Waseca edges Eagles

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- For three quarters, the South Central Conference leading Waseca Bluejays were a team that was dying from the 3-point arch. New Ulm High's defense had taken away the dribble-penetration of Jays' guards John Arnold and Kellen Driscoll, which had caused the Eagles all kinds of problems in their first meeting.

But Sam Conway's 3-ball, his fourth of the game and the ninth trey for the Jays with 5:40 remaining in the fourth quarter, gave Waseca its first lead of the game as the Bluejays held off New Ulm 52-48 in SCC basketball action.

Waseca hit on only 9 of 27 treys in the game.

Arnold led Waseca (13-5, 10-1) with 15 points, with Conway adding 12 and Driscoll 11.

Matt Schmidt led New Ulm (4-15, 1-9) with 15 points, with Charles Ganske playing a strong inside game and finishing with 13.

"I was really proud of the way that our team played," said Eagle coach Pat Burmeister. "We came out with patience and executed our offense; we got open shots and we made them.

"Defensively, we wanted to slow (Waseca) down in order to give us an opportunity tonight. We did a good job of rebounding but they hit some big (3-pointers) there at the end."

Trailing 39-33 going into the final quarter, Conway canned a three that pulled Waseca to within 39-36. Back-to-back 3's from Arnold and Conway at the 6:45 mark saw the Jays take their first lead of the game at 42-41 before two free throws from Mark Newman regained the lead for New Ulm.

But those would be the final points scored by the Eagles until Waseca had taken a 48-43 lead with 1:01 left in the game.

"We knew that (Waseca) would make a run at us," commented Burmeister. "They are a good ballclub. We hung tough and had an opportunity at the end, but just didn't capitalize."

Schmidt's 3-point shot pulled the Eagles within 49-48 with 17 seconds left. Driscoll sank one of his two free throw attempts for a 50-48 lead with 15 seconds left and New Ulm had the ball. But they turned the ball over, their 11th turnover of the second half after having just two in the first half. Jeff Roemhildt's two charity tosses with :05 left gave the Jays the win.

New Ulm took a commanding 11-0 lead early in the game. Two baskets by Schmidt, a 3-ball from Eric Austvold coupled with free throws by Bob Wellmann and a Ganske bucket saw the Eagles hold that lead before Arnold collected Waseca's first points of the night when he sank a trey, with Driscoll hitting a three-pointer to end the quarter as the Eagles held a 13-6 lead.

Waseca's poor 3-point shooting in the second quarter (2 of 7) and some opportune offense saw New Ulm rolling with a 22-9 lead with 4:26 left in the first half. Schmidt, John Witt and a 3-point basket by Ganske saw the Eagles with a 20-6 lead prior to Conway canning a trey at the 5:25 mark.

Baskets by Scmidt and Wellmann, with Wellmann's coming off a steal, saw the Eagles leading 26-12 as New Ulm's defense did just what the coach wanted.

"We wanted to make sure that we slowed them down," said Burmeister. "They killed us on transition baskets (the first game) and their dribble penetration; we wanted to alter that a little bit and make them do something different."

Waseca would slice the hosts' lead to 30-20 at halftime and pull to within 34-26 on a turnover by the Eagles. Schmidt regained some momentum with a jumper that gave Nwe Ulm a 10-point lead before Waseca gnawed away to cut the lead to 36-33 thanks to a Conway 3-pointer.

"We took them out of their game and flow tonight; they got some momentum late and got back in the game," Burmeister said. "But we have made a ton of improvements since the first time we played them and are becoming more disciplined."

New Ulm won the B-squad game by pasting Waseca 73-42. Dan Boettger and Tanner Miest each scored 15.

WASECA 6-14-13-19--52

NEW ULM 13-17-9-9--48

WASECA (52): Arnold 15, Conway 12, Driscoll 11, Roemhildt 8, Bjerke 4, Bonneur 2.

NEW ULM (48): Schmidt 15, Ganske 13, Wellmann 6, Austvold 5, Newman 4, Johnson 3, Witt 2.