Peru St. Bede 54, Lutheran 39: First, Laura Rushing started scoring. Then Dawn Martin, rallying Lutheran to an eight-point second-half lead.

And then the Crusaders stopped. Just stopped.

“It’s heartbreaking for these seniors to have the season they had and come this far and kind of crumble when it came down to it,” coach Joni Carlson said Tuesday after Lutheran’s 54-39 loss to 10th-ranked Peru St. Bede in a Class 2A girls basketball sectional semifinal.

Lutheran (22-7) missed its first 10 shots, but rallied to lead 15-13 with Rushing scoring 9 of her 12 points. After a St. Bede basket, Martin scored 11 of her 15 points in a 13-5 run that put Lutheran ahead 28-20.

The Crusaders still led 36-31 with nine minutes to play. St. Bede (26-4) then outscored Lutheran 23-3 the rest of the way.

“The momentum shifted. I don’t know how or why,” Martin said.

How about 6-foot center Lauren McKee’s foul trouble? She picked up her third, fourth and fifth fouls in the span of 2:35, fouling out with 6:30 to play.

“I get out of control at the drop of a hat,” McKee said. “I just don’t think. You stop thinking for one second, and all of a sudden you are fouling.”

Lutheran shot 14-for-57, including 1-for-16 in the fourth quarter. Missing McKee (four points) even hurt the Crusaders’ offense.

The sudden turn crushed the Crusaders, especially senior starters Martin, McKee and Heather Baier.

“We know they were beatable,” Martin said. “I wasn’t planning on my career being over after this. It feels like a chapter is being slammed shut.”

- Matt Trowbridge, RRSTAR.COM