Knights advance

By DAVE CLARK

Journal Sports Writer

SLEEPY EYE --The good news for the Sleepy Eye St. Mary's Knights girls basketball team is that they beat the Cedar Mountain Cougars 47-33 Tuesday night in Section 2A North Class A Sub-section Tournament.

The good news for the Cougars is that they bring back their entire team next year.

The No. 2 seed Knights now advance to take on No. 3 Buffalo Lake-Hector Thursday night at New Ulm Public high school (a change from the original venue, Martin Luther College) at 7:45 p.m.

"On defense, especially in the second half, I thought we played really well," SESM coach Bruce Woitas said. "Early on, we were almost 100 percent from the free throw line. Then the kids stepped up for us and got shots and rebounds. There were some first round playoff nerves and Cedar Mountain has a real quick team."

Unfortunately for Cougar's coach Ken Thiesen, quickness wasn't enough to offset a lack of offense and rebounding and too many turnovers.

"Offensively, we really struggled," Thiesen said. "We just didn't do the things we needed to do. Then when we did get shots, we didn't rebound. Rebounding has been a problem all year. SESM did the job they needed to do to give them the lead they needed."

No one was able to hold the lead in the early going, though, as there were three ties and five lead changes in the opening quarter en route to an 11-11 tie after the first eight minutes.

Each team scored four points off turnovers, with Jonalyn Cook hitting a trey for the Knights and Lindsey Jensen nailing a jumper at the buzzer for the tie.

SESM went up 15-11 lead on consecutive jumpers from Cook and Emily Schwartz, but Katie Gewerth responded with a three- pointer for the Cougars. Another three by Cook gave the Knights a 19-14 lead, but after six consecutive turnovers by both teams, Katie Gewerth got a layup on the last turnover, making it 19-16.

It was the closest the Cougars got to the Knights the rest of the game.

Raina Walker hit a three-pointer later, making it 26-16. SESM took a 27-18 into the half after denying the Cougars any good looks at the basket the last five minutes of the quarter.

There wasn't much offense in a physically played third quarter, with the only Cougar points coming from a three by Sam Madsen and a long jumper by Katie Gewerth.

It wasn't enough to offset the Knights' production from Cook and Walter, who accounted for seven of SESM's eight points and a 35-23 lead heading into the fourth.

The Knights outscored the Cougars 10-2 in the fourth, making it 45-25 with 2:50 left in the contest. Consecutive treys by Cedar Mountain's Madsen and Kelly Gewerth were too little, too late, and the Cougars season ended with a 4-19 record.

Katie Gewerth led all scorers with 15, with Madsen adding eight. Cook paced the Knights with 12, followed by Walter with 11 and Emily Schwartz with 10. Schwartz also contributed seven steals and 12 rebounds, with Cook adding eight boards. The Knights are now 13-10 overall.

SESM 11 16 8 12 - 47

Cedar Mountain 11 7 5 10 - 33