Rebecca Johnson leads Crusaders into quarterfinals

Saxony Lutheran's Rebecca Johnson shoots a three-pointer during the Crusaders' 58-35 win over Twin Rivers in the Class 3 Sectional on Monday, Feb. 26, at Saxony Lutheran High School.

Clay Herrell ~ cherrell@semoball.com

It was a game of runs on Monday between the Saxony Lutheran Crusaders and the Twin Rivers Royals.

In the end, it was a massive third quarter that gave the Crusaders a 58-35 win.

“It’s a big moment,” Crusaders coach Chris Crawford said. “There were a ton of people here, probably the biggest crowd they’ve played in front of all year. I thought we handled the moment well.”

The importance of the moment could be felt from the opening tip as both teams struggled to gain momentum offensively.

“We weren’t hitting shots,” Crawford said. “I don’t know if it’s nerves or just too much energy but we were in a big atmosphere.”

Using their home-court advantage, the Crusaders managed to take an early 11-7 lead after the first quarter.

After the first quarter it felt as if Saxony Lutheran had missed some crucial opportunities to increase its lead.

That wasn’t the case early in the second quarter as the Crusaders began the frame on a 12-2 run to take a 23-9 lead behind a three and a layup from Rebecca Johnson.

“(Johnson) was huge,” Crawford said. “We were running the floor and doing the things we wanted to do. We also had two or three starters in foul trouble and that really hurt our momentum but our bench has been there all year and they stepped up and kept us rolling.”

Johnson said the run was fueled by their sharpshooting from three-point range.

“Everybody was on fire from the three-point line,” Johnson said. “They had to come out and guard us and when they did the inside was open.”

With Saxony Lutheran threatening to make the game a blowout, the Royals had a massive push in them as they closed the half on a 12-4 run to capture momentum.

The big run for the Royals sent them into the locker room at halftime trailing the Crusaders 27-21.

“We just wanted to play defense like we play defense,” Crawford said.

The beginning of the third quarter felt like a repeat of the beginning of the second quarter as the Crusaders opened the frame on a 15-2 run, again powered by more sharpshooting from Johnson.

“We really picked it up on defense,” Johnson said. “Abby Haley and Camille Richey are really good at the top defensively and they get a lot of steals and that really fuels the rest of the defense.”

The domination from the Crusaders was capped off by a layup with just three seconds left in the third to send the Crusaders into the fourth with a 46-27 lead.

“It was huge,” Crawford said. “We’ve had some close games as of late.”

The Crusaders cruised through the fourth quarter to take down the Royals 58-35.

Leading the way for the Crusaders was Johnson who finished with 23 points in the win.

Following up Johnson’s big game was Abby Haley with 16 points to provide secondary scoring.

“We moved the ball a lot better,” Crawford said. “When we move the ball we’re hard to beat.”

The Royals were led by Amelia Douglas who had 10 points in the loss.

With the win, Saxony Lutheran (19-8) will advance to the Class 3 State Quarterfinals to take on St. Pius X.

“We have to play better defense and we have to rebound,” Crawford said.