Staff photo by Steve Muscatello New Ulm Cathedral’s Chris Knowles gets past Johnnie Ambrose of Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop on his way to the basket during Section 2A playoff action Saturday at CHS.

NEW ULM — Chris Knowles scored 28 points in the first half and capped the second half off with 23 points for 51 points as New Ulm Cathedral topped Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 95-63 Saturday night in a Section 2A North Subsection playoff game.

The 51 points is a New Ulm Cathedral and a City of New Ulm scoring record for a game.

James Gillis and Jon Zinniel each added 18.

Johnnie Ambrose led the Thunderbirds, who end their season at 9-17 with 18 points.

Cathedral jumped out to a 22-12 lead as Knowles cut the ribbon on his record-setting performance on a 3-pointer as he scored 11 of those first 22 points.

“I felt hot right away in the first half,” Knowles said. “My teammates kept getting me the ball in good spots so it was easy.”

The Greyhounds increased that lead to 35-16 on a Zinniel 3.

Knowles scored the final eight points of the first half. GFW scored 32 points in the first half with Knowles nearly matching that himself with 28.

Knowles continued his destruction of GFW in the second half when he scored 10 of the Greyhounds 12 points to take a 79-50 lead on inside moves. Of his 51 points, only nine points came on shots from beyond the arc.

“My teammates kept getting me the ball inside when we had a mis-match,” Knowles said. “They put me in a lot of good situations.”

Knowles put a ribbon on his night with his 51st point in the book at the 3:18 mark for a 93-57 lead.

“This is a great way to start the playoffs and a great way to end the year on the home court,” he said.

Cathedral (24-3) now faces Mayer Lutheran (13-14), a 78-44 winner over Cedar Mountain, at 7:45 p.m. Thursday at St. Peter High School.