There’s something about those Krodingers.
First it was twin standouts Brittney and Courtney Krodinger leading De Soto to its first-ever state softball championship (Class 3) in 2014. They are both hitting above .300 as starters for Northern Iowa University this spring and will graduate in May.
Their younger brothers, senior Camren and sophomore Nick, were the heroes in De Soto’s dramatic come-from-behind 61-54 victory over Ste. Genevieve on Feb. 23 in the first round of the Class 4 District 2 tournament at North County High in Bonne Terre.
The “battle of the Dragons” pitted No. 4 seed Ste. Gen against No. 5
De Soto in a rematch of their Jan. 15 contest at Ste. Gen, won handily by the host team, 69-38.
This time, after a tight first half that ended with the score tied at 27, Ste. Gen dominated the third quarter 13-2 and led by 13, 42-29, after Sam Stolzer scored inside early in the fourth quarter.
De Soto, clad in the dark green uniforms of the lower-seeded team, appeared headed to another lopsided loss to those “other Dragons” in white.
“I think we had eight turnovers (in) that (third) quarter; it was just a rough quarter,” De Soto head coach Zeb Hammond said. “But we kept our heads and bounced back.”
Camren Krodinger scored six points to spark a 10-2 run that narrowed the score to 44-39. But with 1:14 left in regulation, senior Clayton Snudden, De Soto’s leading scorer all season, fouled out. Ste. Gen’s Chad Donze sank a pair of free throws to make it 49-41, seemingly sealing victory for his team.
But then Nick Krodinger nailed a 3-pointer, his team’s first of the game, and Hammond quickly called a timeout with 56.6 seconds left. Eighteen seconds later, Camren Krodinger drilled a 3-ball out of a crowd at the top of the key and suddenly it was 50-47.
With 10 seconds to go and Ste. Gen still up 52-49, Nick Krodinger hit from the same spot his brother just had and the game was tied at 52.
The game went to overtime, with Camren Krodinger scoring seven of his team’s nine points – those seven being De Soto’s margin of victory. He sank five of six free throws in the final minute of play.
Nothing like closing out your senior season in a blaze of glory.
“We start hitting shots early in the fourth,” the elder Krodinger said. “We got momentum. I was just saying, ‘Keep grinding, keep battling, stick with it. Just keep getting shots to fall and don’t force anything.’”
Hammond wasn’t surprised by his senior leader’s performance.
“As a point guard, that’s what you want in a kid,” he said. “He wanted the ball. He wanted to take those foul shots and he hit them.”
Among De Soto’s 12 wins this season, this ranks perhaps even higher than a 56-54 squeaker over Festus on Jan. 18 or a pair of wins over a pretty respectable North County squad.
Camren Krodinger finished with 16 points, all in the fourth quarter and overtime. Sophomore center Jordan Mertens, the tallest player on the floor at 6-6, also collected 16 points, 12 in the first half. He gives De Soto basketball fans something to look forward to over the next two seasons.
“He’s still a little raw; his body has not matured yet,” Hammond said. “But he gets better and better and he puts the work in for it.”
If De Soto had an unsung hero it was senior Andrew Downs, who came in averaging about four points per game. He led all scorers with 17, including 2-for-2 from the charity stripe at the start of overtime. He finished 7-for-7 from the line.
“This was the best game of his high school career, on both sides of the ball,” Hammond said. “He stepped out and guarded some of their tough players and got a lot of loose balls when we needed it. He and Jordan were the only ones scoring in the first half.”
Donze and Derek Morgenthaler led Ste. Gen (14-14) with 11 points apiece.
The win advanced
De Soto (12-15) to the semifinals Tuesday (after the Leader deadline) against top-seeded Farmington (23-2), the Mineral Area Activities Association champion and winner of two tournaments this season. The Knights are ranked fourth in the state in Class 4 in the latest coaches’ poll and beat De Soto 72-51 at De Soto on Jan. 8.
“The kids are confident; they wanted another crack at Farmington,” Hammond said. “They know how good (the Knights) are, all the hype around them, so it’s great for us.”
De Soto girls fall to Raiders
Despite losing 50-45 to North County in the first round of the Class 4 District 2 tournament in Bonne Terre on Saturday, De Soto head coach Sam Rauls pointed out the positive.
“We had our first winning season in four years,” Rauls said about the Dragons’ 14-11 record this season.
The Raiders were seeded third in the tournament, while De Soto was sixth. North County beat the Dragons 47-28 on Jan. 7, so De Soto closed the gap considerably. The Dragons led the Raiders by a point in the second half.
“We won a tournament (at Orchard Farm in December). We put a 1,000-point scorer and rebounder out there. There are a lot of things to be proud of,” Rauls said.
Rauls is referring to senior Kendall Boyer, who finished her career with 1,121 points (seventh in school history) and 1,025 rebounds (second). Boyer set the school record this season with 14.8 rebounds per game and left the program in style with 23 points and 19 rebounds in the district loss.
“She did everything we asked her to do,” Rauls said. “Her offensive rebounds were timely. You could tell she did not want this to be her last game.”
Senior guard Kaitlyn McGinnitey, one of the school’s top distance runners, made huge strides this season. McGinnitey matched her season average with 10 points against the Raiders
“Her motor goes 100 mph, no matter what,” Rauls said. “If I had her another year or two, I’d get her a basketball scholarship. She became more confident as the season went on and her points total and steals went up.”
Kayli Hartmann, Rose Thomas and Emily Smith concluded their careers at De Soto. Hartmann and Thomas stepped into starting roles and Smith made 23 of 32 free-throw attempts this season.
Tigers taken to post
It was obvious from the opening tip that Rockwood Summit junior forward Jasmine Manuel (6-3) was going to have her way inside against top-seeded Festus in the Class 4 District 3 girls basketball tournament at Hillsboro on Monday night.
The Falcons were more physical and junior guard Julia Martens suffocated the Tiger ballhandlers for four quarters as Summit (No. 4) eliminated Festus 45-33. Manuel and Festus junior Abby Rickermann scored a game-high 24 points. Rickermann sank her final 3-pointer of the season with 18 seconds left in the game.
After a loss to St. Francis Borgia on Feb. 2, Summit was 10-10. The Falcons will carry a six-game winning streak into the district final against Lutheran South (21-6) tonight (March 1).
“We didn’t win the game inside. We didn’t win the game outside,” said Festus head coach Chris Ellis, who wrapped up his first season.
“Give Summit credit. They beat us up. They were very aggressive. Victory always favors the more aggressive team.”
Summit gradually grew its 10-point halftime advantage and held the Tigers to four points in the third quarter on two free throws by junior center Abby McMillin and Rickermann’s bank shot off the glass.
“She played defense very well,” Ellis said of Martens. “When you can put pressure on the basketball like that, you’re going to win a lot of games.”
A pair of foul shots by Rickermann briefly cut the Falcons’ lead under 10 points in the fourth. And on Summit’s next possession, McMillin swatted out a shot by Manuel.
Senior guard Jenna Oetting wrapped up her four years on the Festus varsity on Monday. Oetting averaged 14 points per game as a junior and 13 her senior year.
“She’s obviously one of the best players Festus has ever had,” Ellis said. “I couldn’t be more proud of her. She captained our team very well.”
Ellis coached in the Suburban Conference for years at Parkway South and Webster Groves. A new pool system for Suburban teams was created this school year. Summit competes in the third tier (Green pool) of the four-tiered system. Ellis said he’ll be adding strength of schedule to the teams the Tigers play in the coming years.
“As far as the schedule is concerned, we’re going to beef it up and go north of the border a few more times,” Ellis said.
“We play Park Hills Central, Ste. Genevieve and a lot of teams south that are ranked in the state. We played Union, a state-ranked team at the time. This is the best Summit team ever. I don’t think there’s any question.”
Ellis said he favors the pool system.
“A like the format where you choose the pool you think you should be in,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s feasible to do that in Jefferson County, but I’d like to be part of that conversation.”