Saxony stifled as Kirn, St. Vincent’s aggressive defense paves path to FSCB semis

St. Vincent's Brie Rubel (right) plays press defense on Saxony Lutheran's Camille Richey (left) during a Monday, December 16, 2024 First State Community Bank Holiday Classic quarterfinal game between the St. Vincent Indians and the Saxony Lutheran Crusaders at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. St. Vincent defeated Saxony Lutheran, 58-28.

Cole Lee ~ clee@semoball.com

Leaning on their stout defense, the Indians of St. Vincent did away with a streaking Saxony Lutheran team in the First State Community Bank Holiday Classic quarterfinals on Monday night, winning 58-28 at the Show Me Center to advance to the semifinals.

For better or worse, the ability to create turnovers and offensive discomfort gave St. Vincent a lot of help in stringing a big quarterfinal win to advance to the Holiday Classic’s final four.

“I love our press game,” Indians coach Mel Kirn said. “It don't matter who we have in there. our girls all pick each other up very well and we're in your face. We make you make the mistakes.”

It wasn’t always pretty, getting sloppy at times against a Crusaders team that’s had its fair share of downfalls this season, but the game was never in doubt as St. Vincent rolled out to a double-digit lead in the first and didn’t relent.

These squads matched up exactly a week prior, resulting in a 50-point Indians win in their home opener, showing an impressive leap in performance as the Crusaders made big strides in the past week.

A championship fixture in last year’s tournament, Kirn knows the difficulty Saxony’s gone through transitioning into a new team, and he lauded the Crusaders after putting an end to their trip back to the title game.

“Chris [Crawford] does a good job with these girls over there,” Kirn said. “He had an awesome team last year.

“We all go through that down year when you lose a bunch of seniors, but he does a great job of getting these girls up. They gave us a fight.

The win betters St. Vincent’s record to 8-1 for the year, now on a streak of five consecutive victories after dropping its one matchup to reigning Class 4 runner-up Park Hills Central in Fredericktown two weeks ago.

Brie Rubel led all scorers with 16 points in the victory, while Kate Rubel added 10, Allie Patrick 9 and Lana Adams 8. Patrick recorded eight steals while Adams blocked two shots.

Saxony’s loss drops its record to 2-5 for the year, ending a two-game winning streak that included victories over Scott City and Meadow Heights before eventually dropping to a dominant St. Vincent team.

Saxony drops into the fifth-place bracket, playing Cape Central at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, while St. Vincent moves into a semifinal date with Delta at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday in a battle of championship hopefuls.

Last year’s championship squad, the Ladycats, are expected to give this talented Indians squad a healthy handful of physicality and speed, but St. Vincent’s strong defense gives it the edge it needs to get over the hump and into the championship game.

A rematch of a 2023 semifinal, in which Delta pulled away in the midgame, Kirn and Co. are preparing to give coach David Heeb and his reigning-champion Ladycats everything they could possibly hope for in a tourney opponent.

“This is our ninth game now,” Kirn began. “These girls are ready.

“They come to work at practice. We’ve got a quote, ‘When you walk through that door, have a smile on your face and want to work,’ and they work.”

Both sides started scoreless through the first two minutes, but St. Vincent finally broke the seal with a Brie Rubel triple and knocked down a second just a minute later to double that lead.

With a 13-point lead inside the final minute of the first, the Crusaders finally broke their game-opening drought with an and-1 bucket from Camille Richey, going on a 5-0 run to trail just 13-5 going into the second.

The Indians relied less on their shooting game in the second quarter, thriving off a reliable press that generated fastbreak chances more often than in the opening frame, leading 28-11 by the break.

That edge only extended in the third, with the Indians still getting their way offensively. Freshman Kenzie Keys picked up a couple of fouls, one shooting that led to a Brie Rubel and-1 in transition to end the third with St. Vincent up 47-18.

Not much changed in the fourth, either, with the running clock turned on as St. Vincent’s only opposition to a semifinal berth was eight quick minutes, 58-28.