Cathedral edges LCWM 69-67

By JEN SEAVEY

Journal Sports Writer

MANKATO -- New Ulm Cathedral nabbed a 69-67 victory Friday over Lake Crystal/Wellcome-Memorial in the last second of the game when Tom Hazuka got the in-bounds pass and put it up for two.

Cathedral will play Nicollet for fifth place in the consolation bracket championship today at 6:30 p.m. in the North gym at the Bethany Lutheran College Holiday High School Tournament.

The Greyhounds felt they needed the win after losing three games, and both players and coach Bailey Blethen were glad to come out on top.

"It gives us some momentum," said Hazuka, who topped Cathedral's scoring with 26. "It gives us something to work towards."

After the lead changed hands several times at the beginning of the first quarter, the Greyhounds pulled ahead by a five point margin when Hazuka put in his own rebound and consecutive steals by Eric Schugel and Ted Wolfe ended in baskets by Adam Neubauer and Hazuka. They ended the first quarter still ahead 20-17.

The Greyhounds scored three straight baskets to begin the second quarter. Schugel scored on a fast break pass from Dustin Wilfahrt, Hazuka scored off of a pass from Neubauer, and Joey Lux put back a rebound on a fast break to bring the score to 26-17.

In the last 1:46 of the first half, LCWM came back from a nine point deficit to tie it at 34. In that time, the Greyhounds scored only two points after a steal by Wilfahrt. The Knights hit four outside shots, including two three-pointers, one of them a four point play off of a foul with just :20 on the clock.

Cathedral spent all of the third quarter behind. LCWM came out with two three pointers by Lee Edwards, who made 17 points for LCWM, and Dave Miller, and ended with one from Jesse Van Sickle, who ended up with 13 points, to expand the Knights' lead to 54-43.

"They made a high percentage of their three-pointers," said Blethen. "It is unusual for a team that has lost six straight games to shoot that well. It was a great display of mental toughness on our guys part."

In the fourth quarter, the Greyhounds battled back from a 14 point deficit through steals and fast break plays.

"We never gave up," said Schugel, who made 17 points for Cathedral. "We kept our heads even though we were down by 14."

Schugel sank a three-pointer, Hazuka took a steal to the basket, then Schugel made two more shots to bring Cathedral to trail by eight. In the next two minutes, the Greyhounds made five consecutive shots, Wilfahrt's fast break basket off of a steal giving Cathedral a 62-61 lead.

In the last minute of the game, the teams took turns at the lead, but Hazuka's shot off of the in-bounds play secured the victory for the Greyhounds.

The players and Blethen agree that the team played much better as a whole in thier victory than in their loss to Maple River Thursday.

"We played as a team and passed the ball around more," said Hazuka. "We also kept our poise during the whole game -- we kept mentally tough."

Wilfahrt made 11 points for Cathedral, and Neubauer made 10. Cody Larvick made 17 for LCWM.

Coach Blethen also thought that Joe Hazuka and Danny Schreiber played well at some key points in the game. He also thought it was a good team effort.

"Last night (Thursday), we lost aggressiveness in the second half," said Blethen. "But we kept it up in this game. The way the kids played might have been the best of the year."

Nicollet 58, Cleveland 52 OT

MANKATO -- Nicollet battled back from a 33-19 halftime deficit to tie Cleveland 50-50 in regulation, then pulled away in overtime for a 58-52 win over Cleveland in the consolation semifinals in the Bethany Lutheran College tournament Friday.

After a five-point second quarter, the Raiders came on strong in the third. Jamie Mettler had five of his seven points in the quarter as Cleveland went cold, and Nicollet pulled within three, 36-33. Mike Rosin, who had 17 points to lead Nicollet, scored six in the fourth quarter as the Raiders knotted the score at 50. Rosin added five in overtime to lead the charge to the win.

Nicollet faces New Ulm Cathedral for fifth place today.

In other action, Maple River downed Granada-Huntley-East Chain 59-46 in the winners bracket to earn the right to face Mankato Loyola in the championship game at 8:30 p.m.