Cardinals roll past Riders

ST. MARYS - Winning streaks are hard to maintain on paper, but New Bremen made it look easy in a dominant 56-29 non-conference win over St. Marys in a battle of Auglaize County teams at Grand Lake Health System Court.

The Cardinals forced over 20 turnovers in the effort and continued their four-game streak into the new year.

"We take a lot of pride in our defense," Cardinals' coach Cory Stephens said postgame. "Our kids take pride in their defense, and we tell them that our defense will start our offense."

New Bremen got the scoring started, as Wyatt Weidner's free-throw broke the deadlock with 5:30 on the clock. Three Roughrider turnovers in 90 seconds allowed the Cardinals to go up 6-0 and force a St. Marys timeout.

The break worked for the hosts, as a 3-pointer from Cayden Geiger got the Riders on the board. This began a 6-0 run for St. Marys, which tied the game on an inbound play that gave Geiger two more points inside.

No timeout was called by New Bremen, and the less it more philosophy worked. Two threes from Lukas Lennartz and a pair of layups later, it was 16-8 by the time the horn sounded. It was a 10-2 run to close the quarter, and Lennartz' late shots propelled him to a team-leading six points in the quarter.

After a turnover from St. Marys, Gavin Dicke started the second frame with an easy two, and it was 18-8. Two more turnovers brought the Riders' total to eight, but the Cardinals could not capitalize.

Finally getting the ball past half-court, Kasey Gross' and-one brought some juice into the gym with 5:56 left in the half. A response was not there from Bremen and a layup from Clayton Rhodes cut the deficit to just six at 20-14.

Just when the game looked gettable for the hosts, the Cardinals put their feet (or claws) down. A Jaylen Powell three from the elbow found the bottom of the net while the press forced another turnover, resulting in two more points for Lennartz. Dicke capped the run off with a layup off a steal, and the score was 27-14.

A Gross three out of a timeout cut the margin to 10 for St. Marys, who had more turnovers (10) than made shots (six). Dicke's steal and score made it 29-17, and a three from Lennartz at the buzzer made it 32-18 Cardinals at the half.

The buzzer-beater added to the stellar half from New Bremen, who shot nearly 60 % (13-of-22) from the field and committed just four turnovers. Dicke and Lennartz combined for 22 points in the half, with the scoring coming mostly off steals. On the flip side, St. Marys' 10 turnovers had them behind with the offense unable to set up much of anything. Gross led the scoring for the home-team with six points at the break.

The second half was fast-moving, to the delight of the New Bremen fans and bench. Both teams combined to go zero-for-three with five turnovers to open the third, and it was not until the 5:30 mark when Dicke got another two points off a turnover.

In an ironic twist, Dicke's basket began a run where six of the next seven possessions resulted in a made field goal. St. Marys used a pair of jump-shots from Huck Hertenstein while Bremen responded with a Weidner layup, and shots from Dicke and Quellhorst to keep the Riders at bay 40-22. The only points left were for Powell, whose layup ended the quarter at 42-22.

The final quarter came and went with not much action. Both teams' benches were emptied as the Cardinals grew their lead to 56-27. A consolation basket at the end gave St. Marys 29, while New Bremen got the win.

In a game where possessions were vital for St. Marys, 21 turnovers gave the Cardinals possessions and points.

"(Turnovers) were what the whole game was about," St. Marys coach Tim Barga said. "A lot of them were unforced, we just threw it to them."

While the Riders were a solid 30 % from the field, New Bremen nearly doubled that, and shot 55 %. Dicke finished with a team-high 17 points, while Lennartz added 16 himself. St. Marys had nobody in double-figures, with Hertenstein's eight leading the way.

"He played really well," Stephens said of Lennartz. "He hit some shots, the three 3-pointers in the first half was nice to see. We got a lot of kids that any given night they can score."

New Bremen will look for its fifth win in a row against Bath back at the Nest tonight, while St. Marys will hope to pick up win No. 2 on the season on Tuesday against Parkway in Rockford.