Eagles nip NRHEG boys in sub-section title game

By TROY THOMPSON

Sportswriter

The NRHEG boys’ basketball team was looking to avenge two regular-season losses against Gopher Conference champs Maple River on Wednesday, March 4, but the Panthers’ late rally came up heartachingly short as they fell 64-63 in the 2AA South Sub-Section championship ame.

The Panthers have faced their share of adversity in games throughout the season and built a reputation in their 2014-15 campaign of responding well and battling to the end. That character was on display against the top-seeded Eagles at Minnesota State-Mankato.

Both teams were slow out of the gate as it took nearly 11 minutes for the Eagles to build a 10-5 lead. The Panthers would answer with a 10-4 run to take a 15-14 edge before Maple River’s Jonah Brieter began lighting up the scoreboard. Brieter would score the Eagles’ next six points to put Maple River up 21-17 at the half.

“The first half was a defensive war between two really good teams,” said NRHEG coach Pat Churchill. “I felt that our defense and their defense was outstanding to start the game and we both had a hard time getting much going offensively.”

The Panthers went on a 6-0 run to start the second half, but with NRHEG leading 25-23, the Eagles, behind Brieter, took control. Brieter, who finished with a game-high 31 points, put the exclamation point on a 14-0 run with a three-pointer that would push the Eagles to a double-digit advantage late in the second half.

But the Panthers would keep battling back and chipped the lead down to just a single point with 9 seconds left in the game. The Panthers took their final possession after securing the rebound off a missed Maple River free throw. With time winding down, Macoy Schwierjohann was able to drive the lane on the other end, but lost the ball in heavy traffic while attempting the potential game-winning shot.

“Our kids just never gave up and they were going to go down swinging,” said Churchill. “That last possession just didn’t go our way.”

Spencer Tollefson and Oakley Baker each scored 19 points to help lead the Panthers. Schwierjohann finished with 9 points to go with 6 assists.

The Panthers finished the season with a 22-5 overall record. Maple River (27-3) defeated Glencoe-Silver Lake 59-56 in the Section 2AA finals on Friday, March 6 and advanced to the state tournament as the No. 3 Seed in Class AA. They opened tournament play against Breckenridge (21-7) on Wednesday, March 11.

The loss means the end for eight Panther seniors. NRHEG will enter their 2015-16 campaign without Tollefson, Trevor Tracy, Schwierjohann, Kevin Kalis, Brady Beenken, Kelson Titus, Andy Shutrop and Colten Hagen.

“I am so proud of my team,” said Churchill. “They fought all year long and worked tremendously hard. When you have a team go 22-5, it’s tough to see them go, our seniors especially. I am really going to miss that crew. They were tremendous basketball players, leaders, and people.”

NRHEG

Spencer Tollefson 19 points 9 rebounds, Trevor Tracy 7 points, Macoy Schwierjohan 9 points 6 rebounds 6 assists, Kevin Kalis 2 points, Oakley Baker 19 points 8 rebounds, John Cole 5 points, Tyler Raimann 2 points.

Maple River

Jonah Breiter 31 points, Grant Sonnek 17 points, Will Keller 1 point, Jeff Lewis 5 points, Cole Sohre 3 points, Brandon Sohre 5 points, Andrew Albrecht 2 points.