FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. -- Saxony Lutheran will be sending both basketball teams to the state playoffs for the second year in a row.
The boys and girls teams swept the MSHSAA Class 3 District 2 finals Friday, with the boys beating Doniphan 56-39 and the girls beating Arcadia Valley 52-37.
"It's unreal what these kids have gone through. Our schedule was super, super upgraded," Saxony boys coach Kevin Williams said. "To be where we are at right now ... I'm so proud of these kids."
While the girls program has won six district championships in a row and finished second in 2016, the boys team lost in the first round for three straight seasons before finishing second in 2016 and winning the past two.
The girls will play New Madrid Central at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Dexter and the boys will follow against Charleston.
The Crusaders (22-7) separated from Doniphan with a seven-point run to open the fourth quarter.
Saxony led by six at halftime and pushed that to 11 going into the fourth before a seven-point run put it ahead 44-26.
"Our goal was to try to keep them around 50. We thought if we could keep them around 50 we'd give ourselves a chance," Doniphan coach Mark Blackwell said. "Offensively, too many turnovers, too many sloppy possessions."
The Crusaders held Doniphan (11-17) leading scorer Klay Barton scoreless in the first quarter and to nine points points through three. With Doniphan needing points in bunches in the fourth, Barton scored eight more and led the Dons with 17 total.
"We just wanted to make him work for everything. He's a great player. He made it at times look easy," Williams said. "If anybody was going to beat us, we wanted to make sure it wasn't (Barton)."
Doniphan center Trent Lippoldt added 14 points.
Austin Jarvis led Saxony with 18 points. Jalen Williams added 13 points and Tommy Robinson got 10 after getting just two through the first three quarters.
"The second half, when we executed in turn, really, it was easy inside. So we needed to be more patient and take what they were giving us as opposed to trying to make a play," Williams said. "We didn't make great decisions in the first half and that is what kept it close."
After starting the season 4-11, the Dons found their form in late January and didn't lose a more than two games in a row during the final month of the season, which included a coaching change.
"Overall, with everything that has gone on with the team this year, the kids have responded very well. They handled themselves, mature about everything," Blackwell said. "They left it all out there and we couldn't have asked for more."