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New Bremen's Aaron Wuebker (10) battles with St. Henry's Brayden Heath (11) for a rebound.
ST. HENRY - Not every game can be a shootout, especially when the teams shoot 13-of-45 in the first half. But with a big third quarter, St. Henry pulled away from New Bremen 44-34 and picked up a big home Midwest Athletic Conference win at Redskin Gymnasium.
New Bremen (11-6) led 11-9 at the end of the first, and the score was tied 17-all at the half. St. Henry (11-4) then outscored the Cardinals 14-6 in the third, and held on in the fourth to improve to 4-2 in the MAC.
The game did not start out pretty for the Redskins as New Bremen's press defense forced five turnovers in the opening 3:30 of the game. A timeout from coach Rosenbeck was called with the score at 4-3 for the Cardinals.
After an animated break for St. Henry, the team committed just one more turnover in the quarter, but still trailed by two at the horn. Wyatt Weidner led the Cardinals with six points in the first quarter. Most of the points were off turnovers, and the sophomore guard was all-too-happy to cash in the mistakes for points.
"We have some guys that are really aggressive," St. Henry coach Eric Rosenbeck said of the start. "Normally that's a positive, but when a team is in a zone extended like (New Bremen), it takes four or five passes. We went for home runs early with our passes and shots; you have to take the singles to lead to home runs."
St. Henry's Austin Zimmerman (22) goes up for a shot against New Bremen. The forward finished with 11 points.
Austin Zimmerman opened the second quarter scoring with a layup to tie the game at 11. Gavin Quellhorst responded to put the Cardinals back on top just two minutes into the quarter. After St. Henry's Brayden Heath tied it back up one minute later, the senior guard cashed in an offensive rebound from behind the arc to give the hosts a 17-13 lead.
A tough three from Quellhorst and a free-throw from Gavin Dicke tied the game back up at the half. New Bremen ended the half on a 4-0 run, but four turnovers hurt the Cardinals throughout the quarter. Weidner still led the team in points with six, but Quellhorst's five and Dicke's three were big contributions in the tense contest.
St. Henry was led by Heath with seven points, while Zimmerman added five to aid the Redskins. The team as a whole was 6-of-21 from the field, and had an 8-3 advantage in team fouls.
While no player stuck out offensively in the first half, the third quarter belonged to Charlie Werling for the Redskins. His corner three opened the third quarter to give the home team a 20-17 lead. Heath made a three from the top of the key and extended the lead to 23-17 with 5:14 left in the quarter.
New Bremen scored six of the next eight points to cut the deficit to 25-23. Dicke had four of the points, while Weidner made another scoop-and-score. Werling was the response for the Redskins. The senior scored the final six points of the quarter with a pair of treys, and it pushed the score to 31-23 for St. Henry.
"He was huge in the third to give us some breathing room," Rosenbeck said of Werling. "It allowed us to execute and play a little better basketball."
Zimmerman continued the run to start the fourth quarter with a tough two, and the lead was in double-digits. Quellhorst quieted the crowd with a three of his own but a quick response came from Jack Huelsman in the paint.
Lukas Lennartz got into the action for the Cardinals with a three from the elbow to cut the score to 37-29 with under three minutes left. Werling was once again the response as his three banked in off the backboard, and it was back to an 11-point game with two minutes to go.
New Bremen could not catch up in the fourth, as Huelsman made some late free-throws to ice the game. The guard finished with five points and rebounds for the Redskins.
"I was really pleased with the grit and toughness. The guys battled and stuck with it," Rosenbeck said of his Redskins.
Werling led the way with 12 points for St. Henry, one of three players (Zimmerman and Heath) to score in double-figures.
New Bremen's Gavin Quellhorst (2) goes for a layup against St. Henry.
New Bremen had just one player in double-digits as Quellhorst finished the game with 10. Weidner had eight points and Dicke finished with seven points for the visitors. The Cardinals will look to upset Delphos St. John's next, as the MAC leaders travel to The Nest Friday night.
St. Henry will try to keep the winning going against Parkway Friday night at Redskin Gymnasium in a key late-season MAC contest.
"We're hoping (to peak) now. We have to find the right balance between our practice and our energy in the game," Rosenbeck said. "It'll be something we talk about tomorrow, making sure that we're ready to go for Parkway coming into our gym on a Friday night."
