Lutheran South vs. Ozark, Friday, 9:00 AM
Duchesne vs. Lee’s Summit West, Friday, 10:35 AM
LUTHERAN SOUTH—-Lancers head coach Jeff Reis has set the bar pretty high for himself. In his first year as head coach at Lutheran South, he’s guided the team to its first trip to the final four. However, the team isn’t without post-season experience. Since 1989, they’ve made it to the playoffs 11 times, but haven’t been able to advance to the semifinals. This is the fourth straight year they’ve made it out of districts. They lost their final game before districts was a 57-48 loss to Metro High School. Since then they’ve won four in a row.
Head coach: Jeff Reis (24-5)
Record: 24-5
Current winning streak: 4
Semifinal appearances: 0
State titles: 0
Sectionals: 58-49, Sullivan
Quarterfinals: 71-29, Fredericktown
Leaders
•Scoring: Brianna Frigerio, 17.7 ppg, Courtney Lauer, 14.5 ppg
•Rebounds: Michelle McQueen 5.0 rpg
•Assists: Michelle McQueen, 8.3 apg
OZARK—The Tigers are looking for back-to-back championships as they come to Columbia with a team that should look very similar next season. Only two seniors are on Yancey Little’s squad this season. They have just six losses this season, but they’ve come in bundles—twice this season Ozark has gone into funks that resulted in losing three of four games. However, they come into the MSHSAA Show-Me Showdown with a six game winning streak. Last year, Ozark made its first trip to the final four.
Head coach: Yancey Little (47-14)
Record: 23-6
Current winning streak: 6
Semifinal appearances: 1
State titles: 1 (2005)
Sectionals: 56-29, Carl Junction
Quarterfinals: 51-40, Republic
Leaders
•Scoring: Katie Bond, 14.2 ppg
•Rebounds: Katie Bond, 5.3, rpg, Liz Fugate 5.1 rpg
•Assists: Amber Thomas, 4.9 apg
DUCHESNE—There no question that the Pioneers are peaking at the right time. On February 4, they lost to Webster Groves 61-52 and had a record of 10-12. Since then they’ve won seven straight and find themselves in the MSHSAA Show-Me Showdown for the fourth time in six seasons. They have 12 losses this season ,but four of them have come to teams in the Class 5 final four. Head coach Charlie Elmendorf also coaches the football team.
Head coach: Charlie Elmendorf (198-85)
Record: 17-12
Current winning streak: 7
Semifinal appearances: 4
State titles: 1 (2003)
Sectionals: 72-62 (OT), St. Francis Borgia
Quarterfinals: 50-47, University City
Leaders
•Scoring: Sarah Sullivan, 9.3 ppg, Erica Sams, 8.9 ppg
•Rebounds: Erica Sams, 6.0 rpg
•Assists: Sarah Sullivan, 2.8 apg
LEE’S SUMMIT WEST—the Titans are in just their second year of existence, but are making noise in Class 4. After a 20-6 campaign last season, head coach Kirk Hipple has his team in the final four. While their offense is relatively conservative (51.2 points per game) the defense has been smothering. The Titans have only allowed teams to score more than 50 points six times this season and five of those games resulted in losses.
Head coach: Kirk Hipple (41-14)
Record: 21-8
Current winning streak: 7
Semifinal appearances: 0
State titles: 0
Sectionals: 52-25, Center
Quarterfinals: 48-46 , Lincoln Prep Academy
Leaders
•Scoring: Alyssa Mullen, 11.1 ppg, Bri Scott 9.9 ppg
•Rebounds: Alyssa Mullen, 7.5 rpg
•Assists: Allyssa Mullen 2.1 apg
