MAYER – There’s many ways the Mayer Lutheran boys basketball team can beat you. In their matchup against the Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity Bulldogs Saturday night, the Crusaders showcased another one.
After a back-and-forth start to the game, the Crusaders caught fire from deep and never looked back in a convincing 72-32 victory over the Bulldogs on their home floor.
“It’s getting better and better,” Mayer Lutheran coach Pat Buchanan said. “Our focus is defense right now. We locked in that second half. After the first six minutes, we settled in. They were starting to look like Mayer Lutheran out there. They’re buying in.”
Leading 20-16 with just over nine minutes left in the first half, the Crusaders caught fire. Led by Kobey Woolhouse, who knocked down four 3-pointers in the first half alone, the Crusaders opened things up from deep, shooting 45 percent (9-for-20) from 3-point range while closing the first half on an 18-6 run.
“We tried to play it inside/out,” Buchanan said.
“They were in a zone so we had to stretch it open so we could get the ball inside. The guys do a very good job of it. They’re recognizing what the defense is doing, and taking what the defense gives you. If they’re going to give us some 3s, we’re going to take them. We’re a pretty good shooting team.”
Mayer Lutheran’s Branden Carlson knocks down one of eight 3-pointers the Crusaders knocked down in the first half during their win against the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs, who struggled to get anything going offensively against Mayer Lutheran’s size and athleticism, did exactly what they wanted to defensively. They held Mayer Lutheran’s Baden Noennig, who’s scored 20-plus points in the last three games, to just six points for the game. Despite holding Noennig in check, the Crusaders showed off their depth.
“That’s what we wanted to do,” LP/HT coach Nat Boyer said. “We wanted to cut them off inside. Kobey is a very good shooter, and when he gets hot, he’s going. He lit it up. A lot of other guys stepped up too that don’t his 3s very often. They’re extremely deep. They were extremely deep last year, and they brought back everybody, basically. They’re where we want to be. They beat us. We played a good 10-12 minutes, but we just couldn’t maintain. We’ll get there, and hopefully sooner than later. Hats off to them for a good ball game.”
“It really helps us,” Matt Menth said about the ability for anyone to step up. “If someone is struggling, we have a bunch of guys on the bench to get in there and step up. Whenever coach is looking for something, he knows he can look to the bench and trust the guys on the bench to get in there and get the job done.”
A big reason for the depth of Mayer Lutheran has been the emergence of Brendan Feltmann. Since the Crusaders have been without sharp shooter Cole Hagen, Feltmann has stepped up in his spot and has delivered for the Crusaders.
“It’s his first year as a varsity player,” Buchanan said about Feltmann. “He’s only got 15 games of experience. He comes off and he’s our spark off the bench offensively. He’s going to come in and hit shots. Sometimes, it takes him a minute to get it going, but when he does, he’s good.”
“I’m just trying to fill my role,” Feltmann said. “Just trying to do my job. Coach always tells me I got to do what I’m supposed to do. If that’s not scoring points, it’s getting assists. Getting steals. Just do anything I can to help the team.”
Brendan Feltmann has been a spark for the Crusaders on both ends of the floor stepping in for the injured Cole Hagen.
Feltmann, a junior, and key role player this season for the Crusaders, knows there will be mistakes he makes, but also knows how important it is to learn from them and move on,
“I definitely got to learn,” Feltmann said. “I have to have a short-term memory. Even some games, I don’t have good games, but you got to bounce back for the next one. We have a very balanced team. Not one player is doing all the work. We just have good players all around. We’re working and we’re trying to get better every day.”
Not only was it a nice win for the Crusaders with the Bulldogs being a close rival, but it was also another Section 2A win that will help them push towards their goal come postseason.
“We’re trying to work all elements of our offense so that when it comes down to section time, that we’re able to execute and win games in many ways,” Buchanan said.
“Not in just one way, but in any ways. Other teams are going to do what they do. We’re focused on us. We’re focused on Mayer Lutheran and us playing great basketball and trying to get to a certain place. It’s all about us right now.”
“It feels great,” Menth added. “The last two games have definitely been some of our biggest rivals. It just feels really good to get those two wins and hopefully, we can just keep it rolling the rest of the season and then playoffs.”
For more pictures from the matchup between the Bulldogs and the Crusaders, click here.
MAYER LUTHERAN 72, LP/HT 37
BULLDOGS: 27;10;–37
CRUSADERS: 41;31;–72
LESTER PRAIRIE/HOLY TRINITY: Michael Ziermann 15, Evan Lee 8, Parker Bayerl 5, Zach Jackson 4, Leighton Buhr 3, Tyler Scheevel 2.
MAYER LUTHERAN: Kobey Woolhouse 16, Garrett Tjernagel 12, Matt Menth 10, Branden Carlson 8, Branan Feltmann 8, Zander Flucas 6, Alex Baumann 4, Baden Noennig 6, Cole Stramer 3, Eli Johnson 2, Kaleb Winter 1.
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