Saxony Lutheran boys basketball team uses multiple weapons to overwhelm Scott City

The Saxony Lutheran boys basketball team won't have any trouble establishing its own respectability when the Class 3 District 2 tournament rolls around later this month.

The Crusaders might not have the tradition of Charleston or the physicality of Scott City or the size of Woodland, but taking away one of their assets won't be enough.

Saxony can do it all on offense, and Tuesday night's 77-53 home win over the district rival Rams proved the Crusaders are honing in on their postseason form.

"Every game from here on is just basically going to determine what seed that district tournament gives us, and I told them one way you can get that respect is to go out and just handle them. I think they did a great job of that," said first-year Crusaders coach Kevin Williams, whose team had four players reach double figures. "... We were patient, yet still in attack mode. We let them sit in that matchup zone, and we turned it and changed sides of the floor until we got something we liked. Then we exploited it.

"They're really starting to understand how to share and how to use what the defense gives us, as opposed to trying to make plays happen. When we do that, we're a pretty tough basketball team because we have a lot of people that can do things."

Junior Corie Williams had a game-high 23 points to lead Saxony (18-4), including eight in the second quarter, during which the Crusaders broke open a 22-all deadlock by closing the period on a 19-6 spurt. Will Rogers scored on the fast break and was fouled, converting the conventional three-point play that put Saxony ahead for good, 25-22, with 4 minutes, 23 seconds left in the first half.

The Crusaders shot 73 percent (11 of 15) from the floor in the second quarter and carried a 41-28 advantage into halftime.

"We just had everybody firing on all cylinders tonight," said the 6-foot-3 Rogers, who finished with 17 points. "It was just a good game. We shared the ball, and that's how we like to play."

There were 12 lead changes in the opening period, as neither team was able to pull ahead by more than two points. Junior Dylan Keller was 3 of 4 from beyond the arc in the quarter but struggled to find long-range opportunities for the remainder of the game. He finished with 19 points to lead Scott City (12-8).

The Rams took the lead once in the second period when Jordan Kluesner hit two free throws to put his side up 21-20 at the 5:37 mark, but an inability to slow down the Crusaders' multi-dimensional attack proved to be the difference.

Scott City coach Mark Dannenmueller used the word "disappointing" several times when evaluating his team's performance.

"We didn't really respond to anything," said Dannenmueller, whose team's defensive woes were magnified by a 32-percent (17 of 53) outing from the field. "The worst word you can be called in sports is 'soft,' and we're pretty soft defensively. We let them get whatever they wanted. Give them credit, they hit some shots, but they got a lot of layups early because we couldn't guard a stop sign."

Saxony returned from halftime with a much slower pace, opening up a 16-point lead before a pair of free throws by Kluesner pulled the Rams within single digits, 46-38, at the 3:13 mark of the third quarter. The Crusaders responded with nine straight points before Keller converted a three-point play to trim his team's deficit to 55-41 heading into the fourth quarter.

Williams was extremely pleased with his team's ball movement in the second half.

"If they're going to sit back and allow you to stand 25 or 30 feet from the basket uncontested, then we'll just keep passing and running an offense until they get tired of guarding us, and then we'll take a good shot," Williams said. "That's kind of what happened. They're a good basketball team. They're strong. They're physical. They've got some good shooters obviously. We struggled containing their good guards.

"I just think offensively, we've got so many weapons that if you're really not focused and keyed in on every single player or every pass, that's something that can get you beat."

The Crusaders, who shot 55 percent (32 of 58) from the floor, outscored Scott City 22-12 in the fourth quarter. Jalen Williams added 18 points for Saxony, while Nathan Ruark poured in 10 points.

"Sometimes the play just finds you when you're playing in the flow of the game, and that's what I think they're starting to understand," Williams said. "I'm not looking for the guy to make the great play. I'm looking for the one that will make the right play and the easy play. That makes it easy when you've got good athletes, and we've got that."

The two teams will continue to make their respective cases for a higher seeding over the next three weeks, leading to what appears to be an exciting district tournament.

Dannenmueller hopes his players begin to show a sense of urgency.

"It's the most disappointed I've been in an extremely long time," he said. "I thought we'd come out and fight. I told them at halftime, 'We're going to come out and fight. We're going to have the fight-or-flight method.' We fled. We ran, and I'm just extremely disappointed."

Saxony has made a first-round exit in the district tournament for three straight seasons, including a 24-point loss a year ago. The Crusaders started the season on a 10-game winning streak but have since cooled down. Williams believes his team is better because of the losses.

"I think we're a completely different team now," Williams said. "We understand now how to counter when teams do certain things to us. We're not thinking about it now. It's a reaction. We've done it so much in so many games and through so much practice that now we're seeing what we need to be doing without me calling it out all the time. ... I'm really impressed with their knowledge and their ability to really turn and grind where some teams will just break down."

Scott City 14 14 13 12 -- 53

Saxony 15 26 14 22 -- 77

SCOTT CITY (53) -- Dylan Keller 19, David Smith 7, Nick Bickings 6, Jordan Kluesner 6, Trent Pobst 5, Isiah Berry 4, Ty Wilthong 3, Braden Cox 3. FG 17, FT 11-17, F 12. (3-pointers: Keller 4, Smith 2, Bickings 2. Fouled out: None.)

SAXONY LUTHERAN (77) -- Corie Williams 23, Jalen Williams 18, Will Rogers 17, Nathan Ruark 10, Graesen Meystedt 6, Karsten Short 2, Nathan Schneider 1. FG 32, FT 5-8, F 11. (3-pointers: J. Williams 4, Rogers 2, C. Williams 2. Fouled out: None.)