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February 2, 2000
Balance lifts HoundsBy PAUL DUNLAP Journal Sports Editor NEW ULM -- A balanced offense coupled with a pressure defense lifted the New Ulm Cathedral girls basketball team to a 53-29 win over Sleepy Eye in Tomahawk Conference action Tuesday night. Cathy Boettger led the Hound attack with 16 points and five assists. Teammates Tessa Hodapp and Laura Hazuka added 10 points apiece. Kristen Krebs' 12 points and six rebounds led the Indian effort, with point guard Anne Ibberson scoring six. "Anne Ibberson is a great player," Greyhound coach Mary Dengerud said. "She penetrates well, sees the floor well, and we knew we had to cut that off. We tried to slow them up with our press a little bit, and I think we did that to an extent. There were times when we weren't as focused as I would have hoped, but we kept our composure and did the job well." It would be the Greyhounds' penetration that opened up some scoring throughout the game. Boettger had six points in the opening quarter, four coming on two nice baseline drives, that gave Cathedral a 12-6 edge after one. The two teams would trade baskets throughout the opening minutes of the second before a Kristin Beranek 3-pointer pushed the Hound edge to 22-12. The Indians had a hard time getting buckets to fall, and the score was 29-18 going into the locker room at half. "That's how it's been all year -- shooting about 25 or 30 percent most nights," Sleepy Eye coach Bradd Goede said. "We shot about 35 (percent) tonight, but in the crucial situations we couldn't hit one. (Cathedral) played tight defense, scrappy, and that gets on the kids' minds once in a while. You shoot the ball quicker than you normally do ... defense has a lot to do with that." The Hounds slowing pulled away in the opening minutes of the third. Ibberson's bucket cut the lead to 32-21 before two straight Kristin Beranek jumpers followed by a Jackie Wolfe 3-pointer gave Cathedral an 18-point lead with 3:58 left in the quarter. Natalia Haala would briefly give the Hounds a 20-point edge before an Ibberson jumper sparked a 6-2 run that cut the edge to 16. Boettger would take over at that point, with three straight assists that turned into buckets, a basket of her own, and a steal-and-layup in the final seconds that provided the final margin. "(Cathedral) ran a beautiful screening game all night long," Goede said. "They had kids open underneath, kids open up top ... their guards drove, made us step up, and opened up the post. They had some nice wrap-around passes as well." "Different people have to step up," Dengerud said of her team. "I've told them all year long that anyone on that floor is a threat to score. It's nice because one time Laura (Hazuka) can score 29 and the next night Natalia (Haala) can score 25. It's not like you can key on one player." The Greyhounds (8-7, 6-7) hosts Minnesota Valley Lutheran Thursday night. Sleepy Eye (0-17, 0-13) hosts McLeod West Friday. The Cathedral B-squad (9-6) also came out on top, defeating the Indians 31-20. Liesl Genelin scored 12 points and Jessica Lewis added seven for the Greyhounds. Brooke Augustin scored 10 points to pace the Indians. SLEEPY EYE 6 12 3 8--29 CATHEDRAL 12 17 10 14--53 SLEEPY EYE (29): Krebs 12, A.Ibberson 6, Stenger 4, Starkey 4, J.Ibberson 2, Lowther 1. CATHEDRAL (53): Boettger 16, Hodapp 10, Hazuka 10, K.Beranek 7, S.Beranek 3, Wolfe 3, N.Haala 2, Miheve 2.
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