In a battle of players wearing No. 21, the Marshfield Lady Jays won the scoring battle. The Helias Lady Crusaders won the war.
Mai Nienhueser, Helias' No. 21, totaled 18 points and 11 rebounds Thursday to lead the Lady Crusaders to a 48-41 win against the Lady Jays in the semifinals of the Class 4 District 10 Tournament at Rackers Fieldhouse.
Peyton Greenlee, Marshfield's No. 21, scored a game-high 24 points in a losing effort for the Lady Jays.
"She's a heck of a player, she's hard to stop," Helias coach Sarah Eagan said. "We tried all kinds of things against her and she almost beat us single-handedly."
With the win, top-seeded Helias (15-11) advances to take on second-seeded School of the Osage (21-5) in the title game at 4 p.m. Saturday. In Thursday's second semifinal, the Lady Indians used a 20-point fourth quarter to defeat the Salem Lady Tigers 42-38.
Helias never trailed in Thursday's game, scoring the first five points on its way to a 15-10 lead after one quarter.
"We came out pretty strong," Eagan said,
Both teams struggled offensively in the second quarter, combining to go 5-for-22 from the field. The Lady Crusaders were just 2-of-13.
"We didn't play that well in the second quarter, we went downhill because we were trying to force way too much," Eagan said.
A three-point play by Nienhueser with 2:18 remaining were the final points scored in the quarter, which ended with Helias holding a 24-18 advantage.
Helias kicked it back into gear at the start of the third quarter, opening with 7-2 spurt to take its first double-digit lead of the contest at 31-20. The Lady Crusaders took a 37-27 advantage into the final period.
Helias led by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter before settling on the final seven-point margin.
"I think we had a chance to really pull away, but we made some silly mistakes that really kept it closer than it needed to be," Eagan said.
Nienhueser was the lone Helias player to score in double figures as the Lady Crusaders were 16-of-41 on 2-point attempts.
"We struggled close to the basket," Eagan said. "That's going to happen."
Helias finished with a 38-24 edge on the boards.
The Helias-Osage winner advances to the sectional Wednesday at Missouri S&T in Rolla against the District 9 champion - either Owensville or Pacific. Those two play Saturday for their district championship.