Raiders top Cathedral: Mettler too much to handle down low

By JEREMY BEHNKE

Journal Sports Writer

NICOLLET -- New Ulm Cathedral couldn't get into its offensive flow and Nicollet got hot from the outside in the second half as the Raiders defeated the Greyhounds 65-51 in nonconference boy's basketball action Friday.

Nicollet's Jamie Mettler was difficult to stop for the Greyhounds as he scored 22 points. Jeff Zimmerman poured in 19 for the Raiders.

"They shot well in the second half and they made the threes," Cathedral coach Bailey Blethen said. "We didn't close out as well as we would've liked to. We just didn't get our offense going as good as we would've liked to."

The Greyhounds hit their first three shots from beyond the arc -- all in the first quarter -- and led 15-13 after the first eight minutes. Eric Schugel hit two shots from 3-point range, but he was unable to hit from outside the rest of the night because of tough defense from Nicollet.

In the second quarter, both teams continued to struggle from the field until Joey Lux's jumper gave the Greyhounds a 17-15 lead. Schugel's jumper put the Greyhounds up 23-19, but the Raiders continued to pound the ball inside to Mettler.

"He's tough," Blethen said. "He's a very good player. We knew that coming in that he'd probably be a key to the game, and he was. He was a big piece of the game. He got the ball inside and he has a nice touch and he's a good rebounder."

"Coach said to get it down to me as much as we could," Mettler said.

Zimmerman's 3-pointer gave Nicollet a 24-23 lead, but Cathedral regained the edge just before halftime and went into the break with a 28-25 lead.

"The first half we were kind of rusty because it's our first game," Mettler said.

Mike Rosin hit consecutive 3-pointers and Zimmerman hit another as the Raiders took a 34-30 lead early in the third quarter.

With the momentum clearly shifted, Brandon Rudenick scored in the paint to give Nicollet a 42-32 advantage. Adam Neubauer's basket as the buzzer sounded made it 45-34 after three.

"Rosin and Zimmerman, they stepped it up in the second half," Mettler said. "Pretty much any time they can get an open look they can knock it down. We just look to get it out to them."

Cathedral was unable to get much closer in the fourth quarter. Joe Hazuka's 3- pointer made it 50-37 and a basket by Cody Fox made it 64-51 Nicollet.

Mike Rosin scored 12 for the Raiders. Schugel led the Greyhounds with 16 points and Hazuka scored 13 points. Neubauer and Fox each scored eight for Cathedral.

Nicollet (1-0) is at Mankato Loyola Tuesday and Cathedral (0-1) hosts Springfield the same night.

Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton 69, New Ulm 41

JANESVILLE -- Shooting 61 percent from the field in the second half, Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton pulled away from and topped the Eagles 69-41 Friday night.

Travis Priem and Josh Finley of JWP led all scorers with 23 and 20 points, respectively, as the Bulldogs outscored New Ulm 24-9 in the third quarter to break the game open.

Tony Mielke led New Ulm with 18 points and nine rebounds as New Ulm shot only 35 percent from the field in the second half.

New Ulm (0-1) plays next Tuesday at home against Sibley East. The Bulldogs improve to 1-0.

New Ulm's B-squad won 34-23 and the C-squad won 35-32.

Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin 61, Sleepy Eye St. Mary's 56

MOUNTAIN LAKE -- MLBO's Mark DeYounge scored 26 points and grabbed 13 rebounds Friday night to narrowly defeat St. Mary's Friday night.

Joey Wahl led the Knights with 19 points as St. Mary's shot 24-45 from the field. MLBO shot 33 percent from the field.

St. Mary's turned the ball over 18 times in the loss.

The Knights (0-1) host Worthington Monday, while MLBO (1-0) host MLBO Tuesday.

Sibley East 50, GFW 43

GAYLORD -- Jordan Berg had a double-double in Sibley East's 50-43 win over Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop in nonconference boys basketball action Friday.

Berg led all scorers with 25 points and 15 rebounds for the Wolverines. He was also 11-of-12 from the free throw line. Chris Gardner had 10 points.

For GFW, Jake Sallstrom scored 21 points.

Sibley East (1-0) plays at New Ulm High School Tuesday. GFW (0-1) plays at Minnesota Valley Lutheran Friday.

Truman 74,

Alden-Conger 37

Madelia 67, Martin Luther 30

MADELIA - Madelia and Truman coasted to easy wins in the first round of the Madelia-Truman Tip-Off Tournament.

In the first game, Truman jumped out to a 42-9 halftime lead as Mike Hintz led all scorers with 22 points.

In the second game, Madelia coach Paul Carpenter captured his 150th win behind Craig Brand's 19 points an 11 rebounds and Jon Wanzek's 11 points. Madelia shot 26 for 51 from the field and grabbed a team total of 36 rebounds.

Madelia and Truman will face off in the championship today at Truman. Tip-off time is set for 1:30. Alden-Conger will face Martin Luther in the consolation game at noon.

RRC 73, Springfield 67

SPRINGFIELD -- Dusty Sykora from Red Rock Central scored 23 points and made seven three pointers only to have a tie in the fourth quarter with Springfield gaining the win of 73-67 in basketball action Friday.

Spingfield's Abe Krueger scored 12 points and six steels. Brandon Wilhelmi also had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Bill Vogel scored 21 points and 10 blocks. From Red Rock Central, Matt Molden scored 13 points and Mark Enger scored 15.