Gabriel Bohnert 16, Nic Johnson 4. FG 19, FT 5-6, F 14 (3-pointers: Carver 5, Klaus 1, Cook 1. Fouled out: none)

BAYLESS (63) -- Lamont Davenport 5, Armin Jatic 0, Enis Mehmedovic 13, Edin Mehmedovic 29, Patrick Triplett 8, Aldin Kovagenic 8. FG 24, FT 10-12, F 10 (3-pointers: Enis Mehmedovic 3, Triplett 2)ut