Crusaders go to state: Knights unable to close point gap

By JEN SEAVEY

Journal Sports Editor

MANKATO -- The one thing Sleepy Eye St. Mary's knew it had to do in its 56-51 Section 2A championship loss to Mankato Loyola, it just couldn't seem to do: minimize the threats of Bret Brielmaier and Truc Ho.

Although Brielmaier, who scored 20 points and had 13 rebounds, was not the Crusaders' leading scorer, the threat of the 6-foot-7 center scoring inside was enough to pull defenders away and allow others to score -- mainly Ho, who led all scorers with 24 points.

"He's an awful good player," St. Mary's coach Peter Roufs said of Brielmaier. "We started out in man, but he caused us problems. So we went to zone to see if we could contain him. But they were going to pull the ball out ... [and] weren't going to let us play, so we went back to man.

"He got some big buckets that probably were the difference in the game," Roufs said.

The Knights knew Brielmaier and Ho would be the key, as they had been successful in stopping Loyola once already this year.

St. Mary's beat the Crusaders 63-60 Dec. 20 in a close game in Sleepy Eye.

"We definitely played better," Brielmaier said. "We had like nine turnovers in the fourth quarter when we played at their house. Both games were intense -- it was a dogfight until the end."

The Knights did have their chances.

St. Mary's came out of halftime behind 31-20 after a Brielmaier basket, but got a charge when Matt Mathiowetz stole the ball and made a reverse layup to make it 35-28. After a Knights time out, Brielmaier was forced to call a time out because of St. Mary's defense. To end the quarter, Mathiowetz got a steal and kicked it out to Kyle Ludewig, who put it in for two, then after a Matt Gangelhoff steal, Ludewig shot over Brielmaier to bring the Knights to trail 37-32.

Gangelhoff scored 11 points in the game, and Ludewig had eight.

Ludewig got the bucket after Bryan Milliard stole the ball to begin the fourth quarter, and Gangelhoff's putback gave the Knights the closest margin of the game -- a 37-36 deficit.

From there, the Crusaders stayed in the lead with their free throws. Ho was the one holding the ball when St. Mary's began to foul in the fourth quarter and went 10-for-12 from the line.

Mathiowetz got a last shot off to end it 56-51.

"It was a game of runs, and they just happened to make one extra one," Roufs said.

The Crusaders advance to the State Class A tournament to play at 11 a.m. Thursday at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. The Knights end their season 25-4.

"We had a heck of a season," Roufs said. "We played with class. The loss hurts, but at the same time, I'm extremely proud of them.

"We'll be able to step back and put it into perspective -- a lot of guys had great careers," he said.