Knights use length advantage, hold Cougars to 57 points in win
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SLEEPY EYE -- Sleepy Eye St. Mary's redeemed itself from its playoff exit a year ago, winning 80-57 over Cedar Mountain in a Tomahawk Conference boys basketball game Friday at St. Mary's High School.
Cedar Mountain knocked off St. Mary's last season during the semifinal round of the Section 2A boys basketball tournament. However, the Knights were able to limit the Cougars to 24 first-half points and come away with a 23-point victory in this game.
"I thought our communication on defense was really well," St. Mary's head coach Judd Walter said. "They were very active offensively, we talked about communicating when there's screens coming. I thought we called out the screens early, we communicated. I thought our length was a factor, we put some length on their two guards, probably rattled them a little bit. I loved how our defense played."
St. Mary's held Cedar Mountain's two lead guards -- 5-10 Blake Steffl and 5-8 Branndon Pendleton -- to a combined 9 points by the end of the first half as they struggled to make shots against a taller Knights lineup.
Blake Schueller had 13 points and five rebounds for the Cougars, while Steffl finished with 13 points and five rebounds. Branndon Pendleton finished with 11 points, five assists and three steals.
The Knights' offense, meanwhile, had four players in double digits. Will Walter led the Knights with 31 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Brandon Schmitz had 12 points. Jon Petermann added 11 points and six rebounds, while George Schwint had 11 points and 11 rebounds for St. Mary's.
Coach Walter said the team did a great job of keeping the ball moving and getting it to the hot hand.
"The boys have been playing together for a long time," he said. "They have good chemistry with each other, so moving the ball offensively is natural for them. Some games we get a little stagnant, but I thought tonight they really moved the ball, recognized the open guy and the hot and and executed that."
St. Mary's jumped out to a 15-4 lead, with Will Walter scoring 9 of the first 15 points for the Knights. The teams traded buckets for several possessions, with St. Mary's keeping the lead at around 10, before a 3 by Schmitz kicked off a 12-2 Knights run to put them up 41-19. St. Mary's finished out the half with a 43-24 lead.
The Cougars came out of the second half with a more aggressive approach on both offense and defense, pushing the pace in transition and jumping passing lanes when the opportunity arose.
"We really came out flat to start the game," Cedar Mountain head coach Brian Pendleton said. "As the second half started, we came out and we definitely wanted to be a little more aggressive. It worked for a bit. We had some lulls where we didn't score the ball. It's been quite a long time since we've scored in the 50s, but give them credit."
Cedar Mountain scored two baskets to open the half -- a transition layup by Branndon Pendleton and a paint shot by Schueller -- to cut the lead to 43-28. Cedar Mountain was able to hang with the Knights for much of the early and middle parts of the second half with free throws and transition buckets, but ultimately St. Mary's pulled away with the victory, and the benches entered the game with 1:15 to play.
St. Mary's (6-1, 3-1) travels to play Mankato Loyola on Tuesday, Jan. 2. Cedar Mountain (3-2, 2-2) travels to Nicollet on Tuesday.