Undefeated Saxony Lutheran girls basketball team back in state quarterfinals

DEXTER, Mo. -- The Twin Rivers Royals found out first hand why the Saxony Lutheran girls basketball team is ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 3.

The Crusaders used a 23-0 second quarter run to turn a close game into a rout, beating the Royals 70-36 in a Class 3 sectional at the Bearcat Event Center in Dexter and earning their second straight trip to the state quarterfinals.

Saxony (29-0) will face Park Hills Central Saturday at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Mo. Tip-off is 2:45 p.m.

"We really took control of the game there," Saxony coach Sam Sides said about the second-quarter run. "We kind of stumbled around there (in the first quarter), a lot of turnovers, silly turnovers, unforced turnovers. We usually don't have many of those. So that was kind of uncharacteristic."

Saxony saw a 13-4 lead culled to 17-13 early in the second period. The Crusaders committed 10 turnovers in the first quarter and were admittedly out of sync.

"That's not how we play," said junior forward Raegan Wieser, who led the Crusaders with 22 points. "(Coach Sides) didn't think we came out ready to play. To get to this next set, we're gonna have to play better. This is all or nothing. If we don't put it out there now, then it's over."

"We just weren't playing smart basketball," said junior guard Brianna Mueller, who added 14 points. "We weren't taking care of the ball, we were taking bad shots. We just knew that we had to come out and play with our heads and play basketball like we normally do. That's what we did. We came out and had a great second (quarter) and just took it away."

After Twin Rivers' Jaysea Morgan cut the lead to 17-13, scoring on a nice drive down the lane, the Crusaders went to work. Ali Galemmo put back a missed shot to start a 7-0 run that pushed the lead to 24-13. After Morgan scored on another drive, Wieser scored on a nice spin move in the lane, starting a 23-0 run that saw Saxony take control at 47-15 late in the period.

Wieser had nine points in the run, and freshman forward Masyn McWilliams added seven. Saxony outscored Twin Rivers 32-5 in that eight-minute span.

"We got it turned around and turned them over a few times, and got to the free throw line and made our free throws, and I think that kind of got us going," Sides said.

The Crusaders hit on 11 of 16 shots from the field in the quarter while limiting the Royals to just 2-of-6 shooting and forcing 11 turnovers in the period.

"When you're struggling to get five kids out there that are competing mentally, it doesn't matter what you draw up or decide to run," Twin Rivers coach Kelly Westerfield said. "At the end of the first quarter we had a little spark where we maybe thought about stepping it up, but it didn't last long."

Saxony outscored Twin Rivers 16-7 in the third period to open a 65-23 bulge, and the only unanswered question down the stretch was whether or not Wieser would reach the 1,000-point mark for her career. According to her teammates, she finished one point short.

"I thought she had already had it," said Sides, who nonetheless reinserted Wieser into the game midway through the fourth in an effort to get her the milestone. "I was hoping she would get it done today because I didn't want that hanging over her head (Saturday), but if she doesn't score one point (Saturday) we're gonna get beat."

Also reaching double figures for the Crusaders were McWilliams (11 points) and Grace Mirly (10 points). Sides has been pleased with the progress made by McWilliams throughout the season.

"Every time I've asked her to go out there and play, she's contributed offensively," Sides said. "She's getting better on the defensive end all the time. ... It's nice to have somebody you can bring in off the bench with a little size that can contribute, and she certainly did that."

Saxony Lutheran 17 32 16 5 -- 70

Twin Rivers 11 5 9 11 -- 36

SAXONY LUTHERAN (70) -- Addison Beussink 2, Grace Mirly 10, Courtney Kester 2, Ali Galemmo 5, Brianna Mueller 14, Masyn McWilliams 11, Raegan Wieser 22, Maddie Brune 4. FG 25, FT 17-24, F7. (3-pointers: B. Mueller 2, Wieser 1. Fouled out: none.)

TWIN RIVERS (36) -- Jaysea Morgan 14, Katelyn South 10, Kylee Lewis 5, Kathryn Gehrke 1, Casey Douglas 6. FG 16, FT 1-4, F 18. (3-pointers: South 2, Lewis 1. Fouled out: none.)