Springfield grabs Section 2-1A title

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

MANKATO -- Giant killers, again.

Maybe there's something about this time of year that brings out the best in the Springfield Tigers. Just four days removed from stunning top-ranked Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton, the Tigers pulled another upset.

And it wasn't even a game.

Despite giving up inches at nearly every position, Springfield capitalized on its pressure defense with an opportunistic offense. Springfield, for the second year in a row, captured the Section 2-1A title with a 59-33 pounding of Mayer Lutheran Friday night at the Taylor Center.

"It's an exciting time of the year," Springfield coach Paul Arnoldi said. "Our crowd is fantastic and our community really rallies around us. These kids believed from the beginning of the year. We had our goals set and we had some disappointing defeats, but our goals didn't change."

Springfield will meet the Fulda Raiders -- a 50-47 winner over Wabasso, also Friday night -- in the Class 1A quarterfinals. The game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Tuesday at Southwest State University in Marshall.

As well as Springfield played, it was painful to watch Mayer Lutheran (28-3) self-destruct. Despite a healthy height advantage, the Crusaders never established any offense. The 31 turnovers they committed was a big part of that.

Springfield's defense was a big part of those 31 turnovers -- 20 in the first half.

"We just stepped up our defense and our rebounding," Springfield senior guard Brittany Feser said. "We played really good defense. I think we just wanted to win -- I think that was most of it."

Added Arnoldi: "Our whole goal defensively was to make them play faster than they wanted to. Anytime a girl had the ball, we tried to put enough pressure where we could speed them up and make them play a little faster than they wanted to, and we did it."

Offensively, Springfield (20-6) was not overpowering, nor perfect. The Tigers committed 22 turnovers of their own. But the Crusaders never adjusted to the Tigers' relentless defense, which kept the turnovers coming. When given the chance, and they were given plenty of chances, the Tigers made Mayer Lutheran pay dearly.

It didn't matter the Tigers were the team that wasn't supposed to be there. They made the Crusaders wish they hadn't been.

"I thought if we played really hard we could pull it off," said Springfield junior post Taryn Runck, who led the Tigers with a game-high 17 points. "We knew we could do it, just like against JWP."

Senior Jacqueline Schultz added 15 points for the Tigers. Feser also scored in double figures for Springfield with 11 points, going 3-for-7 from 3-point range.

More important was the defensive play of Feser and junior guard Jeama Schultz. The two caused turnover after turnover and pestered the Crusaders' backcourt incessantly.

The Tigers turned four Mayer Lutheran turnovers into a 6-1 lead to start the game. As bad as that was for the Crusaders, the nightmare was just beginning.

By the end of the first quarter, despite controlling the inside, Mayer Lutheran trailed 20-5. The Crusaders committed 11 turnovers in the first eight minutes alone, negating five offensive rebounds.

Jacqueline Schultz made the most of her opportunities, scoring 11 points in the first quarter. She was 4-for-4 from the field, including a 3.

Feser took over in the second quarter as the Tigers struggled to find their inside game against the Crusaders' height. Feser hit a pair of 3s and scored six points for the Tigers.

Mayer Lutheran finally hit its first shot from the field with 5:40 remaining in the second quarter when 5-foot-11 junior Tricia Stuewe scored on a putback. But intermittent scoring could not prevent the disintegration of the Crusaders' offense.

Nothing went right for the Crusaders right down to the final horn. They shot only 30.2 percent from the field, and until freshman Katie Lane scored with about 30 seconds in the game, Mayer Lutheran had more turnovers than points.

"Their height was a concern, match-up wise," Arnoldi said. "I told the girls they needed to put enough pressure on so their perimeter players couldn't see the posts. We did a real good job of that."

Senior Amanda Drusch led the Crusaders with just eight points. Stuewe scored just five points and 6-foot sophomore Laura Tewes was 0-for-6 and finished pointless.