Panthers prepare for playoffs after nonconference loss at Waseca
SENIOR STRONG — The seven seniors on the 2011-12 NRHEG boys' basketball team are, from left, Pete Blowers, Matt Carlson, Tyler Sorenson, Carter Tollefson, Spencer Hanna, Sam Lundberg and Lucas Meyer. (Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak)
By JIM LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
The NRHEG boys’ basketball team finished the regular season with a tough game against a tough opponent.
Hopefully, it toughened the Panthers for tournament play.
NRHEG dropped its regular-season finale 67-42 last Tuesday at Waseca. The Panthers, who lost a plethora of close contests this season, fell to 9-17. The Bluejays improved to 11-12 under first-year head coach Todd Dufault.
“Waseca's defense was the story of the game,” said NRHEG coach Pat Churchill. “They took us out of everything we wanted to do offensively. Their pressure man-to-man defense gave us nothing inside of 15 feet. We settled for outside shots and we were not hitting anything. You have to give Waseca credit for how hard and physical they played. It took us out of rhythm offensively and we were flustered all night.”
But the Panthers hung tough for most of the first half. It was 16-8 with about four minutes remaining and both teams were struggling offensively.
“Then they hit two big threes right before the half on offensive boards where we would play good defense, make them take the shot we want and then let them get the board,” said Churchill.
That made it 26-13 at halftime.
In the second half, the Bluejays hit the shots they missed in the first, extended the lead and never looked back.
Matt Carlson, one of seven seniors on the NRHEG squad, led the Panthers with 17 points. Spencer Hanna scored 11, Tyler Sorenson seven, Sam Lundberg two, Carter Tollefson two, Lucas Meyer two and Nic Mangskau one.
Jodh Kummerfeldt led Waseca with 15 points.
Waseca won the B-squad game 72-30.
“That was the end of our regular season,” said Churchill. “Now we have two weeks until playoffs start.”
The Section 2AA begins Tuesday, March 6 and continues March 8 at the site of the higher seeded team. From there it moves to Minnesota State, Mankato March 12 and 16.
Gopher Conference 2011-12 final standings
Conf. Ov.
WEM 16-0 21-2
USC 13-3 20-5
Faribault BA 11-5 19-7
Mankato Loyola 11-5 15-7
NRHEG 6-10 9-17
JWP 5-11 6-17
Medford 3-13 6-18
Randolph 0-16 2-22