St. Dominic Fulfills Quest For Perfection in Columbia

The chant of the fans as the final seconds ticked off of the Class 4 championship game Saturday night said it all.

"Un-de-feat-ed, un-de-feat-ed, un-de-feat-ed," the Crusaders fans repeated over and over again.

They were the only basketball fan base which was able to do that in Class 4 and 5 over the weekend at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia. The Crusaders captured their first state championship and finished the year with a perfect 30-0 record after a convincing 61-44 victory over Smithville in the Class 4 title contest.

"We are undefeated, I can say it now," St. Dominic coach Suzie Mennemeier said. "It's a great feeling. The last couple of days I have tried to keep my emotions in check. I haven't let loose yet."

The Crusaders, who had made it to Columbia in 2007 and 2010 but did not win a game either year, were dominant from start to finish during the 2010-11 season.

St. Dominic won its first 13 games by double-digit margins. They followed that with a 55-50 win over Hermann on Jan. 8. That proved to be the "closest" that any team got to the Crusaders this season. They finished the season with 24 of their 30 wins, including both at state, by double-digit margins.

"We really didn't talk about an undefeated season; it was not brought up," St. Dominic senior Jennifer Rocha said. "We just tried to take it one quarter and one game at a time. That was not our goal but it happened and that is a good thing."

A very good thing indeed.

"There is no better way to end your senior season than with an unbeaten record and a state championship," Rocha said. "Enough said. Nothing could be better."

St. Dominic led by as many as 28 points in the championship game, although it was close for the first half.

In fact, Smithville's Sydney Catlett equaled St. Dominic's first-quarter point total. She scored all 12 of the Warriors points and it was tied 12-12 after a quarter.

"We did start slow," Mennemeier said. "We only had one game tape to watch and we were not able to break things down player-by-player the way we usually do. But when Catlett scored those 12 points in the first quarter we had to make some adjustments.

"We were able to hold them to single digits in both the second and third quarters. The defense was stellar again which has been a key for us all season. And we were also able to get some things going in transition. I felt we had an advantage with our speed and depth. I could tell that they were already getting tired at halftime and I think we wore them down."

The game was still close at halftime as the Crusaders led by only four, 25-21. But St. Dominic pulled away in the third quarter. The Crusaders held Smithville to six points and got field goals from all five starters en route to scoring 18 points.

St. Dominic extended the lead to 57-29 in the fourth quarter.

Four players scored in double figures for the Crusaders. Rocha, who led the team in scoring during the season, had 15 points as did Leslie Wilmes. They are the two captains and proudly held up the championship trophy after the game. Kelly Schnieders added 13 and Lauren Needham had 11.

"Jenny was our leading scorer but I felt I could rely on any of the five starters to score," Mennemeier said. "All year long it has been about the team."

And it was a team which did not lose a single game.

"It sure feels good," Wilmes said.