JACKSON — The St. Vincent Lady Indians opened play in the First State Community Bank Holiday Classic with a first-round game against Saxony Lutheran on the Lady Crusaders’ home court, and after a strong defensive night, walked away with their second victory over the Lutheran school in five days, this time winning 57-25 at Gerhard Birk Gymnasium in Jackson on Dec. 13.
“We played a pretty good ball game,” said St. Vincent coach Mel Kirn. “They’ve got a young ball club.”
St. Vincent (3-2), led by its senior-heavy lineup, held the Lady Crusaders (3-5) to 14 points in the first half and 11 in the second to secure the victory.
Kirn noted that most of Saxony Lutheran’s points came at the free-throw line. “We ended up having 16 fouls,” Kirn said. “Thirteen of those 25 points came at the free-throw line.”
On the flip side, the Lady Crusaders were charged with 19 fouls, and St. Vincent ended up 11-for-20 at the free-throw line.
Senior Kate Rubel led the Lady Indians with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal, while senior Brie Rubel turned in 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Senior Lana Adams had 10 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
“We had eight different players score in that game,” Kirn said. “It worked out pretty good. Everybody got a lot of playing time. We came out, and we played a good, strong defense and made them turn the ball over a few times, and we got some layups out of it. We just really worked very good as a team.”
The Lady Indians held Saxony Lutheran to only two points in the first quarter, taking a quick 18-2 lead, and led 32-14 at the half. The Lady Crusaders scored 9 points in the third and 2 in the fourth, leaving them on the losing side.
With the victory, St. Vincent advanced to the semifinal round, where they were scheduled to play Perryville on Monday night at the Show-Me Center in Cape Girardeau.
“Perryville is playing really good ball right now,” Kirn said. “They beat the third seed, Delta, down at Delta’s gym the other day. [Coach Jason Dreyer] has got his girls playing really well. It should be a good matchup. It should be a good game.”
ST. VINCENT 52, FREDERICKTOWN 26
The St. Vincent girls’ basketball team got off to a slow start Dec. 11 against visiting Fredericktown, but a few halftime adjustments and a concerted defensive effort in the second half left the Lady Indians (2-2) with a 52-26 victory over the Wildcats (1-4).
“When we started out, we had some really good shots, but they just didn’t fall, and it was a little sloppy,” said St. Vincent coach Mel Kirn, whose team held a slim 13-10 lead at the break. “We were missing some of our objectives, what we were supposed to do. “We went in at halftime and redid a couple things, and [assistant coach Matt Rubel] and I talked about changing up the defense and started putting a little bit more pressure. Our defense picked it up for us, and we just started scoring.”
Those adjustments paid off immediate dividends, as St. Vincent went on a blistering 24-5 run to take control of the game.
“Our intensity [changed between the first and second half], and we started moving the ball and looking to the offside man,” Kirn said. “We weren’t doing that very much. We weren’t looking for that other person. We made some bad passes in the first half, and they all knew it. And we just didn’t. We went in and adjusted, and said, ‘We’ve got to do better.’”
That meant more pressure on defense and getting more turnovers and transition baskets.
“When you get turnovers with our kids, they’re going to take it to the basket,” Kirn said.
Senior Brie Rubel shot 50 percent from the floor, including 4-of-8 three-pointers, and finished with 14 points. Rylee Robinson had 13 points, and Lana Adams had 11. Kate Rubel had 7 points and 6 assists. As a team, the Lady Indians finished with 22 rebounds.
ST. VINCENT 74, SAXONY LUTHERAN 26
JACKSON — St. Vincent senior Brie Rubel scored 23 points, along with 6 assists and 6 steals, to lead the Lady Indians to a 48-point victory over host Saxony Lutheran (2-5) at Gerhard Birk Gymnasium in Jackson on Dec. 8.
Teammate Kate Rubel finished with 15 points and 7 assists in the victory, which saw the Lady Indians outscore the Lady Crusaders 47-14 in the first half.
Lana Adams had 11 points and a team-high 8 rebounds, while Rylee Robinson finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds.
MICDS 60, ST. VINCENT 52
ST. LOUIS — The St. Vincent Lady Indians made a big surge in the second half against the MICDS Lady Rams on Nov. 25, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a lackluster first half as they lost their second consecutive road game.
Brie Rubel led the Lady Indians with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, followed by Kate Rubel, who had 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals.
They were the only Lady Indians to score more than six points against the Lady Rams’ defense, which held St. Vincent to 14 points in the first half. MICDS outscored St. Vincent 19-1 in the second quarter.
The Rams were led by Jordyn Haywood, who finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
PRINCIPIA 68, ST. VINCENT 34
FARMINGTON — A solid Principia defense proved to be insurmountable for the St. Vincent Lady Indians, who fell in their season opener to the Lady Panthers (5-1) in the St. Paul Shootout at the Farmington High School Gymnasium on Nov. 19.
Principia, led by Daisia Scott’s 18 points, led 37-16 at the half and held the Lady Indians to 18 points in the second half.
St. Vincent coach Mel Kirn said he wasn’t disheartened by his team’s performance, saying, “Hopefully we’ll get to play them in the last game of the year up in the state finals if things go our way and we play good ball.”
Brie Rubel scored a team-high 12 points in the loss. Lana Adams had 7 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
