Neubauer secures NUC win

Boys top Mustangs in last minutes

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- New Ulm Cathedral's Adam Neubauer tossed in 23 points Friday night.

But his last two baskets were his biggest. The 6-foot 4 sophomore put in a running jump shot to break a 51-51 tie and then followed it up with a basket off of a Buffalo Lake-Hector turnover as the Greyhound survived a Mustang upset threat with a 56-51 win.

Neubauer's 32 points were a season high.

Tom Hazuka added 12 points in his first game back from a knee injury.

Steve Kalenberg led the Mustangs (3-14, 4-17) with 15 points with Travis Swanson adding 12 and Mitch McCormick 11.

"This was a must-win for us as far as the sectional seedings go," said Cathedral coach Bailey Blethen, who saw his team improve to 6-9 in the Tomahawk Conference and 7-11 overall. "We did not attack their zone offense very well tonight and our defense was not as good, as was our rebounding."

BLH outrebounded the Greyhounds 39-29.

"But overall, I thought that the kids played together well," he said.

"This was a game where the team that won the game made more plays," Mustang coach Kelly Raymond said. "We did not make the plays down the stretch -- we had a couple of chances to knock some shots in and we did not do what we had to do."

The Mustangs, who coughed up 26 turnovers in the game, held a 48-44 lead on baskets from Travis Swanson and Steve Kalenberg to open the fourth quarter.

But the Hounds, who had erased a 42-32 Mustang lead midway through the third quarter, again grabbed themselves by the bootstraps.

Two baskets by Adam Neubauer, who accounted for 11 of the 12 fourth quarter points, knotted the game at 48 before his three-pointer gave Cathedral a 51-50 lead -- the Greyhounds' first lead since they lead 32-30 at halftime. And it was a lead that the Greyhounds hung onto for the final three-plus minutes.

"I thought that Adam had his best game of the season," Blethen said. "He made some clutch shots in the fourth quarter -- he did a nice job in the post for us tonight."

Cathedral and the Mustangs would battle all night with BLH, despite committing 10 first quarter turnovers, holding a slim 14-12 lead after the first break.

That was because Cathedral hit only 2-10 shots from the field while BLH hit on 5-12 from the floor and hit their only three-point attempt. That came courtesy of Steve Kalenberg at the buzzer.

BLH and Cathedral then slugged it out in the second quarter with the two teams combining for 14 made free throws.

The Mustangs, despite seven turnovers, increased their lead to 21-14 on two free throws from Josh Antonsen, a jumper by Mitch McCormick and a Josh VanderVoot free throw with just under six minutes left. That lead would balloon to 27-18 before Dustin Wilfahrt and Eric Schugel countered.

The Hounds, who trailed 30-22 late in the first half, used the Mustang foul trouble to score from the charity stripe. Six of the last 10 points by Cathedral came from the free throw line, with Hazuka's basket off a turnover putting them ahead 32-30 at halftime.

But the Mustangs erased that lead, taking a 36-32 lead on two baskets by VanderVoot and a jumper courtesy of Swanson, before consecutive treys from McCormick saw BLH up 42-32.

While BLH hit on 3-7 from the field and 2-4 from beyond the arc, Cathedral went stone cold. They missed all five shots from the floor and misfired on two three-point attempts.

"We are not used to having a lead," Raymond said. "Now, what are we supposed to do? But we had turnovers again (seven after holding the lead), and those were because we were not concentrating. Guys are not meeting the passes."

Hazuka's steal preceded a 10-0 run by the Greyhounds to end the third quarter as Cathedral knotted the game at 44.

"Our defense was good in that third quarter -- and to come back from 10 points down -- there is no quit in this team," Blethen said.

Cathedral lost the B game 56-47. Adam Hoffmann led the Greyhounds with 14 points.

BLH 14 16 14 7 -- 51

CATHEDRAL 12 20 12 12 -- 56

BLH (51)

Kalenberg 15, Swanson 12, McCormick 11, VanderVoot 5, Antonsen 4, Ulrich 2, Miller 2.

CATHEDRAL (56)

Neubauer 23, T. Hazuka 12, Wilfahrt 7, Lux 4, Schugel 4, J. Hazuka 4, Fox 2.

MLBO 72, RRC 33

MOUNTAIN LAKE -- Grant Wall scored 21 points to lead Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin over Red Rock Central Friday in Red Rock Conference basketball.

Mitchell Schroeder scored 16 points, had nine rebounds, eight steals and five assists for the Wolverines. Mark DeYounge scored 12 points and had eight rebounds.

Mark Engen scored 13 points and had seven rebounds for the Falcons. MLBO led 55-18 after three quarters and held the Falcons scoreless in the third quarter.

MLBO shot 50 percent and the Falcons shot 36 percent. MLBO (14-7, 10-4) outrebounded the Falcons (10-10, 6-8) 32-23.

RRC is at Southwest Star Concept Tuesday in Okabena.