St. Mary's squares off with Cougars Monday

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- It is going to be one great game beween two great teams.

Monday night at 6 p.m. Sleepy Eye St. Mary's will meet Cedar Mountain-Comfrey in the North Sub-Section title game at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

The Knights enter the game with an impressive 24-3 record (one of the losses is a forfeit to Cedar Mountain-Comfrey) while the Cougars of CMC boast a 19-6 mark

St. Mary's coach Peter Roufs knows that this will be a big test for his Knights.

"We know that it is going to be an outstanding game," Roufs said. "They are a very good team and, like us, have good balanced scoring. They can score inside -- both Larsen kids (Andrew and Tom) are pretty tough. Obviously they also have players that can shoot the three-point shot very well, so we will have our hands full defensively to stop all of their weapons."

Roufs feels that the Cougars closely resembles his team offensively.

"They shoot the three more than we do and they rely on that, but both Larsen's are having outstanding seasons," Roufs said. "They have good ballhandlers."

The Knights won by three points on the Cougars' home floor in their last meeting -- a game in which both teams played well according to Roufs.

"We both shot the ball well. We happened to make a run and get a possesion that was the difference. It was a game that could have gone either way. Unfortunately, that game was the game that we had to forfeit. This game will be like the other -- I think that defense will play a big part in the outcome."

Both teams can score points so defense becomes an even bigger ally.

"When you get into tournament time each possesion becomes more valuable -- we need to shut them down. (CMC) runs well and we will have to win the game on the defensive end because I am not sure that we can outscore them the way that they shoot the three."

Roufs said that there is not one player that his team is more concerned with than the rest. "You look at the team and you think who can we leave open and get some extra help in the post area -- they like to pull kids away from the basket and isolate their post player. When we thought of that, there was not one player who we could slack off on defense."

The Knights are playing their best defense now, according to Roufs. "We knew that we had to raise our defensive intensity a notch. It is a long regular season and you try and have intensity each game but it is difficult. Now, it is do or die and because of that, we play intense. We struggled offensively in the first half (against Springfield), but our defense kept us in the game in the first half."

Ironically, both teams used a 20-5 advantages in their last tournament game to reach this point.

Meanwhile, Cedar Mountain-Comfrey coach Keith Klawitter also feels that it will be a great game.

"They always give us trouble with their pressure defense," he said. "So we upgraded our schedule so hopefully it has toughened us up and got us to the point where we can handle their man-to-man pressure."

In their last meeting, Cedar Mountaim led and had some wide open looks at some three-point shots with two minutes to go but failed to convert. "If we would have made either one of those, we would have stayed on top."

Like Roufs, Klawitter feels that the teams are similiar with the exception of one player. "In Matt Mathiowetz, they have a penetrator who can get to the basket seemingly any time he wants. We do not have anyone who does that for us -- we are pretty much get it into Andrew or Tom or let Brent (Kopischke) Darren (Tighe) or Brady (Rose) shooting the three," said Klawitter. "Usually we try to spread the floor with our four-out offense. Look to go to Tom first and then shot the three. I think that in that game we had nine or ten three's which is unusual against them becasue they extend their defense well."

Brent Kopischke did not play in the last game and he may be a big factor in this important meeting.

"In a way, he is our most consistent outside shooter and get his shot anytime he wants it from the outside. You hope that he is on -- he set the school record for three-point baskets with 68."

Klawitter feels that the game may swing in the Cougars' way "if we can handle tneir pressure. Plus the last time Brady Rose did a nice job on Mathiowetz. He did not get to the free throw line. Andrew and Tom on their two big guys will be another key."

Yeah, it is going to be one heck of a game.