Staff photo by Ari Selvey Sleepy Eye St. Marys’ George Schwint (34) takes a shot over Nicollet’s Keegan Hulke (5) during a Tomahawk-Valley Conference crossover game on Monday at St. Mary’s High School.

By Ari Selvey

aselvey@nujournal.com

SLEEPY EYE — One could point to many moments that made the difference in an overtime Tomahawk-Valley Conference crossover boys basketball game between Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s and Nicollet on Monday.

But perhaps none were bigger than St. Marys’ Tyler Mathiowetz hitting two 3-pointers early in the overtime period in a game they won by exactly 6 points, 83-77.

“To be honest, the confidence the team’s given me has grown,” Mathiowetz, who has hit over half of his shots from distance this season, said. “They gave me that chance, and I used that opportunity to put those shots in the hoop. We wanted a lot of energy, we brought a lot of energy, and I think it showed.”

Mathiowetz may have only finished with 9 points, but they came in some of the biggest moments of the game, as he drained his first shot from 3-point range late in the second half to put the Knights up 56-54.

The game was a breath of fresh air for a St. Mary’s team that had previously lost in several close-game situations, including a 77-76 overtime loss in the second game of the season to Tracy-Milroy Balaton. However, the Knights’ shooting came alive in this game, helping push them to the finish line.

“I liked the way we composed ourselves,” St. Mary’s head coach Judd Walter said. “It was a game of runs and being able to finish in overtime was big. We’ve been in some tight games where we haven’t been able to find ways to win, and tonight we did. It was good to see.”

St. Mary’s was led by George Schwint, who scored 23 points with seven rebounds in the game.

Schwint said the team

“I just knew our team was going to battle back and continue to fight,” Schwint said. “They battled too.”

Schwint and Mathiowetz weren’t the only players to have strong offensive outputs for St. Mary’s in the game, however, as five Knights topped double-digits. Kessler Severson had 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Adam Steffensmeier had 13 points, five rebounds and three steals. Michael Balko had 11 points, while Brecken Hulke had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

“We hit some shots,” Walter said. “We’ve been struggling to hit the 3s, and tonight we had some guys step up and hit the 3s against that zone. We knew we needed to shoot the ball better and the guys have been working on their shot. I thought tonight it looked better.”

Keegan Hulke led the Raiders with 23 points and five rebounds, while Henry Oscarson had 19 points. Henry Kennedy had 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, while Carson Kettner had 13 points and seven rebounds.

St. Mary’s held the advantage early, going up 11-6 after a 3-pointer from Schwint. Nicollet battled back to cut the lead to 15-14 on a reverse layup from Kennedy, , but a 3-pointer from Balko gave St. Mary’s command of the game once more. St. Mary’s maintained a lead throughout the first half, but a buzzer-beating putback by Nicollet’s AJ Kramer kept the lead manageable as the Knights went into the break with a 38-33 advantage.

Nicollet continued to fight in the second half, and a layup through contact from Kennedy tied the game at 44 early in the period. Kennedy later took Nicollet’s first lead of the game on a transition layup to go up 52-51. A pair of free-throws from Kettner pushed the lead out to 54-51 before an alley-oop from Steffensmeier to Severson made it a 1-point game once more. Mathiowetz hit his first 3-pointer of the night to retake the lead for St. Mary’s, and the teams traded buckets for several possessions.

A 3-pointer from Hulke gave Nicollet a 59-58 lead but Severson responded with a 3 of his own to make it a 61-58 game. Nicollet called a timeout with 2:21 on the clock down 64-61, and a layup from Schwint increased the St. Mary’s lead to 66-61 Kettner responded with a layup, and another 3-pointer from Hulke with under a minute to play tied the score at 66. Nicollet played good defense on the following possession, forcing Schwint to toss up a prayer at the end of the shot clock which missed. However, Nicollet was unable to get a shot up of its own on the way back down the court, and the game went into overtime.

Oscarson scored a layup right off the tip for Nicollet in extra time, but Mathiowetz hit his second 3-pointer to give St. Mary’s the lead. A layup by Kramer handed the lead back to Nicollet, and Severson responded with a layup of his own to make it a 71-70 game. Mathiowetz pulled up one more time for a 3-pointer to increase the lead to 74-70, helping the Knights on its way to a 9-1 run to put them up 78-71. Kettner was fouled on a 3-point shot and made all his free throws to end the run and cut the lead to 78-74, and Nicollet’s Noah Fitzner hit a 3-point shot to make it a 79-77 game. However, Schwint was able to make both of his free-throws in the double bonus, sealing the game for the Knights.

“It feels great,” Schwint said. “It was a team effort all the way. They were a good team, we battled, we fought back, and I’m proud of our team.”

St. Mary’s (3-6) hosts Lester Prairie on Tuesday. Nicollet (3-7) hosts United South Central on Thursday.