Knights edge Rabbits in battle of ranked teams

Mathiowetz hits late free throws,

St. Mary's shoots 71 percent

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- Matt Mathiowetz sank eight of ten free throws in the final 71 seconds as St. Mary's edged Wabasso, 73-68 Tuesday in a battle of unbeaten and state-ranked basketball teams.

Jase Guetter's trey brought the Rabbits within 65-62 with 90 seconds left. The Knights got the ball in Mathiowetz' hands and he cashed in most of his free throws.

Guetter canned another three, bringing Wabasso within 67-65 but missed his next three-point attempt. Matt Samyn's trey made it 71-68 within 14 seconds left before Mathiowetz sank two more free throws with seven seconds left.

Wabasso's last lead was 54-53 early in the fourth period.

"It was a great battle," said St. Mary's Coach Peter Roufs after the game. "It could have gone either way. We were fortunate to win. They're a great team. We knew that coming in. It took a great effort by all our guys to win. Everybody played their role It was a great environment to be in."

The Rabbits got in foul trouble in the second half and had to rely on treys late. Wabasso was called for 23 fouls in the game while St. Mary's had 13 fouls. St. Mary's made 16 of 24 free throws while Wabasso made three of nine free throws.

St. Mary's hit 71 percent (24-34) of its two-point field goals and hit 3-4 treys. Wabasso hit 22-38 deuces (58 percent) and 7-18 three-point shots.

"We fought hard," said Wabasso Coach Ryan Swanson. "Had a couple more shots fallen, it would have been different. We got in foul trouble late but that's our style of play. They did a good job breaking our press at times, so we had to adjust. I hate to lose but it might make us a better team in the long run."

The game started slow with Wabasso taking a 4-0 lead in the middle of the first period. The Knights used a mid-court pass to break the press open and led 18-12 after one period on Kyle Ludewig's inside deuce and free throw.

Mathiowetz's bucket made it 20-12 before the Rabbits went on an 8-0 run to tie the score. Guetter's trey tied the score at 25 and Brent Baune's trey tied it at 28.

Mathiowetz' two free throws and Rob Brandl's layup made it 34-32 Knights after two periods.

Samyn's deuce put the Rabbits up 41-39 before a Brandl basket tied it at 41. St. Mary's led by as much as 51-45 before Baune's trey made it 51-50, St. Mary's.

Lakes Region Junior College Coach Mark Graupe of Devil's Lake, N.D. scouted the game. He said it would be interesting to see how the game at Wabasso turns out.

Mathiowetz led Knight scoring with 23 points. He added a three-point basket and three steals. Ludewig scored 19 and had three steals, Matt Gangelhoff had 18 points and two treys, Brandl scored 11 and grabbed nine rebounds. Paul Fuchs had four steals.

Samyn scored 20 for Wabasso. Dan Mathiowetz had 16, Baune 15 and Jase Guetter 13.

Wabasso won the "B" game, 65-50 as Cole Guetter scored 26 points and Adam Hillesheim scored 12 points. Alan Woitas and Juan Martinez each scored 16 points each St. Mary's.

Wabasso 12 20 20 16--68

Sleepy Eye St. Mary's 18 16 19 20--73