C4D1: Doniphan girls earn spot in championship game with rout of Perryville

DEXTER — The top-seeded Doniphan Donettes have responded to coach Adam Epps’ recent challenges.

The Donettes dominated on defense and cruised to a 70-15 victory over fourth-seeded Perryville in the semifinal round of the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 Girls Basketball Tournament on Monday night at the Bearcat Event Center.

The Donettes (23-3) will meet Dexter (13-11) in the championship game at 6 p.m. Thursday at the BEC. Second-seeded Dexter beat third-seeded Saxony Lutheran 52-30 in Monday’s other semifinal.

Perryville closed the season with a 17-8 record, and Saxony finished 9-16.

“I thought we played really good team defense,” Epps said. “We’ve been focusing on a couple of goals the last few games, and we’ve been doing those. We want to run, we want to share, we want defense to lead to offense and (we want to) start fast, and we’ve been doing those things the last four games. I was proud of them.”

The Donettes held Perryville to 3-for-22 (14%) shooting while building a 35-6 halftime lead and forced 17 first-half turnovers.

Four Doniphan players scored in double figures, and nine who saw significant playing time scored at least three points.

McKenna Monaghan scored a game-high 14 points, Sydni Speck had 11, and Bailey Carson and Brooklynn Klepzig had 10 apiece. Klepzig, Monaghan and Speck made two 3-pointers apiece.

“I keep telling them you could be the most dangerous team around when you play like that because (other teams) can’t focus on one player,” Epps said. “I was proud of them. … We’ve got some people stepping up at the right time.”

The Donettes scored the game’s first seven points with Perryville missing its first seven shots and committing five turnovers during that stretch.

The Donettes received a spark from Klepzig late in the first quarter, as they scored the final 11 points to take a 20-4 lead into the second. Klepzig made a 3, sank two free throws and contributed two steals and an assist during that stretch.

The Donettes held Perryville to only one field goal in the second and increased their lead to 35-6 at halftime.

Speck and Monaghan sank 3-pointers in the second, and Monaghan added a steal, layup and free throw for a 3-point play.

Ciara Ehlers accounted for Perryville’s only basket, finishing on a fast break to cut the lead to 21-6 early in the second.

The Donettes continued to pull away in the third, outscoring Perryville 31-4 to take a commanding 66-10 lead into the final quarter where the clock ran continuously because of the 30-point mercy rule.

Kyla Schnurbusch scored four of her team-high seven points in the third quarter, and reserve Breanna White scored four in the fourth.

Perryville 4 2 4 5 — 15

Doniphan 20 15 31 4 — 70

PERRYVILLE — Kyla Schnurbusch 7, Breanna White 4, Ciara Ehlers 2, Aubrey Jung 2. FG 7 FT 1-4 F 13. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: Schnurbusch.)

DONIPHAN — McKenna Monaghan 14, Sydni Speck 11, Bailey Carson 10, Brooklynn Klepzig 10, Madilyn Redus 7, Kenzie Redus 6, Allison Skaggs 5, Micha Burton 4, Timberley Turner 3. FG 26 FT 12-15 F 14. (3-pointers: Klepzig 2, Monaghan 2, Speck 2. Fouled out: none.)