Saxony Lutheran girls basketball team gets job done inside in absence of injured starter Galemmo

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The situation was far from ideal as Saxony Lutheran senior Ali Galemmo watched her team pull together in Thursday's Class 3 semifinal against Southern Boone at Mizzou Arena.

All Galemmo could do was cheer on her teammates from the bench, as she sat with her foot wrapped in a cast, a pair of crutches at her side.

The 5-foot-8 starting forward refractured her foot during the first quarter of Saxony's 45-39 win over top-ranked Park Hills Central in Saturday's state quarterfinal, an injury she said is "10 times worse" than her previous fracture.

So when her replacement, senior Ashlynn Collier, finished with nine points and eight rebounds in the Crusaders' 53-40 victory over the Eagles on Thursday, Galemmo had nothing but elation.

"I think our post really stepped up today, and they worked the ball inside," Galemmo said. "Even though our shooters didn't have big games, our post really picked it up for us today. It really helped us a lot."

That post presence was also ignited by a career performance from senior Maddie Brune, who led the Crusaders with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Galemmo was reluctant to call the performance surprising. For a team that's loaded with eight seniors, working together and sharing the basketball is rather ordinary for the Crusaders.

"Everyone has helped us get to this point," Galemmo said. "Whether you play in games or not, every minute in practice, you're helping us get further into the season. I think everyone's put in work this season, and that's helped us get here.

"I know I can't be out there, and I'd do anything to be out there. But the fact that I've helped them get this far, it makes me feel good."

Collier's 27 minutes were particularly important Thursday. She finished with a game-high five offensive boards and provided some much-needed relief for a glaring hole in the Crusaders' starting lineup.

That hole showed itself in a big way during the first quarter, as each team struggled to establish an identity against an opposing defense that appeared relentless. The two teams mustered only seven points apiece after the first eight minutes.

Saxony's Maddie Brune (41) drives to the hoop during the fourth period. Brune led Saxony with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Saxony beat Southern Boone 53 - 40 to advance to the championship game Saturday. Teams competed in the semifinals of the 2016 MSHSAA Basketball Championships at Mizzou Arena Thursday, March 10, 2016 in Columbia, Mo. (JUSTIN L. STEWART)

Saxony coach Sam Sides had his doubts heading into the game but found comfort in the stellar play of his two post players.

"I was kind of concerned because of the rotation. I can rotate my guards more. I've got another senior guard or two, but I was concerned I was going to have to use my sophomores more," he said. "I wasn't sure how they were going to react in that situation.

"I thought they gave us good minutes. ... I can move people around and help get contributions from those people. It made a big difference."

Sophomores Masyn McWilliams and Laurel Mueller each tallied two points off the bench while senior Tess Daniel added five points.

Collier said she personally took it upon herself to accept the challenge that was handed to her when Galemmo went down.

"I knew that my level of play was not meeting the rest of them," Collier said. "I needed to step up, and I was going to do it for my team."

Perhaps even more impressive, the Crusaders advanced to their first state championship without significant contributions from their two leading scorers in seniors Brianna Mueller and Raegan Wieser, who were limited to a combined 12 points on 3-of-12 (25 percent) shooting.

But that's all part of it.

None of this is news for Saxony, which has seen its bench carry along an injury-riddled team all season.

"Coming off the bench, you have to be ready, and if you're not ready, coach will take you right back out," Galemmo said with a chuckle. "I feel like our subs have also stepped up. Tess had a good game today. I feel like our post did well. Although our guards weren't hitting their shots, I felt like they picked it up on defense. That was a big thing.

"They didn't get discouraged."

Sealed at the free-throw line

Saxony finished 11 of 15 (73 percent) from the free-throw line Thursday, including 9 of 10 inside the final 1 minute, 17 seconds.

Saxony entered the game shooting 67 percent at the stripe this season, which is an indicator of the importance Sides places on free-throw shooting.

"Free throws win all the games, the close ones. You've got to make them," Sides said. "We're usually a pretty good free-throw shooting team. Ali's a pretty good free-throw shooter herself. We don't have her, so [Brune and Collier] had to step up and make free throws.

"My guards can usually make their free throws. It's just you've got to have confidence to go up there and knock them down because every close game usually comes down to them."

Saxony failed to get to the free-throw line in the first half but was able to bruise its way to 15 chances in the second half.

In contrast, Southern Boone's chances at the free-throw line were limited, finishing 3 of 7 (42.9 percent).

"I watched them play Cardinal Ritter, and I think half of their points were from free throws," Sides said. "We wanted to keep them off the line as much as possible, and that's hard to do when you can shoot the 3 and drive. That's when you've really got to buckle down and play solid defense and not put them on the line.

"In the second half, I thought we did that."

Monkey off their backs

There will be no pressure of feeling overwhelmed by the moment when the Crusaders step on the court for Saturday's championship against Strafford.

Saxony entered the final four as the only team with experience, but that experience came with plenty of painful memories.

The Crusaders left CoMo empty-handed in 2014, dropping a 22-point decision against eventual state champion El Dorado Springs and losing to Hermann 68-53 in the third-place game.

None of that pressure was evident in the fourth quarter, during which Saxony outscored Southern Boone 23-10 to secure its spot in Saturday's final.

"Coming here two years ago, the feeling that we felt after we lost," Brune said, "it's like we didn't really even want to play in the third-place game. So we knew that to go out with a bang this year, we had to win this game."