Saxony Lutheran girls basketball team topples Kelly, advances to district final

As they've done all season, the Saxony Lutheran Crusaders girls basketball team used an aggressive defense and a team effort on offense to remain perfect and cruise into their fourth consecutive district title game.

The top-seeded Crusaders never trailed and went on to defeat No. 4 Kelly 60-29 in a Class 3 District 2 semifinal Wednesday night at Scott City High School.

"That's my goal every year, as long as I've been coaching. That's our goal to play well enough to get us to that game," Saxony coach Sam Sides said about guiding his team to the district championship. "Everything else is kind of secondary to that, but we know the rest will come later. That's what we're trying to accomplish every year."

The Crusaders (27-0) used a 15-0 run early on and did not allow Kelly a shot attempt until there were 4 minutes, 28 seconds left in the first.

It took Kelly eight possessions before it could get the ball across half court without committing a turnover. Those failed attempts led to Saxony converting on the other end.

"As a whole team, we were really intense. We came out in a full-court, man-to-man press defense and didn't give them any room to breathe," Saxony junior Brianna Mueller said. "That forced them to turn the ball over and helped us to convert when we got the ball on offense. When we're playing that well it's hard for team's to stop us, and it just has to continue."

At the end of the opening period, Saxony had forced 15 turnovers, limited the Hawks to just five shots and led 18-3.

Kelly senior Tessa Johnson scored the Hawks' only bucket of the first while senior Morgan LeDure added a free throw.

"That's what they do. They pressure, you turn the ball over, they score," Kelly coach Rod McQuerter said. "You have to weather the storm. We couldn't do that tonight and Saxony did. I hope and pray that they win a state championship. Them or Arcadia Valley or Charleston. I hope one of them wins it because they've earned it. They showed us what a good team looks like."

Saxony, meanwhile, continued to dominate in the second, outscoring Kelly 15-8 to carry a 33-11 lead into halftime.

Saxony Lutheran's Tess Daniel takes a shot in the fourth quarter of the Crusaders Class 3 District 2 semifinal game against the Hawks, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015 in Scott City. Saxony won 60-29. (Laura Simon)

The Crusaders started the second half on a 9-2 run to extend their lead to 42-13 with 3:22 to go in the third.

Kelly ended the third on an 8-4 run, but could not get any closer for the remainder of the game.

Sides took his entire starting lineup out in the fourth and replaced them with two freshmen and three juniors.

Saxony's Laurel Mueller shined from the moment she stepped on the court, scoring back-to-back jumpers and adding a 3 to put her team up 55-24 three minutes into the fourth.

The freshman has rarely seen varsity playing time this season, but said she wasn't going to waste the opportunity once she did.

"I really felt like it was my time to come out and play. Being a freshman, I don't really get that that often," Laurel Mueller said. "I was just privileged to be out there and tried my hardest."

Laurel Mueller finished with nine points, just two points behind Brianna Mueller and Grace Mirly, who each had 11 points to lead Saxony. Freshman Addison Beussink added four points.

"I think the first time I put them in there, they were kind of shell-shocked a little bit. They haven't been playing too much on the varsity level, and I think they were a little nervous," Sides said about his two freshman, who scored a combined 13 points. "The second time they went back in there I think they relaxed and just played. They can play some minutes for us, they just have to get over that fear factor. You have to take advantage of those opportunities and I told them, 'Sooner or later you're going to have to contribute.' And they did that tonight."

Sides added that the Crusaders have played with the same mentality when it comes to offense all season.

"On any given night, we don't have to rely on one person to score, so we do have good balance," Sides said. "Some are more consistent than others, but we do have people that can put the ball in the basket, and that's what we've got to have in these games."

Kelly senior Logan Ivie finished with eight points to lead the Hawks. Ivie is one of nine seniors McQuerter will lose to graduation.

"I want to say thank you to my nine seniors. Sixteen years [of coaching] later, and I have nine seniors. It took us an hour to get out of that locker room, but that's how much they wanted to win tonight," McQuerter said. "It's not about the moment, it's about the journey. And my girls learned tonight that the journey is way more important than the moment."

Saxony will play second-seeded Arcadia Valley for the district title at 6 p.m. Friday.

"We've watched Arcadia Valley play a few times this year, and they're going to be some good competition for us," Brianna Mueller said. "We know that they're pretty big inside and they have some outside shooters, so we just have to be prepared for everything."

Sides said the Crusaders will focus on mostly shooting but will also work to fix some mistakes in preparation for the Tigers.

"This time of the year we don't go real long, but we will need to fine-tune stuff and see if we need to do any kind of tweaks to matchup with what Arcadia Valley does," Sides said. "It's really just all about execution. We get a little lazy with passing angles sometimes. One of our biggest strengths is usually our ball handling, so we'll have to bolster that up."

Saxony 18 15 13 14 -- 60

Kelly 3 8 10 8 -- 29

SAXONY (60) -- Brianna Mueller 11, Grace Mueller 11, Laurel Mueller 9, Raegan Wieser 8, Ali Galemmo 8, Addison Beussink 4, Maddie Brune 4, Heather Wills 3, Tess Daniel 2. FG 22, FT 11-15, F 14 (3-pointers: Mueller 1, Mirly 1, Wills 1, Mueller 1, . Fouled out: none.)

KELLY (29) -- Logan Ivie 8, Tessa Johnson 5, Victoria Duenne 4, Morgan LeDure 3, Stephanie Worth 3, Kristi Brucker 2, Darkaria Johnson 2, Kaylee Scherer. FG 11, FT 6-14, F 15 (3-pointers: Tessa Johnson 1. Fouled out: none.)