Saxony Lutheran, Meadow Heights win Class 2 district openers

The top-seeded Saxony Lutheran boys basketball team withstood a strong challenge from St. Vincent during Saturday's opening round of the Class 2 District 3 tournament at Chaffee.

Saxony Lutheran held off the eighth-seeded Indians 56-47 to advance to the district semifinals.

The Crusaders improved to 19-5, while the Indians ended their season at 11-13.

"We played hard and we were very competitive," said St. Vincent coach Bruce Valleroy, whose squad trailed by five points with three minutes left.

Max Wieser led the Crusaders with 27 points. He hit four 3-pointers. Austin Kwikkel scored 11 points and Zach Bohnert added 10.

Josh Rollet paced the Indians with 16 points. Matt Hotop added 14.

Saxony Lutheran hit 16 of 24 free throws, while St. Vincent did not attempt a foul shot.

In other district games Saturday, No. 2 seed Puxico defeated No. 7 Richland, No. 5 Bloomfield upended No. 4 Chaffee, and No. 6 Meadow Heights upset No. 3 Advance.

Meadow Heights (12-11) won 54-50, breaking a 50-50 tie with about 30 seconds left when junior point guard Derrick Wilfong made a steal and scored on a fastbreak basket layin. Wilfong, who finished with a team-high 15 points, later added two free throws.

Dustin Hubler added 11 points and Ethan Mayfield 10 finished with 10.

David Vangennip scored a game-high 24 points for Advance.

"I thought it was our best defnsive effort of the year," Meadow Heights coach Tom Brown said.

Saxony will play Bloomfield in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Tuesday, which will be followed by the Meadow Heights-Puxico semifinal at 7:30.

The championship is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Saxony Lutheran 56, St. Vincent 47

St. Vincent 9 12 8 18 -- 47

Saxony Lutheran 21 12 7 16 -- 56

ST. VINCENT (47) -- Josh Rollet 16, Matt Hotop 14, Matt Abbott 8, Aaron Dzik 5, Kyle Rollet 4. FG 22, FT 0-0, F 21. (3-pointers: J. Rollet 2, Dzik 1. Fouled out: Dzik)

SAXONY LUTHERAN (56) -- Max Wieser 27, Austin Kwikkel 11, Zach Bohnert 10, Ben Courtois 5, Chris Roth 2, Garrett Ruppel 1. FG 18, FT 16-24, F 9. (3-pointers: Wieser 4. Fouled out: none)

Meadow Heights 54, Advance 50

Advance 16 10 13 11 -- 50

Meadow Heights 11 15 15 13 -- 54

ADVANCE (50) -- David Vangennip 24, Jacob Bond 8, Cody Mitchell 8, Cody Vangennip 4, Nate Middleton 2, Blake Seabaugh 2, Chris Welch 2. FG 23, FT 4-9, F 18. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

MEADOW HEIGHTS (54) -- Derrick Wilfong 15, Dustin Hubler 11, Ethan Mayfield 10, Tyler Wagner 6, Zak Hotop 6, Tyler Welker 6. FG 22, FT 5-13, F 14. (3-pointers: Welker 2, Hotop 2, Wilfong 1. Fouled out: none)

GIRLS BASKETBALLDelta 64, Eminence 10

Top-seeded Delta reached the Class 1 District 2 final with a 54-point romp over Eminence at Zalma High School.

Jode Menz led the Bobcats (21-2) with 16 points and Sarah Keys added 14.

Eminence 5 2 3 0 -- 10

Delta 22 12 18 12 -- 64

EMINENCE (10) -- Brooke Williams 6, Christin Lashly 2, Chelsea Atchison 2. FG 2, FT 6-8, F 9. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

DELTA (64) -- Taylor Smith 5, Amanda Drew 4, Alison Burger 6, Jodi Menz 16, Sara Blattel 7, Jessica Kidd 4, Sarah Keys 14, Brittni Deprow 8. FG 25, FT 10-11, F 11. (3-pointers: Keys 2, Deprow 2. Fouled out: none)

-- From staff reports