Eagles fall short against St. Peter

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- The New Ulm High Eagles' winless season continues. But the Eagles are getting closer.

Still, despite a fourth-quarter surge, it was too little, too late for the Eagles. The St. Peter Saints held off the Eagles 57-51 Thursday night in South Central Conference girls basketball.

"There's a few tears being shed, and that's a good thing," New Ulm High coach Brad Metter said. "It means we're getting closer. You kind of get desensitized when you lose by 30 or 40 -- it's not so hard. The next step is to get that win. They kept working hard the whole game."

St. Peter (9-2, 5-1 SCC) led by 17 at the start of the final quarter. The Eagles steadily cut into the margin against the Saints' reserves and with a final-minute flurry were able to get the deficit down into single digits.

"I wish them the best of luck, I hope they can pull out a victory," St. Peter coach Robert Shoemaker said. "They're working hard and things are not going for them. ... They're due for a win, and fortunately it wasn't against us."

New Ulm High (0-10, 0-6) didn't give up in spite of an awful start. The Eagles were just 2-for-13 from the field in the opening eight minutes as the Saints raced to a 12-2 advantage on the way to an 18-4 lead going into the second quarter.

New Ulm High recovered from the slow start by outscoring St. Peter 15-6 in the second quarter. The Eagles forced six Saints' turnovers and began to work their offense.

Senior post Liz Dannenberg, who was one of only two players to score for the Eagles in the first quarter, scored six in the second quarter; Dannenberg got the Eagles' first four points, scoring twice inside. Senior Brittany Gorres, after going 0-for-3 in the first eight minutes, scored five points.

Sophomore Megan Hauge came off the bench and hit her first four shots to start the second half, including a 12-foot baseline jumper that cut the Saints' lead to 32-27 with 4:41 in the third quarter. But the Eagles couldn't contain St. Peter's offense -- the Saints were 10-for-12 from the field in the quarter. The Saints' 6-foot-2 senior post, Jenny Roggow, decimated the Eagles inside, hitting all four of her shots in the quarter.

Roggow finished with 12 points, one of two Saints in double figures. Megan Vogel led all scorers with 18 points.

Dannenberg led the Eagles with 11 points and Gorres added 10. Hauge finished with nine points.

"I think they have some skills, I just think they have to play some basketball together," Shoemaker said. "They need to get some confidence in themselves and do some basic, fundamental things. ... They had some really nice moves on their offense when we were in our man defense, some back-door cuts. I think they're going to continue to get better."

Metter also saw a lot of positives for the Eagles.

"These girls are going to continue to get better, every game," Metter said. "I can honestly say that. ... I really am optimistic because when I see this team from where we started to where we are today, there is a huge improvement as far as skill level and basketball-wise."

New Ulm High will travel to Arlington to face Sibley East at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

ST. PETER 18 6 25 8--57

NUHS 4 15 13 19--51

ST. PETER (57): Vogel 7-10 2-4 18, Mauland 4-5 0-3 8, Seebach 2-7 0-2 4, Berg 1-2 0-1 2, Eversman 0-2 0-0 0, Emich 1-1 5-7 7, Knutson 2-4 0-0 4, Motto 0-0 0-0 0, Kastens 0-1 0-0 0, Schmidt 1-3 0-0 2, Utz 0-0 0-0 0, Roggow 6-9 0-0 12. Totals 24-46 7-18 55.

NUHS (51): Gorres 3-9 2-2 10, Hauge 4-8 1-1 9, Batzlaff 0-2 0-0 0, Rosenau 2-12 0-0 4, Kitzberger 1-3 0-0 2, Flor 3-6 1-2 6, Stueber 4-4 0-0 8, Dannenberg 5-11 1-2 11. Totals 22-55 5-8 51.

3-Point Goals--STP 2-7 (Vogel 2-4, Mauland 0-1, Seebach 0-1, Eversman 0-1), NUHS 2-11 (Gorres 2-5, Flor 0-1, Kitzberger 0-1, Hauge 0-2, Rosenau 0-2). Fouled Out--None. Total Fouls--STP 13, NUHS 16. Turnovers--STP 24, NUHS 21. Technical--NUHS coach Metter. JV--STP 46, NUHS 27.