Saxony Lutheran girls basketball team beats Sikeston in opener

Tuesday night's girls basketball game for Saxony Lutheran gave Crusaders' coach Sam Sides a glimpse of what took his team to last year's Class 3 final four.

It also showed just how much the Crusaders must improve if they hope for a repeat performance this season.

Saxony built a 10-point halftime lead, then pulled away in the second half for a nonchalant 48-28 victory over Sikeston in the season-opener for both squads.

"For our first game, I was pretty pleased," Sides said. "Our younger girls came in and gave us a few minutes and helped us out, so that was good to see."

The Crusaders struggled to maintain offensive consistency in the first half. Saxony led 15-9 after one period, then went just 3 of 12 from the floor in the second quarter. Luckily for the Crusaders, their defense kept Sikeston at bay as the Bulldogs were limited to just four second-quarter points as Saxony built a 23-13 halftime lead.

The Crusaders' woes were a hangover from last week's jamboree, during which Saxony visibly struggled both offensively and defensively against teams from Ste. Genevieve, Valle Catholic and De Soto.

Saxony Lutheran s Raegan Wieser looks to pass during the second quarter against Sikeston Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014 at Saxony Lutheran. (Glenn Landberg)

"In the jamoboree we struggled; we struggled last year in that jamboree," Sides said. "We kind of slept-walked through the whole deal, I thought. Sikeston's got a nice team. They're aggressive as all get-out. They got a couple nice inside players, and they're athletic. They caused us some havoc with their pressure and stuff. But we did a good job in sharing the ball and finally made some shots and made some free throws, and I thought we did a good job of keeping them off the free-throw line."

Saxony went to the free-throw line 24 times compared to seven for Sikeston, and the Crusaders outscored the Bulldogs 16-5 from the charity stripe.

Junior forward Raegen Wieser (12 points) said first-game jitters may have played a role in Saxony's slow start.

"We were really excited and had our adrenaline going," Wieser said. "We struggled a little bit, but if we keep working in practice, it'll come."

Saxony opened the third period with a 6-0 run that featured three consecutive Sikeston turnovers and built its lead to 20 points, 37-17, late in the quarter. Sikeston never challenged after that.

"We had some careless turnovers at the wrong time of the game," Sikeston coach Matt Schonhoff said. "They had a couple leakouts that we didn't cover. We hit shots, but we didn't hit shots when we needed to stay in the game. I thought we competed hard, but Saxony was just better tonight."

Saxony showed glimpses of what carried them to the final four a year ago. Wieser (12 points) had two 3-pointers in the first half, and fellow junior Brianna Mueller (14 points) found her stride in the second half, consistently driving to the hoop and either hitting her shot or drawing a foul. Mueller was a perfect 10 for 10 from the free-throw line, all in the second half.

"We've been working hard [in practice] for this game," Mueller said. "We knew coming out that they were going to be fast, they were going to be quick, they were going to be good, and that we can't underestimate anyone. We were just happy to be out on the court playing a game."

Mueller admitted it'll be tough throughout the season as opposing teams target last year's state tournament participants.

"Coach did stress in practice that we did have success last year, and everyone's going to be out to get us," she said. "And we know that, and that makes us work harder in practice, and that just transfers to the games."

Sikeston committed 20 turnovers, and although they prevented Saxony from scoring a ton of points in transition, the turnovers prevented the Bulldogs from sustaining any offensive consistency.

"I think we accomplished everything we wanted to tonight," Erica Peet said. "We're going to get more aggressive and work harder. We just have to learn how to control the ball and slow it down on offense."

Sikeston 9 4 8 7 -- 28

Saxony Lutheran 15 8 16 9 -- 48

SIKESTON (28) -- Kiera Steward 2, Tyra Bonner 3, Larissa McClellan 2, Erica Peet 11, Ariana Beard 3, Miranda Harrison 2, Tyeshia Mitchell 4, Alana Basham 1. FG: 9. FT: 5-7. Total fouls: 17. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none.)

SAXONY LUTHERAN (48) -- Grace Mirly 6, Laurel Mueller 2, Ali Galemmo 8, Brianna Mueller 14, Ashlynn Collier 1, Masyn McWilliams 5, Raegan Wieser 12. FG: 15. FT: 16-24. Total fouls: 9. (3-pointers: Wieser 2. Fouled out: none.