Jordan Speiser leads Lutheran St. Charles past Smithville in Missouri Class 5 girls basketball semifinals

Junior standout Jordan Speiser scores game-high 22 points

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI – The Lutheran St. Charles girls basketball team, the reigning Missouri Class 5 champions, knew it needed to have a strong start against Smithville in the semifinals on Wednesday.

The Cougars did just that, jumping out to an early advantage and leading by double digits by the end of the first quarter and running away with a 64-49 victory at Mizzou Arena to clinch a spot in Thursday's title game. 

"I was proud of our effort," Lutheran coach Erin Luttschwager said. "They came out to compete and they got it done."

The Cougars (26-4) will now play John Burroughs (28-3) in the Class 5 championship game at 4 p.m. Thursday. 

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Junior Jordan Speiser, a 6-foot-1 guard, scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Lutheran. Kennedy Stowers, a 6-2 sophomore, added 13 points and 10 rebounds, while senior guard Allyson Auringer added 13 points.

"It's important to come out with lots of energy and just stomp on them right away," Auringer said.

"That was for sure our game plan," Speiser said. "We were talking about it all day yesterday, all day today. We were like, we have to come out and hit them in the mouth and we have to keep hitting them."

Junior forward Peyton Wohlford led Smithville (25-5) with 15 points, while sophomore forward Reese Foster added 13 points and seven rebounds.

Lutheran opened up a 20-point lead at halftime behind 14 points from Speiser and 11 from senior guard Allyson Auringer.

Senior guard Rylee Thompson and Foster each scored six points in the first half for Smithville, which trailed 40-20 at halftime.

Lutheran St. Charles junior guard Jordan Speiser / Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

John Burroughs tops Marshfield in Missouri Class 5 girls basketball semifinals

Missouri Class 5 girls basketball semifinal: Lutheran St. Charles - Smithville

Photos by Nate Latsch

Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

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- Nate Latsch | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveMiz