New Ulm Eagles turn it over to USC

BY JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM - Turnovers are like a car that is not running correct and you fail to get it fixed.

Eventually, the car will fail.

Friday night, New Ulm committed 25 turnovers but it was the final two by the Eagles that led the USC Rebels escape with a 48-47 win in South Central Conference boy's basketball.

Cole Iverson and Jon Beyer each netted 14 points for the Rebels who made their last appearance in boy's basketball in New Ulm. Next year, the Rebels will become members of the Gopher-Valley Conference.

Caleb Leighty came off of the bench and led the Eagles (0-1; 0-4) with 13 points. Bob Wellmann and Charles Ganske each added nine for New Ulm.

"We have got to take better care of the ball," said Eagle coach Pat Burmeister. "We also had a lot of mental mistakes;' not knowing what we are trying to do on offense."

The Eagles would hold a slim 42-40 lead after Andy Walden hit for his only two points of the game with less than three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Dusty Niebauhr's basket tied the game at 42-42 before the Rebels' Ben Wetzell turned an Eagle turnover into a lay-up for a 44-42 lead and Chris Vondrack buried two free throws 11 seconds later following the 25th Eagle turnover for 46-42 lead. Another free throw, this by USC's Cole Iverson increased the lead to 47-42.

Dan Boettger's trey sliced the lead to 47-45 with 15 seconds remaining but a free throw by Wetzell five seconds later made it 48-47 as Charles Ganske hit a bucket at the buzzer for the final tally.

"The biggest problem in that quarter was that we had three players (Ganske,. Boettger and Wellmann) with four fouls and we wanted to keep them out until late," commented Burmeister.

"And we did not have enough players on the floor with experience and it showed. We are not real deep, could not execute the offense and we did not get a shot off and turned the ball over."

New Ulm would take a 15-8 lead after the first quarter, fighting off a 6-0 run by the Rebels to start the game. Caleb Leighty's bucket sparked a 6-0 Eagle run that knotted the game at 6-6 on a Charles Ganske short jumper off a feed from Wellmann.

Another basket by Ganske started a 9-0 run by the Eagles and Ganske's inside power carried the Eagkes to that seven point cushion.

But Ganske would be sidelined by an eye injury that sent him to the lockerroom until there was just over two minutes left in the first half.

By then, USC had cut that lead to 19-16 as New Ulm could only muster four points in that quarter on baskets by Derik Johnson and Wellmann. Wellmann's basket with five minutes left would be the final points scored by New Ulm in that second quarter.

"The biggest part of that is understanding what we are tryng to do," Burmeister said. "Charles wasn't in there most of that quarter but the strategy was still the same - to go inside. There might have been some different people in the paint. We had some people open; we did not get the ball inside. It is a matter of five players understanding what we want to do and going out and doing it. Funny thing is, that lead that we had we lost when we did not go inside."

The Eagles, who play at St. James next Tuesday, used the scoring of Leighty to hold a 33-29 lead after three quarters.The 6-foot 3 junior accounted for nine of the 14 points by New Ulm in that quarter.

"He (Leighty) looked good in practice this week; he did not look good in the first three games<" commented Burmeister. "We decided to bring him off the bench and he looked better tonight. We got him some touches closer to the basket and he scored some points. "

"We did some things better than we did in our other games. The kids are working hard. We are not a team that likes to be pressured but that will come with experience. We are mostly a junior team and it shows. We have to make sure that we do not make the same mistakes next time."

New Ulm also dropped the "B:" game 48-22. Jake Babel and Josh Date each scored nine for the Eagles.

USC 8-10-10-20=48

NEW ULM 15-4-14-14=47

USC (48): Iverson 14, Beyer 14, Wetzell 9, Niebuhr 8, Vondracek 3.

NEW ULM (47): Leighty 13, Wellmann 9, Ganske 9, Johnson 5, Boettger 5, Austvold 4, Walden 2.