Saxony is Scholar Bowl State Champions!

Saxony Scholar Bowl Team -- Seated: Sarah Willis, Lauren Barr, Elizabeth Miesner, and Cori Butler. Standing: Josh Vogel, Zach Vogel, A J Garms, Joey Deiermann, Benji Dordoni, Ben Spiecker, and Coach Verlin Mangels.

The Saxony Lutheran High School Varsity Scholar Bowl Team competed in the Class 2 Scholar Bowl State Tournament on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia on May 3. The eight schools advancing to the State Tournament from Sectional competition competed in three preliminary matches in the morning to determine advancement to Missouri's Final Four Teams.

Saxony defeated Lexington High School 340 to 220 in the first preliminary game. In the second game, Saxony defeated South Shelby High School 400 to 240. In the third preliminary game, Saxony defeated West Platte 340 to 200. The three wins and the total points scored in the preliminary rounds advanced Saxony to the Final Four as the number 1 seed.

Saxony played the number 4 seeded team, Twin Rivers. These two teams met four times throughout the regular season, splitting the games 2-2. Coach Mangels said, "Going into the first afternoon game, we all knew it would be a challenging game". Twin Rivers forged to a 90-40 lead after one quarter. Saxony battled back in the second quarter to get within 10 points at halftime, 170 to 180. Twin Rivers again jumped ahead after three quarters by a score of 270 to 210. However, in the fourth quarter, Saxony's balanced scoring and coolness under fire, a trademark of this team throughout the year, emerged as they battled back to eke out a 360-350 victory to take them to the state championship game.

The championship game pitted Saxony against perennial powerhouse Richland High School from south central Missouri who has won 16 of the 18 championships since Scholar Bowl state competition was sanctioned by MSHSAA in 1995. Saxony got off to a fast start against Richland outscoring them 80 to 40 in the first quarter. However, Richland battled back in the second quarter outscoring Saxony by 20 to go into halftime with Saxony at 180 points and Richland at 160 points. The third quarter was a tight, back-and-forth battle with Saxony clinging to a 10 point lead at the end, 230 to 220. Saxony was finally able to pull away in the fourth quarter to secure the victory by a 390 to 300 score to win their first State Scholar Bowl Championship!

On a team of nearly all Seniors the lone Sophomore, Josh Vogel, was named to the All-State Team which was determined by the total number of points he earned for the team throughout the tournament.

Saxony finished a very successful year with a 37-7 record. In the seven tournaments they earned three championships, one second place, one third place, and one fourth place finish, in addition to the District, Sectional, and State Championship titles.