Sense of deja vu as Saxony Lutheran girls basketball team tops Oran

ORAN, Mo. -- It had only been 11 days since the Saxony Lutheran and Oran girls basketball teams last met on the hardwood.

The script remained the same with the Crusaders building up a first-quarter lead that the Eagles never overcame as Saxony won 49-35 on Monday night.

"Besides the first quarter, we battled pretty well with them. I was proud of our effort," Oran coach Ethan Evans said. "Just like last time we played them, anything you get on the offensive end you've got to work for it, and they make you work on the defensive end as well. But I was proud of the effort that we displayed. They're a tough team and have been probably for four years."

Saxony, which handed Oran its only other loss of the season on Dec. 7 in the championship game of the Delta New Year's Tournament, never trailed in the second meeting between the two teams.

The Eagles were scoreless the first 3 minutes, 10 seconds of the game, cutting it to 4-2 on a runner by freshman Leah Cauble with 4:50 left in the half.

A basket by Ali Galemmo and a Tess Daniel 3-pointer extended Saxony's lead to seven before an Oran timeout with 3:30 left in the first.

Cauble scored on Oran's next possession, but the Crusaders used a 6-0 run in the final minute of the quarter to take a 15-4 advantage into the second.

The Eagles got within six at 17-9 on a 3-pointer by Brianna Stause with 6:00 left in the half, but forward Ashlynn Collier quickly scored inside for Saxony to give the Crusaders a double-figure lead the rest of the way.

Saxony took its largest lead of the half when Collier was left wide open on the backside for a layup that made it 25-11 with 2:59 left in the half. Evans expected the game to be decided in the post after the first meeting, and Collier's inside presence was felt again, as was Galemmo's.

"We preached that, we preached that, we preached that," Evans said, "and I don't think we got the effort that we could've gotten down low, but you know, we've got a couple young girls playing inside and you can tell it makes a little bit of a difference."

Galemmo finished with 14 points and Collier added 12 to pace the Crusaders.

"We've been working on it and trying to get more balance on our scoring, and that's what was available tonight because they were trying to take our shooters away, and I thought we had a numbers advantage inside," Saxony coach Sam Sides said. "We still missed some shots we should've made in my opinion, but we made most of them, so that was good."

Saxony held a 29-18 edge at halftime. Oran got within 10 with 3:10 left in the third on a 3-pointer from Cauble, who finished with a game-high 22 points.

Saxony scored the next nine points and led 42-25 after three quarters.

"Defensively we've been pretty consistent and I think [we make] little advances you can see on occasion, but still we take lapses where our intensity drops off a little bit," Saxony coach Sam Sides said, "especially when we get a lead and we kind of coast, and that's not a very good situation. You want to keep the pedal to the metal all the time and keep playing hard all the time. We've still got room for improvement, no doubt."

Saxony, which shot 44 percent (22 of 50), improved to 15-2. The Crusaders return home to face Cape Central on Thursday night.

"They've played together for years, those girls have, and you can tell," Evans said. "They know what they're doing. They pin you down well inside, they reverse the ball and get that ball in the low post and the high post and kind of break the defense down."

Oran dropped to 12-2 and hosts Delta on Thursday.

"I just want them to learn the way it feels to lose a game," Evans said. " Â… Just try to see what it's going to take. You're going to play tough teams along the way trying to get to state, and for us to kind of remember what you've got to do and be physical and set good screens."

Saxony Lutheran 15 14 13 7 -- 49

Oran 4 14 7 10 -- 35

SAXONY LUTHERAN (49) -- Grace Mirly 7, Laurel Mueller 2, Ali Galemmo 14, Brianna Mueller 9, Tess Daniel 5, Ashlynn Collier 12. FG 22, FT 2-4, F 16. (3-pointers: Mirly, B. Mueller, Daniel. Fouled out: None.)

ORAN (35) -- Brianna Stause 8, Tatum May 2, Leah Cauble 22, Jessie Long 1, Claire Ramsey 2. FG 13, FT 5-9, F 6. (3-pointers: Stause 2, Cauble 2. Fouled out: None.)