Emma Brune sparks a late rally as Saxony takes third place

Emma Brune (41) drives for a basket in Saxony Lutheran's win over Oran in the Holiday Classic third-place game Saturday at the Show Me Center.

Tyler Graef ~ tgraef@semissourian.com

The first words out of Saxony Lutheran coach Sam Sides' mouth after the final buzzer were — "That was ugly."

Ugly or not, the Crusaders got 4th quarter separation and pulled away as Saxony defeated Oran, 63-50, to take third place in the Holiday Classic at the Show Me Center.

The Crusaders entered the final frame down by one, 42-41, but pulled away thanks to a final 22-8 burst.

The Crusaders were seeded third in the tournament and that's how they finished.

"Both teams struggled," said Sides, "but we kept working and pushing."

Emma Brune, in her final hoops season before joining the college soccer ranks at Southeast next year, paced the Crusaders with 23 points.

At 5-foot-6, Brune was the sparkplug that allowed the Crusaders to cruise as she dropped two second half 3s and was 3-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final 16 minutes to finish strong for the Crusaders.

"She is such a competitor and what a great person, from a terrific family," remarked Sides.

Maddox Murphy came off the bench for the winners to post 17, including three 3-pointers. Alice Hogendobler also got into double figures for Saxony with 10 pts.

Katie Webb and Kaylee Payne, the acknowledged leaders of the Eagles, scored 14 points each in the loss.

Both teams shot well from the foul line. Oran was 23-for-28, while Saxony was 20-for-27.

SCORING

Oran 11 17 14 8 — 50

Saxony Luth 13 16 12 22 — 63

ORAN (50) Katie Webb 14, Kaylee Payne 14, Taylor Lowes 8, Heather Gosche 4, Mallory Lowes 4, Traci Hency 2, Grace Davis 2, Hope Woodfin 2. FGs 12, FT 23-28, F 21. (3-pointers: T. Lowes 2, Payne. Fouled out: none.)

SAXONY LUTHERAN (63) Emma Brune 23, Maddox Murphy 17, Alice Hogendobler 10, Olivia Spanley 7, Emma Voelker 2, Sydney Turner 2, Makayla Mueller 2. FGs 18, FT 20-27, F 23 (3-pointers: Murphy 3, Brune 2, Hogendobler 2. Fouled out: none)