Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Cathedral’s Rylan Koopmann (12) is fouled on a layup by Lester Prairie’s LaDamien Gatlin-Coellner on Tuesday night in a Tomahawk-Valley Conference, Tomahawk Division boys basketball game at Cathedral High School.

By Jim Bastian

sports@nujournal.com

NEW ULM — New Ulm Cathedral’s Jake Finstad’s desperation 3 at the buzzer tied the game at 58-58 and the Greyhounds got their first lead of the game in overtime as they topped the Lester Prairie Bulldogs 67-61 Tuesday night in a Tomahawk-Valley Conference, Tomahawk Division boys basketball game.

Jack Edwards led the Greyhounds (3-2, 3-0) with 20 points. Finstad ended with 12 points, while Eli Anderson had 11.

Cory Schauer led the Bulldogs (1-5, 0-3) with 21.

“[Lester Prairie] got off to a 10-0 start — they came out of the gate pretty hot — and we did not do some things pretty well,” Cathedral head coach Alan Woitas said. “But I thought that our kids settled down. And again, it was different people stepping up. Jack Edwards had a fantastic second half. Rylan Koopmann had a fantastic first half. We always preach to play until the buzzer and we got a little lucky and Jake hit that big shot.”

Cathedral had cut a 40-28 Lester Prairie lead five minutes into the second half to within 47-46 on an Edwards free throw.

But the Bulldogs got baskets from Schauer and Eli LaMott to increase their lead to 51-46.

A 3 from Edwards, followed by a free throw from Koopmann, cut the Greyhounds’ deficit to 51-50.

A basket from the Bulldogs’ LaDamien Gatlin-Coellner had Lester Prairie ahead 57-52 with 50 seconds left in regulation.

A Finstad 3 with 20 seconds left pulled Cathedral to within 57-55.

Calden Hermann then made his first free throw for a 58-55 lead but missed the second.

Cathedral got the rebound and in a scramble, Finstad got nothing but net on a 3-pointer to tie the game.

“We never had the lead in regulation, but we kept battling,” Woitas said. “We executed down the stretch. We went five small for a while in the second half.”

In the overtime, it was an Eli Anderson basket and two free throws from Edwards that gave Cathedral a 61-58 lead before two free throws from Joe Gillis made it a 64-58 Cathedral lead.

“That shot by Jake is one that he will remember and I will remember,” Woitas said. “It was a special moment for a special kid but credit everyone who played out there tonight.”

Cathedral hosts Wabasso on Friday night in another Tomahawk Division game.