Quick start helps Saxony past St. Paul in Warrior Classic

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The Saxony Lutheran boys basketball team did exactly what they needed to in the opening minutes of their game, exactly what a top seed should do.
Get out to a lead early.
The second seeded Crusaders did just that and cruised to a 65-35 victory over seventh seeded St. Paul in the opening round of the Winter Warrior Classic on Tuesday at Valle Catholic High School.
Saxony jumped out to a 9-2 lead within the first two minutes which forced a St. Paul timeout.
“Anytime you can force the other team to use a timeout that quickly, you have to be doing something right,” Saxony Lutheran coach Justin Callahan said. “We went into a press early and I didn’t really want to, but it seemed like our half court defense wasn’t working like I wanted it to, so we switched it up.”
That certainly worked.
Saxony forced St. Paul into seven first quarter turnovers, which didn’t stop after the first two minutes. Will Eldridge had a putback and then splashed home a three opener later in the quarter to put Saxony ahead 17-5. They would lead 20-5 after the opening quarter.

Saxony had four players in double figures as Wilson Lodge led the way with 14 points, Logan Pruitt, Luke Eggemeyer, and Eldridge each had 11 points apiece. Callahan really liked the way his team was able to dominate inside and gather offensive rebounds for potential opportunities for putbacks.
“Throughout the year we have been pretty consistent that on any given night someone is able to step up and contribute,” Callahan said. “Will averages double figures, Luke and Wilson averages more than 10. We don’t have just one or two people that do most of the scoring. It gets distributed pretty evenly.”
The Crusaders were able to widen their lead in the second quarter to as much as 18 after Pruitt converted a layup, but the Giants made one run to get it down to 10 on two separate occasions. Callahan contributes the run to the Crusaders’ inability to hit free throws while at the line in the first half. Saxony was 5-16 in the first two quarters and 7-20 in the game from the free throw line. Callahan knows that is not acceptable if his team wants to advance in the tournament, or even win games in the regular season.
“We were getting fouled, go to the line, miss and then they would come down and score,” Callahan said. “We have to do better. IF we do this later in this tournament we will lose. We have to shoot better. Coaches always say we have to work on free throws. Trust me, we shoot out free throws in practice. It just has to translate in a game situation.”
Saxony shook off the hot second quarter for St. Paul and went into halftime up 39-23 after Lodge and Eldridge scored baskets in the final minute. That momentum carried over into the third quarter that saw Saxony outscore St. Paul 18-4 in the frame. The Giants made just one field goal in the quarter.
“They had all the energy and we talked at halftime about playing a full 32-minute game and getting back to what helped us build that early lead,” Callahan said. “We have been having a good trend lately in the third quarter and setting the tempo with our defense.”
Saxony played third seeded Kingston in the tournament semifinals on Wednesday. Kingston defeated Fox earlier in the night.