Cathedral hounds ChargersMVL still manages to top crosstown rivals

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- That's why they call it a rivalry.

Minnesota Valley Lutheran ran off the final eight points of Monday's game to overcome a 49-47 New Ulm Cathedral lead and escaped with a 55-49 win over the Greyhounds in Tomahawk Conference boy's basketball.

Nate Nass led the Chargers with 16 points He was the only MVL player in double figures.

Eric Schugel paced the Greyhounds with a game-high 24 points with 16 of those coming in the first half.

Despite the win, MVL coach Craig Morgan felt that Cathedral played better than his Chargers.

"We got outplayed tonight by them," he said. 'They wanted it more than we did."

"I am proud of the way that the kids played tonight," Cathedral coach Bailey Blethen said. "I am proud of them. I really thought that we had a good chance of winning the game."

MVL took a 45-41 lead three minutes into the final quarter on a Mark Thiesfeldt basket before the Greyhounds' Adam Neubauer responded with a trey before Cody Fox converted a Schugel pass into a basket for a 46-45 lead. A Nass basket gave the Chargers back the lead before Neubauer buried his second 3-pointer of the quarter for a 49-47 lead.

But Neubauer's points would be the last by the Greyhounds as a Nass basket was followed by a Dustin Lendt hoop for a 51-49 lead. MVL then closed out the Greyhounds on free throws -- three from Andy Beilke and a Nass charity toss with 10 seconds left in the game.

"We have been in these tight games before this year," Morgan said. "We have pulled a few out and we have lost a few. But I think that as we go along, we will learn from this."

The Chargers held an 18-10 lead after the first quarter.

But Cathedral -- and guard Eric Schugel -- cut into the lead.

Schugel's conventional three-point play, a drive and ensuing free throw on a foul, was something that the Chargers would see a lot of in the quarter as that play sliced the lead to 20-14. Schugel drove to the basket for another hoop before five free throws from Schugel -- on fouls while driving to the basket -- saw Cathedral down only 26-21 with 1:36 left in the first half.

"That was ridiculous," said Morgan. "We talked about that at a time-out. We wanted to stay there and switch on the drive each time. But we did not execute what we wanted to and Eric drove the lane; he picked up the chance to shoot a lot of free throws."

Blethen said that the game plan was to set a drive to the basket for any of his guards.

"We wanted to drive, penetrate and then dish to the post player," said Blethen, whose team lost by 13 points in January to the Chargers. "We did want to slow the game down and that is why we played zone (defense) all night."

That slow pace seemed to frustrate the Chargers as a 28-23 MVL halftime lead dwindled to 31-27 before Schugel again drove to the hoop for a basket and Fox turned a Joe Hazuka pass into a basket and a 31-31 tie two minutes into the third quarter.

"We just were not patient enough to let them get impatient," Morgan said about the Cathedral slow-down offense. "We were ahead -- there was no reason for us to hurry. We just had to play tough defense."

Lux's basket with 1:30 left in the third quarter knotted the game at 35-35 before a mini-run by the Chargers lifted them to a 41-35 lead with less than a minute left in the third quarter.

Schugel's coast-to-coast layup after an MVL miscue kept Cathedral close at 43-41 early in the final quarter.

"I don't think that there was any major change in strategy by either team late in the game," Blethen said. "We had a couple of turnovers that were huge and they made some big shots."

MVL also won the "B" game 52-22. David Nass led the Chargers with 10 points while Sam Verschaetse and Philipp Niemayer each scored six.