Sleepy Eye High falls to Sleepy Eye St. Mary's

By BENJAMIN TOMCZAK

Journal Sports Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- Not to sound like John Madden, but it's tough to win when you don't score.

Sleepy Eye High School found out the hard way Tuesday as the Indians opened their Tomahawk Conference season with a 63-28 loss to cross-town rival Sleepy Eye St. Mary's.

The Indians (0-2, 0-1 Tomahawk) had two crucial scoreless streaks that sealed their fate. With the score knotted at 7, the Indians went silent from 1:59 in the first quarter until 4:27 in the second, until Annie Hillesheim put together a nice three-point play that made it 19-10 Knights. Hillesheim scored eight of the Indians nine second half points, and finished the night with 12.

The Indians were only down by four after one (11-7) and 13 at the half 29-16, despite 20 first half turnovers and the scoreless stretch.

But in the second they were doomed by a six minute stretch of the third and fourth quarters during which the Knights (3-1, 1-0) pushed their lead up from 13 to 23, taking a 46-23 mountain into the fourth.

"We went through streaks in the first half where we got our screens across down underneath," Indians' coach Bradd Goede said, "and people were wide open and we got the score. Then we also had moments where we stood still and watched the guard dribble. That's when the scoring stopped."

Unfortunately for the Indians, the Knights couldn't seem to stop scoring. A balanced attack that saw nine different girls score propelled the Knights to a 34-12 second half advantage. Sleepy Eye Public's 42 turnovers didn't help matters much.

"A lot of it was unforced," Goede mused, pondering the 45 turnovers his team committed against Redwood Valley last Friday combined with the 42 from Tuesday. "Whether you're experienced or inexperienced, you've still got to protect the basketball when it's not a pressure situation."

Jonalyn Cook, a 5'4" sophomore, paced the Knights' scoring group with 16 points, eight in the first half and eight in the fourth quarter alone. She added seven rebounds and three steals.

"She had a previous game where she had a good game offensively," Knights' coach Bruce Woitas said. "She's got a good head and a sense for the game. She handles the ball and sees the floor well."

Another solid Knight was four-year starter Ashley Mathiowetz. Mathiowetz scored 13 to go with four steals and three assists and established her presence in the second quarter, scoring the first six St. Mary's points in a 44 second span.

Not a surprise to Woitas.

"Ashley's been our mainstay for the last four years. She's been a varsity player for four years and averaged double figures for four years. We're going to get that from her consistently."

In the first half the Knights were hitting from the outside, but in the third quarter they went almost exclusively to the inside game, and this is where their 5'10" posts, Becky Pelzel and Julia Fischer, cleaned up. The two combined for nine of St. Mary's 17 third quarter points, mostly on easy down low buckets.

Fischer finished with seven points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Pelzel had six points to go with seven boards.

Emily Schwartz also had six points and seven boards for St. Mary's, while Casie Schumacher had four points, four assists and four steals.

That balance is exactly what Coach Woitas has desired from the get-go.

"That's one thing we saw in this group early, that we're going to have the potential to have a lot of people score. They all look offensive. They don't shy away from going to the basket. When you can get that out of ten or eleven girls, you're always going to have someone that has a good night."

The Indians are still seeking that balance.

After Hillesheim's 12 points, the next two highest scorers were junior Erin Starkey with five (all in the first quarter) and freshman post Allie Renberg, making her first varsity start, also with five.

"We're looking for chemistry," Goede said, "looking for combinations that will work. We graduated a couple of three year starters. We're still looking. It (the starting lineup) might be different on Friday night again too.

"They have to keep working in practice, they've got to have that dedication. You have to get the shots by the hundreds outside the winter."