Final Crusade: Saxony Lutheran girls basketball avenges Park Hills Central, returns to final four

HILLSBORO, Mo -- With each basket, Brianna Mueller screamed. She pumped her fist. She stomped her feet. But that emotion was tethered to uncanny poise that saw the Saxony Lutheran senior do what she's been working her whole career to do -- hit the biggest shots of the season with something much colder than ice water running through her veins.

The Saxony girls basketball team has been working toward one goal -- revenge on Park Hills Central and a return to Columbia for the final four -- for the last 362 days, and on Day 363, it accomplished that goal, sparking a sweat- and tear-filled celebration with a thrilling 45-39 win over the Rebels in a Class 3 quarterfinal on Saturday at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Missouri.

Park Hills defeated a state-hopeful Saxony 67-61 in overtime in last year's quarterfinal and went on to win the state championship.

A fast start gave way to a stale mid-game stretch for the Crusaders (27-2), who trailed 32-28 going into the final period of play and faced a four-point deficit with just 2:42 left on the clock.

Unable to shake a gritty Park Hills (27-3) offense and struggling to find any space against a terrific Rebels defense, Saxony finally found the spark it needed in Mueller. The veteran guard slipped in a long, momentum-shifting 3-pointer from the top left to pull her team within one, 39-38, with 2:42 remaining, and less than 20 seconds later she took advantage of a Park Hills turnover, scoring on a putback to give the Crusaders a 40-39 edge.

Saxony Lutheran's Ashlynn Collier, left, and Ali Galemmo takes in the final moments of the game.

It was the first Saxony lead since a minute remained in the third quarter, and the last one it needed.

"That's typically a lot farther 3 than Coach would want me to take or I would typically take," Mueller said. "Right when I got that ball I heard Coach [Sam] Sides say, 'Hit that. Hit that.' I was going to anyway, but when he said that, I was like, 'OK.' Right when it left my hand I knew it was going in, and I couldn't help but get excited because I knew we had the momentum. And I knew we were going to run with it.

"I think we're a very fundamentally sound team, but at the end of the game, it comes down to who wants it more. I think those last three minutes, we wanted it more and we were going to run through walls to make sure it fell in our favor."

Just over a minute later, Mueller hit a pair of free throws to extend the advantage, and Raegan Wieser and Maddie Brune both scored from the charity stripe down the stretch as Saxony prevailed.

"Our effort, everybody dug down, and I thought we showed a lot of heart and fight," Sides said. "We made some big stops. We had a gut check. We talk about that all the time -- about stepping up and having a gut check and making plays. They did that. My seniors really stepped up for me.

Saxony Lutheran's Brianna Mueller shoots over Park Hills Central's Olivia Casey in the third quarter during a Class 3 quarterfinal Saturday, March 5, 2016 in Hillsboro, Missouri.Glenn Landberg

"They're competitors. A lot of them were state champs in soccer this past year. They're good softball players, good volleyball players. They're just great athletes, and the best part about them is they're just great kids -- great young women. The worst part if we had lost today is I would have missed one more week with them. ... I'm so very blessed and grateful to be able to coach them."

The matchup had all the makings of a close ball game on paper, and a 25-all score at halftime played that out.

Saxony held the Rebels without a point for the first 6 minutes, 26 seconds of the third quarter, but its own offense went dry. And it was unable to take advantage. The Crusaders finished the quarter with just three points.

"They don't give you any space," Sides said. "[Park Hills coach Josh Mapes] runs a lot of people out there and they play good position and cut off all your driving lanes and get out there on your shooters and make every pass a challenge. That's what good teams do."

Meanwhile, Park Hills finally notched a bucket at the 1:34 mark, with Skyler Amonette taking a steal coast to coast to pull within one, 28-27. A moment later, Megan Skaggs layed the ball in for the Rebels' first lead of the game with 48 seconds left in the third. When Saxony failed to get the ball across mid court on the 10-second count, Park Hills took advantage, as Amonette converted a conventional three-point play to give her side a 32-28 lead after three quarters.

Saxony Lutheran coach Sam Sides talks with the team during a timeout in the game against Park Hills Central during a Class 3 quarterfinal Saturday, March 5, 2016 in Hillsboro, Missouri.Glenn Landberg

Amonette got to the Crusaders again in the fourth quarter when, despite being the smallest player on the floor, she twice secured offensive rebounds -- one on a missed free throw and another on a missed shot -- to drop in four points in three seconds, and it gave Park Hills a 37-32 advantage -- the biggest lead for either team since five and a half minutes into the first quarter.

It felt as though the Rebels were beginning to take control.

"We had the momentum at first, but they were making shots, driving and making and-1s. And that kind of got us down," Mueller said. "We had to get ourselves focused and tell each other, 'We've got to get one stop and one bucket, and we can come back.' And that's what we did."

Saxony got the evening off to a good start when it pushed out to a 10-3 advantage after a putback by Brune with 3:02 left in the first quarter. The Rebels responded to draw within one, 10-9, with 1:07 left, as Olivia Casey capped the swing with a layup off a set play. Laurel Mueller then knocked down a 3-pointer from the top right with 23 ticks left on the clock, and the Crusaders took a 13-9 edge into the second quarter.

Saxony maintained that advantage early in the second until a 3 from Skaggs pulled Park Hills within a possession at 17-14. Skaggs then made it a one-point game with 3:14 on the clock as the two sides battled back and forth. A 3 by Mueller with 2 minutes, 24 seconds remaining until halftime made it 25-21, but the Rebels had managed to find their rhythm and made it a tie game, 25-all, at halftime thanks to a triple from Casey and a free throw from Skaggs.

Saxony Lutheran's Raegan Wieser shoots over Park Hills Central defense in the first quarter during a Class 3 quarterfinal Saturday, March 5, 2016 in Hillsboro, Missouri.Glenn Landberg

Skaggs finished with a team-high 15 points for the Rebels. Amonette added nine.

Park Hills was 16 of 35 (45.7 percent) from the floor and 9 of 13 from the free-throw line. Saxony held the Rebels to just eight shot attempts in the fourth quarter.

Mueller scored 15 points on the night, with Raegan Wieser posting 11 along with critical defensive plays down the stretch -- a block and three steals in the fourth quarter.

The Crusaders shot just 38.5 percent on 15-of-39 shooting but were 6 of 9 from outside the arc.

Saxony will face Southern Boone (27-2) at noon on Thursday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri, in a Class 3 semifinal.

The third-place game will be played at 11 a.m. Friday, while the championship will take place Saturday.

"Last time I left this place in horrible tears. This year I'm leaving in tears of 'I can't be more excited,'" Mueller said. "It's the best feeling in the world, and we've worked so, so hard for this every single day."

Saxony 13 12 3 17 -- 45

Park Hills 9 16 7 7 -- 39

SAXONY LUTHERAN (45) -- Grace Mirly 8, Brianna Mueller 15, Raegan Wieser 11, Maddie Brune 7, Tess Daniel 1, Laurel Mueller 3. FG 15-39, FT 9-13, F 13. (3-pointers: B. Mueller 3, Wieser 2, L. Mueller. Fouled out: None.)

PARK HILLS CENTRAL (39) -- BreAnna Seaton 3, Megan Skaggs 15, Skyler Amonette 9, Olivia Casey 5, Caitlyn Holmes 7. FG 16-35, FT 4-10, F 18. (3-pointers: Skaggs 2, Casey. Fouled out: Seaton.)