Mayer Lutheran tops St. Mary's for Tip-off title

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- It's still early in the season and the Sleepy Eye St. Mary's Knights are still optimistic. And now with a pair of games played they know what to work on.

The Mayer Lutheran Crusaders capitalized on St. Mary's struggles on offense Saturday afternoon to take a 43-34 victory. The win earned the Crusaders the championship of the 2001 Sleepy Eye St. Mary's Tip-off Tournament.

"We struggled offensively," St. Mary's coach Bruce Woitas said. "At times, we played good defense, but we had some breakdowns there, too. ... (But) I'm very optimistic. We've got a good group of kids."

The Knights (1-1) advanced to the title game with a 51-43 over Mounds Park Academy Friday night. For many of the Knights, it was the first time they saw varsity action.

Saturday afternoon was the second. And the inexperience showed.

St. Mary's shot only 28.6 percent from the field. Emily Schwartz, Ashley Mathiowetz and Annie Suker each had eight points to lead the Knights.

"Ashley is really the only starter back," Woitas said. "Emily and Casie Schumacher both played some at the end of last year, so we've got some kids that are just getting their first experience at the varsity level."

Senior Amanda Drusch led the Crusaders (2-0) with nine points. Drusch also grabbed seven rebounds.

Mathiowetz led the Knights with seven rebounds.

Schumacher gave St. Mary's an early 4-0 lead when she hit an 18-footer from the left wing with 5:30 to go in the first quarter. Mayer Lutheran stormed back, though, and tied the game at 9 with 1:59 left in the quarter.

The Crusaders then went on a 7-0 run to end the first eight minutes. The Crusaders used their height advantage as Drusch and sophomore Laura Tewes got loose inside; Tewes had a three-point play in the run after she was fouled down low.

"There are a lot of teams that are going to be bigger than us," Woitas said. "We've got to adjust to that. We did in the second half. We just turned to more of a zone."

The Knights trimmed the lead to four at 20-16 in the second quarter, but the Crusaders got another 7-0 run to finish the first half with a 27-16 margin. Drusch was again a factor, scoring five points in the run, including her only 3 of the game.

"We gave them that run just before halftime, and we couldn't get anything going after that," Woitas said.

Mayer Lutheran took its biggest lead at 33-20 midway through the third quarter. The Knights trimmed the lead to single digits on several occasions, but couldn't climb all the way back.

After hitting 5-for-12 from the field in the third quarter, St. Mary's shooting slumped in the final quarter. The Knights were just 3-for-13, including 0-for-5 from behind the arc, in the fourth quarter.

"We know what we have to work on," Woitas said. "We should be fine."

In the consolation championship, Faribault Bethlehem Academy defeated Mounds Park Academy 51-36.

Betty Slinger and Brynn Weikleenget each had 10 points for the Cardinals. Teammate Annie Carpentier added eight.

Karli Gasteazoro led Mounds Park with 10 points. Caitlin Smith added nine.

MAYER LUTHERAN (43): Young 2-7 0-1 4, Tewes 3-6 1-2 7, C.Stuewe 2-3 0-1 4, T.Stuewe 1-4 2-3 4, Drusch 4-8 0-0 9, Olson 2-5 3-5 7, Jones 0-1 0-1 0, Hoffman 0-0 2-4 2, Schaupp 1-7 0-0 2, Luebke 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 17-44 8-16 43.

ST. MARY'S (34): Schwartz 4-9 0-1 8, Schumacher 1-6 0-0 2, Moldan 0-3 0-2 0, Meyer 0-2 1-2 1, Cook 1-5 0-4 3, Mathiowetz 4-10 0-0 8, Fischer 0-5 0-0 0, Pelzel 2-4 0-0 4, Krenz 0-1 0-0 0, Suker 2-4 4-4 8. Totals 14-49 5-13 34.

MAYER LUTHERAN 16 11 9 7--43

ST. MARY'S 9 7 10 8--34

3-Point Goals--Mayer Lutheran 1-5 (Drusch 1-2, Young 0-1, Tewes 0-1, Schaupp 0-1), St. Mary's 1-10 (Cook 1-4, Mathiowetz 0-1, Meyer 0-2, Schumacher 0-3). Fouled out--Pelzel. Rebounds--Mayer Lutheran 38 (Drusch 7), St. Mary's 32 (Mathiowetz 7). Total Fouls--Mayer Lutheran 16, St. Mary's 16. Turnovers--Mayer Lutheran 23, St. Mary's 16.