After win over St. Clair, offense struggles with WEM, BP

HARD TO THE HOOP — NRHEG’s Ryan Patraw (5) goes hard to the basket while St. Clair’s Brandon Freitag (11) defends during nonconference boys’ basketball at New Richland last week. The Panthers beat St. Clair 75-64, but went on lose to WEM and Blooming Prairie to drop out of the top spot in the conference for the first time all season. (Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak)

By DALE KUGATH

Sportswriter

What a difference a week can make. 

One week ago the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva boys’ basketball team was on top of the Gopher Conference as the league’s only undefeated team. 

One week later the Panthers have dropped into third place after conference losses to Waterville-Elysian-Morristown and Blooming Prairie. 

NRHEG started the week with a non-conference win over St. Clair. 

The Panthers are 5-2 in conference play, trailing WEM and USC by one game. NRHEG is 11-4 overall. 

St. Clair

NEW RICHLAND – NRHEG got the week started right with a 75-64 victory over St. Clair in New Richland Jan. 13. 

The Cyclones, who defeated NRHEG twice last season, fell to 10-4 this season. 

The Panthers held a 37-31 lead at the break

St. Clair held a 24-22 lead in the first half, but a 15-7 Panther run gave them a six point lead at halftime.

Spencer Tollefson and Kevin Kalis carried NRHEG’s offense in the first half. Tollefson fired in 15 points and Kalis worked the inside for 12 points. 

Trevor Tracy missed his first four triples, but nailed six straight shots behind the arc after that. 

NRHEG built its lead to 17 points in the second half before settling for the 11-point win. 

“St. Clair is athletic and well coached,” said NRHEG coach Pat Churchill. “To play as well as we did and get a win was good for our team.”

Tollefson, Kalis and Tracy combined for 69 of NRHEG’s points. Tollefson pumped in 30 points, Kalis muscled his way to 21 and Tracy went downtown for all of his 18 points. Tollefson also dished out seven assists. 

Ryan Kruse just missed a double-double for St. Clair, scoring 24 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Tyler Fandrich added 10 points. 

Kalis snared 11 rebounds for NRHEG, and Tollefson grabbed seven boards. 

The NRHEG junior varsity romped to a 57-26 win.

WEM

WATERVILLE – A pesky WEM defense shut down the Panther offense and helped the Bucs capture a 63-50 win in Waterville Jan. 14. NRHEG had not scored fewer than 65 points in a game before this one. 

The Buccaneers, who beat the Panthers twice last season, climbed to 4-1 in the Gopher and 9-5 for the year. 

NRHEG hit only 7-21 shots from the floor in falling behind 25-18 at halftime. 

Scoring picked up in the second half with WEM holding a 38 to 32 advantage. 

NRHEG shot just 35 percent for the game. The Buccaneers canned 15 of 19 free throws. 

Tracy topped NRHEG’s offense with 16 points, hitting four three-pointers. He also handed out three assists. 

Ryan Patraw and Oakley Baker scored 11 points apiece, with Tollefson adding eight. 

WEM had four players in double figures. Brady Dotterweich led the winners with 18 points, Cole Pope fired in 15, Landon Harmon tossed in 12 and Zac Olson added 10. Pope dished out six assists. 

WEM managed a 40 to 34 advantage on the boards. 

Olson ripped down 13 rebounds and blocked three shots for the Bucs. 

Kalis snared 11 boards and Tollefson grabbed six rebounds for NRHEG. 

WEM had just seven turnovers in the game, compared to 10 miscues for the Panthers. 

“WEM was the aggressor in every aspect of the game,” said Churchill. “They took us out of every aspect of our offense. You have to give them credit for how they got after it tonight.”

NRHEG escaped with a 55-54 win in the junior varsity game. 

Blooming Prairie

BLOOMING PRAIRIE – NRHEG struggled offensively for the second straight game, losing 69-56 at Blooming Prairie Friday. 

The Blossoms, who had two double-digit wins over the Panthers last year, evened their conference record at 3-3 and improved to 8-5 overall. 

”We had no rhythm offensively. We couldn’t get open on screens and had trouble reversing the ball,” said Churchill. “BP took us out of anything we wanted to do.”

The two squads battled evenly for the first eight minutes. A Blossom run gave them an eight-point lead which they increased to 33-21 at the intermission. 

NRHEG could never get enough defensive stops to make any kind of a run in the second half. 

Baker paced the Panthers with 16 points, Tollefson popped in 12 and Patraw chipped in with 11. 

Tracy tossed in nine points, two more than Kalis. 

John Rumpza fired in 23 points to lead the BP attack. Anthony Nelson scored 16 points and Jake Decker added 12 for the winners. 

USC, which is tied for first place with WEM, comes to town Friday. The Panthers won the first meeting 68-67.

NRHEG will try to match an earlier 76-61 triumph when it travels to Faribault BA Tuesday. 

Kenyon-Wanamingo visits NRHEG next Thursday. 

NRHEG won a convincing 52-29 decision in the JV game.