Knights charge ahead

By JEN SEAVEY

Journal Sports Editor

NEW ULM -- St. Mary's Matt Mathiowetz had his free throw shooting tested in the Knights' Section 2A North semifinal game against Springfield Thursday -- and he passed, canning 10-of-13 in the second half to lead the Knights with a 61-35 win into the subsection finals.

The Knights will play Cedar Mountain/Comfrey for the subsection championship at 6 p.m. Monday at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter; CM/C beat Buffalo Lake-Hector 58-37 Thursday.

"They [the Knights] just drive to the bucket," Springfield coach Dennis Youngerberg said. "In the conference, there's nobody close to [Mathiowetz] for free throw attempts -- he does that very well. Unless your defense is extremely quick, you're gonna foul him."

"We knew at the end of the game, they'd come out and foul us," St. Mary's coach Peter Roufs said. "[Mathiowetz] has an awful good free throw shot, so we wanted the ball in his hands."

In the first half, Kyle Ludewig made 16 of his 18 points then passed the torch to Mathiowetz, who made 19 of his game-high 21 points in the second half. Also making double digits in the second half for the Knights was Joey Wahl with 12.

"Ludewig played great in the first half -- he was taking great shots and making 'em," Mathiowetz said. "My teammates moved the ball around more in the second half, so we could get the ball to the basket instead of moving it on the perimeter."

Ludewig started the game with a 3-pointer from the top, then scored the Knights' next 10 points, including one shot just inside the arc and three inside shots after dishes from Mathiowetz. Doling out the most assists for the Knights, however, were Matt Gangelhoff and Jake Bohnen, with six and five, respectively. Both Gangelhoff and Bohnen had just two points.

"That's just how it goes some nights," Mathiowetz said. "We play well as a team; if they take one guy out, a second guy has to step up."

"Matt [Ganglehoff] recognizes when to just distribute points," Roufs said. "He was taking care of the ball, passing the ball and didn't force things. He recognizes it's a team game -- I'm proud of how he handled himself."

After the first half, the Tigers had themselves the close game they had expected, behind just 22-18, with the help of Bill Vogel's 12 points in the first half. In actuality, Youngerberg would have liked to have seen his team ahead if they had made a few of the easier shots they missed.

Youngerberg thought the Knight defense was problematic to the Tigers, but he also felt that Springfield's shooting was another reason the game wasn't as close as previously.

The Tigers (13-10) have shot an average of 43 percent, and just last week shot 58 percent from the floor, so Springfield's 33 percent from the floor was substandard.

After the half, the Tigers and Vogel slowed. Vogel ended the game with 15 points.

Springfield scored just five points in the third quarter as St. Mary's pushed its offense to score 20. The Knights maintained their lead in the fourth to coast to their 61-35 victory.

Both the Tigers and the Knights were ready for a close game. Both times the team saw each other during the season, St. Mary's won by just three points.

"We were ready for a good game," Mathiowetz said. "Tonight, we were fresh and I thought we played a lot better, especially on defense."

"We just played tight ... we didn't play with confidence," Youngerberg said. "It's their first tournament game at MLC, and St. Mary's is very experienced -- they knew what they were in for."

Advance tickets to the subsection championship at GAC are available from the St. Mary's office today or until 2 p.m. on Monday ($5 adults, $3 students).