Knights girls roll Raiders; Bode passes 1,000 points
By Jeff Meder
sports@nujournal.com
SLEEPY EYE — Bode achieved her milestone with a running jump shot with 5:26 left in the contest. She was fouled and she made the free throw for a 3-point play. Bode finished the game with 16 points.
“I was nervous, and I wanted to get it over with,” Bode said. “I was relieved when I finally reached that point in the game.”
The St. Mary’s defense was well aware of Bode as it kept her from scoring the milestone basket until well into the second half.
“She deserved it, I’m happy for her,” Nicollet head coach Dustin Wright said. “She works hard and she puts in a lot of extra time.”
The game started out with both teams keeping up with each other. Nicollet held a 3-point lead. Morgan Mathiowetz cut the deficit to 1 point on steal and a layup. St. Mary’s regained the lead on pass from Brynne Ibberson to Kiara Murphy, who scored the basket. St. Mary’s never looked back after that as it put together a 16-0 run, which included back-to-back 3s. St. Mary’s became more aggressive with its defense which helped it regain the momentum and hold a 45-19 halftime advantage.
The Knights continued their tenacious defense throughout the second half. They double-teamed where possible and stole the ball, taking it to the hoop for points off of takeaways. Nicollet did show off its defense despite the Knights’ ability to score, which led to several shot clock violations on St. Mary’s.
St. Mary’s had a 12-0 run early in the second half. St. Mary’s made six consecutive fast-break layups for those points. Mathiowetz scored 8 points, while Natalie Fischer scored the rest.
Mathiowetz led all scorers with 37 points, 12 rebounds, seven steals and four assists. Fischer added 17 points and five assists. Olivia Schieffert added 7 points, six rebounds and five assists. Brynne Ibberson had 5 points, four rebounds, seven assists and five steals.
Zoie Rengstorf scored 9 points for Nicollet, Savannah Klockziem added 7 points and Cheyenne Klockziem had 6 points.
St. Mary’s (10-0, 6-0) ) will host Lester Prairie at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Nicollet (5-5, 4-2) will play at Watertown-Elysian-Morristown on Thursday.