Sleepy Eye St. Mary's tops Cathedral

BY JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM - Julia Fischer's rebound basket with 4:45 left in the game sparked a 6-0 run by the Knights that erased a 41-40 Cathedral lead as Sleepy Eye St. Mary's escaped the Cathedral gym with a 51-46 win over the Greyhounds Monday night in Tomahawk Conference girl's basketball.

Senior Ashley Mathiowetz led the Knights (3-0;5-1) with a game-high 22 points. Becky Pelzel added 10.

Jessica Lewis led Cathedral (1-2;3-2) with 10 points.

Cathedral held a 39-34 lead late in the third quarter on two Shelly Waibel free throws before Ashley Mathiowetz hit a jumper to slice the Hounds lead to 39-36 to end the quarter.

That seemed to ignite the Knights as erased the Cathedral lead and would take a 40-39 lead -their first since they lead 18-17 early in the second quarter. That margin would swell to 47-41 on an Annie Suker basket with 1:23 left in the game.

"We felt that we had some height advantage in the inside,"said Knight coach Bruce Woitas. "We needed to address that; we did that much better in the second half and that got us the lead. and the win.."

What also played a big part in the Hounds' defeat was losing both starting guards in Kristin Beranek and Nikki Fischer to ankle injuries late in the first and second quarters respectively.

"Without two starters, I thought that we adjusted well," commented Cathedral coach Mary Dengerud. "The girls played hard, tough defense and that is something that we need to to each game. But losing Kristin really hurt us. We work on those things in practice but not with those people in different spots. We had Jessica (Lewis) at a wing and I didn't think that our cuts were there (late in the game)."

Beranek finished with six points and Fischer eight

Cathedral would trail 14-12 after one quarter; a quarter that saw Beranek leave after blocking a shot inside and injuring her left ankle. But the Hounds responded as Katie Gieske completed a three-point play that pulled Cathedral to within 18-15 and jump-started the offense. Her two free throws cut the lead to 19-18 that eventually saw the Hounds take a 24-20 lead on a Melissa Kraus free throw

Two free throws by Mathiowetz pulled the Knights to within 24-22. But Liesl Genelin hit a bucket on a drive and Fischer stole an errant bounce pass that resulted in a lay-up and a 28-22 Cathedral lead.But it also resulted in an ankle injury to Fischer who left the game.

It was a half that saw Cathedral's defense force 16 turnovers and a one-for-11 shooting success for the Knights after making their first two shots of the quarter.

"You have to credit the Cathedral defense; they threw us out or sync offensively,"said Woitas. "We were not getting the ball to our wings and our post players were not stepping up to get the entry (pass) that way."

"We are playing that style of ball where we have to force those turnovers," commented Dengerud. "We are shorter than everybody else. If they get into the post area, that is kind of tough for us to defense."

Cathedral would hang onto the lead through the third quarter as they carried a three-point lead going into the final eight minutes.

And in that fourth quarter, the Knights would take control.

"We got into our offense better than we did in the first three quarters,"Woitas said. "We attacked the basket a little bit better.'

Plus, a 1-2-2 zone defense employed by St. Mary's became effective as the Hounds could hit only one of 12 field goal attempts in that quarter without Beranek and Fischer on the floor.

"We did not get the ball inside (in that fourth quarter)," said Denegrud. "But it was a good overall effort by our girls. I thought that we stepped it up when we needed to; Julia Seifert, Melissa Kraus and Shelly Waibel played well. I will never complain about the girls and their defensive heart; that is what makes us tough and when our offense starts clicking, we will be tough."

St. Mary's won the "B" game 26-21. Brynn Braulick led the Knights with seven points while Toni Hall paced Cathedral with seven points.

SESM 14-8-14-15=51'

CATHEDRAL 12-13-14-7-46

SESM (51): Mathiowetz 22, Pelzel 10, Fischer 7, Schumacher 4, Suker 4, Schwartz 2, Meyer 2.

CATHEDRAL (46): Lewis 10, Fischer 8, Genelin 8, Gieseke 7, Beranek 6, Seifert 4, Waibel 2, Kraus 1.