St. Dominic's Defense Carries Crusaders to State Title Game

COLUMBIA, Mo. – St. Dominic girl’s basketball coach Suzie Mennemeier doesn’t particularly enjoy talking about her team’s unblemished record, but it’s a topic she can’t seem to avoid.

Sometimes, she said people ask her if she wished her team had lost at some point, so they wouldn’t have to deal with the pressure of perfection.

Her answer is simple. “No. Absolutely not.”

The St. Dominic Crusaders weren’t perfect on Thursday night, but they kept their shot at a perfect season alive with a 46-28 victory over St. Francis Borgia.

“It probably wasn’t the best overall game we played,” Mennemeier said. “You might call it an ugly win, but a win nonetheless.”

Senior Jennifer Rocha, St. Dominic’s leading scorer, struggled most of the night, so it was up to the rest of the team to get the job done.

“All year she’s been our go-to player, but we’ve got four other players out there all the time that can also play,” Mennemeier said. “You just never know who it’s going to be that night. It wasn’t Jenny tonight, but watch out Saturday.”

Thursday was all about senior Leslie Wilmes. She shot 50 percent from the floor while leading the Crusaders with 16 points.

Wilmes described her mindset going into the game as “confident, ready to play, ready to win, and ready for a state championship.”

“Everybody needs to step up. If it’s my job or my calling, then I will,” she said.

Borgia kept things close throughout the first quarter, but a 10-0 run by the Crusaders to end the half gave them a 21-12 advantage at the break. St. Dominic gave up just four points in the second quarter.

“Our defense is the name of our game,” Mennemeier said. “We go into some offensive lulls every once in a while, but our defense is what got us here. It was no exception today.”

With the win, St. Dominic improved to 29-0 overall and will face the 25-5 Smithville Warriors on Saturday for the Class 4 state title.

“I’ll have to take a much better look at the tape tonight,” Mennemeier said. “I’m sure I won’t sleep, so I’ll have to watch that. Tomorrow we can start plotting our defensive strategy against them. They look very good, very big, very athletic, so we’ve got our work cut out against them.”

While Mennemeier said she didn’t know exactly how she would mentally prepare her team before the championship game, one thing is certain—they can finally talk about perfection.

“It’s a fine line between confident and cocky,” Mennemeier said. “We try to balance that, and it’s really tough sometimes. We don’t come out saying we’re going to win, but we’re thinking we’re going to win every game. It’s contagious.”