The Lutheran North girls basketball team kept perfecting its craft on Saturday, no matter the score.
Even after scoring the first six points and bolting out to an 18-point lead at the end of the first quarter, the Crusaders kept pushing.
Lutheran North never relinquished in a 68-20 victory over Trinity to capture the Class 3 District 8 title at home.
“We use games like this to get ready. This has to be practice for us for what's coming,” Lutheran North junior Taleah Dilworth said. “We know that there is some great competition coming and we do have the goal of getting back to Springfield, even though this is a different team this year. We still want to go back and we're going to have to be at our best to do it.”
It was all in preparation for the tough road that lies ahead. Lutheran North, which captured its fourth successive district title and seventh overall, enters the state tournament with some stiff competition in its way.
The Crusaders, who have reached the semifinal round in each of the last two seasons, are ready to get back to Springfield and take another step in the right direction after their second-place finish a year ago.
Lutheran North (17-10) will first have to get through Lutheran St. Charles (23-4) in a sectional at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Francis Howell Central. The winner will advance to face the Miller Career-Whitfield sectional winner in a quarterfinal. Those three teams have a combined 68-15 record (81.9 winning percentage).
“I really feel like Class 3 is the toughest there is at this stage with all the teams that are left here,” Lutheran North coach Chris Forrest said. “Any team left here could win it all. That's why we have to be ready. These are going to be some tough games.”
Nine different players scored for Lutheran North. Freshman guard Kayla Sullivan led the way with a game-high 18 points.
Freshman forward Raven Addison added 11 while junior forward Olivia Smith and senior guard Makayla Williams pitched in eight points apiece.
“It feels great to be working so well as a team,” Williams said. “We're going to need that because we do want to go back to state and there are going to be some tough games ahead. We have to have everybody on the same page.”
Sophomore guard Safiyah Reed led Trinity (14-9) with 16 points.
“When you're building and you have players without a lot of experience, you're going to take your lumps when you go against a good, well-coached team,” Titans coach Darren Wade said. “In my years at Cardinal Ritter, I know Trinity never even made a district championship, so this is good. We just have to keep working to get to where we want to be.”
The Crusaders have more work to do, too, if they hope to make their fourth consecutive trip to the quarterfinal round.
“We know Lutheran St. Charles is a strong team that is very disciplined and has good size and good shooters,” Forrest said. “We've worked hard to be where we are and we have to keep working now.”
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