Saints roll past NU

BY JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- For the New Ulm Eagle girls basketball team, it was a case of doing some things well but too many other things not so well.

The Eagles forced 24 St. James' turnovers -- 12 in the second quarter alone -- but poor shooting and a porous inside defense did them in as the Saints downed New Ulm 69-42 in South Central Conference basketball.

Leah Kern led St. James (2-0, 1-0) with a game-high 23 points, with Jenna Hultgren and Lindsay Bartel each each netting 10.

Martha Beatty supplied the bulk of the New Ulm (0-3, 0-1) offense with 12 points.

"We struggled offensively tonight," Eagle coach Brad Metter said. His team hit only 18-of-56 shots in the game. "The second quarter we had a lot of chances, a lot of putbacks that did not go down for us. We rushed our shots (hitting 3-of-21 shots in that quarter), and I think that we panicked. That is what it came down to for us. We did not come out well offensively."

But for the Saints, it was a case of taking advantage of their chances inside, with the Eagles' 6-foot 1 Kelly Hammerschmidt out due to illness and 5-foot 10 Coresa Leighty still bothered by a high ankle sprain.

St. James head coach Dan Wolfe said that it was the Saints' intention to go inside with the Eagle's big girls out. In their first game, the Saints' two inside players had double-doubles. Leah Kern is a six-year varsity starter and Jenna Hultgren had a double-double off of the bench.

"With Bartel (at 6-foot 3) we have a nice rotation," he said.

The inside game combined for 42 of the 69 Saints' points.

St. James would jump to a fast 19-8 lead after the first quarter as Bartel hit for six of her 10 points.

The Saints ballooned their lead to a comfortable 23-8 as the Eagles, despite allowing only five Saints shots due to 12 St. James turnovers, could not take advantage of them as cold shooting plagued them again.

"So far this season, our shooting has been a problem," Metter said. "We have struggled there, and I think that is because we have not had a predominant scorer. Coresa is probably the closest to that and she has been seeing limited time because it is hard to keep her in there because of the ankle injury. So we need some girls to step up, but as of now, no one has."

New Ulm saw the St. James 27-16 halftime lead grow to a 40-24 cushion with 1:46 left in the third quarter on a Kaye Husby basket off an Eagle turnover.

That lead went to 46-29 early in the fourth quarter as New Ulm could not stop the inside game.

"Kelly (Hammerschmidt) does a lot of things for us around the basket," Metter said. "Her post defense has gotten a lot better -- she has worked hard at that. When guards start roaming through the inside, she swats a lot of shots away. Without her in there, we are not very big. Megan Oberle and Coresa Leighty are our next biggest girls and they are 5-foot 8 and 5-foot 9.

"We need to get a full, healthy squad and be able to have them on the floor soon," Metter said.

The Eagles host GSL Saturday night.

The Eagle "B" team lost 54-43. Shelly Wendinger and Maddi Ahlness each had 10 points, with Anna Turra scoring 23 for St. James.

The New Ulm "C" team won 51-28. Sam Bergmann scored 22 points for the Eagles.

ST. JAMES 19 8 15 27 -- 69

NEW ULM 8 8 13 15 -- 42

ST. JAMES (69): Kern 23, Hultgren 10, Bartel 10, Runge 6, Miller 5, Turra 5, Johnson 4, Husby 3, Ewert 2, Kolstad 1.

NEW ULM (42): Beatty 12, Leighty 7, H. Kuebler 6, Oberle 5, Sandmann 4, Bergmann 3, Waibel 2, M. Kuebler 2, Farasyn 1.

Madelia 53,

Martin Luther 39

MADELIA -- Cali Heinz was one rebound short of a double-double, finishing with 20 points and nine boards as she led Madelia to a 53-49 victory over Martin Luther.

Melissa Tatro added 14 points and four boards with two steals, and Mary Jacobs had five boards with two steals and assists.

Madelia improves to 1-3 on the year, and are 1-1 in the Valley conference. The Blackhawks next game is at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, when they play at Truman.

Lake Crystal/Wellcome Memorial 69, Nicollet 67,

3 OT

NICOLLET -- Lisa Brown scored 29 points, including 14 in the overtime periods, in leading Lake Crystal/Welcome Memorial in a triple-overtime thriller over Nicollet Thursday night.

Klarissa Swenson led the way for the Radiers with 17 points and nine rebounds and Lindsey Beckendorf added 13 points.

The Raiders (1-3, 0-1 Valley Conference) host Cleveland Tuesday.

McLeod West 63, BLH 47

HECTOR -- Poor shooting doomed the Buffalo Lake-Hector girls basketball team, as the Mustangs fell to McLeod West 63-47 Thursday night.

Leah Ashburn had a double-double with 22 points and 14 boards, but shot only 9-of-29 from the field. As a team, the Mustangs shot only 15-of-62 from the field.

Alyssa Kubesh scored 10 points and played well on defense, finishing the game with four blocks and four rebounds.

BLH falls to 1-3 on the year, and play at Wabasso on Monday. McLeod West (2-1) plays at Watertown-Mayer on Saturday.

MLBO 52, Comfrey 51

COMFREY -- Balanced scoring led Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin to a 52-51 victory over Comfrey in girls basketball Thursday night.

Five players scored over eight points for the Wolverines, with Brittany Harder leading the way with 11, and Lacey Janzen finishing with 10.

Angela Hesse had a game high 16 points for Comfrey, with Allison Kelly adding 13 and Nicole Geving 10.

The Rockets took a one-point lead into the start of the fourth quarter, and were able to stay in the game. However, Comfrey's last-second shot bounced off the rim, and MLBO was able to squeak by with the win.

For the season, MLBO is 2-2, while Comfrey falls to 2-1. Both teams are 1-1 in the Red Rock Conference. Both teams play on Tuesday, when Comfrey travels to Round Lake to take on SVRLB, and MLBO does battle at Southwest Star.