“Fairmont was very physical and really pressured us tonight,” said Churchill. “We did not respond well to how aggressive they were.”
The game was decided by halftime with Fairmont cruising to a 55-22 advantage. Spencer Tollefson nailed a 40-footer at the buzzer to push the Panthers into the 20s.
NRHEG never did solve the Cardinal defense as it managed only 20 second half points.
Tollefson and Macoy Schwierjohan were the only NRHEG players to reach double figures. Tollefson ended up with 17 points and Schwierjohan chipped in with 10.
Mitch Pfingsten paced the winners with 18 points, Levi Becker and Justin Barnes scored 12 apiece and Josh Eversman added 10.
Bryce Holm and Jay Ruen chipped in eight points apiece.
“We have to learn to rise up to the physicalness of our opponents,” said Churchill. “We want to get to that point, but are struggling with it a bit. We have to keep working hard and improving.”
Fairmont defeated the NRHEG junior varsity 57-40.
St. Clair
The Panthers played much better in Friday’s consolation round, but still ended up on the short end of a 64-56 setback to the St. Clair Cyclones.
St. Clair is off to a 7-2 start this season.
The Cyclones jumped out to an early lead, but NRHEG stayed within striking distance most of the half. A three-pointer in the final seconds left the Cyclones with a 33-25 advantage at the break.
Kevin Kalis scored seven points and Nic Mangskau six to pace the Panthers in the opening half.
NRHEG cut the deficit to 40-39 in the second half and had two or three chances to take the lead, but couldn’t convert.
St. Clair regained its five-point lead and dropped its free throws at the end of the game to stretch out the final margin.
“We had some kids step up tonight and get after it,” said Churchill. “We felt like we took a nice step forward tonight.”
Tracy and Kalis led the Panthers with 13 points apiece, one more than Mangskau.
Tollefson scored seven points and dished out six assists, and Schwierjohan added six points.
“Schendel had his best game of the year. He really gave us a nice presence off the bench,” said Churchill. “Tollefson created a lot of nice looks for his teammates. Mangskau also had a very nice game.”
Ryan Kruse poured in 28 points for St. Clair. Michael Berry and Michael Nett added 10 points apiece.
Tollefson, Kalis, Schwierjohan and Mangskau snared eight rebounds apiece for NRHEG.
The Panther junior varsity defeated St. Clair 54-47.
MVL
NRHEG earned seventh place with a 65-57 victory over Minnesota Valley Lutheran Saturday. The Chargers fell to 0-10 with the loss.
The Panthers got off to a 15-7 lead and held that margin most of the first half, leaving the floor with a 34-24 advantage. Tollefson scored 16 points and Tracy 10 in the opening half.
NRHEG pushed its lead to 15 points in the second half when the Chargers went on a run. They made three three-point plays and added a fourth from behind the arc to cut the margin to three points.
Tracy came to the rescue by nailing three straight triples to get the lead back to double digits. The Panthers were never in trouble again.
Tracy and Tollefson combined for 47 points. Tracy finished with 24 points, including six triples. Tollefson pumped in 23 points and handed out four assists.
Schwierjohan chipped in with seven points for the Panthers.
Justin Bruns scored 17 points for MVL and Richard Jensen added 11.
Tollefson yanked down 13 rebounds for the winners, Kalis nabbed seven boards and three blocked shots and Schwierjohan grabbed six caroms.
“I felt we played pretty well our last two games in the tournament,” said Churchill. “We are definitely getting better and hope we can be a pretty good team come tournament time.”
The NRHEG JV defeated Mankato Loyola 45-40 to capture fifth place in the tournament.
The Panthers resume action Friday when Medford comes to town for a Gopher Conference clash. NRHEG travels to Hayfield Saturday and will host Alden-Conger Monday.
Fairmont 100, NRHEG 42
NRHEG 22 20 42
Fairmont 55 45 100
NRHEG (42): Tollefson 17, Schwierjohan 10, Tracy 5, Mangskau 4, Goette 3, Krell 2, Kalis 1.
St. Clair 64, NRHEG 56
NRHEG 25 31 56
St. Clair 33 31 64
NRHEG (56): Tracy 13, Kalis 13, Mangskau 12, Tollefson 7, Schwierjohan 6, Schendel 4, Goette 1.
NRHEG 65, MVL 47
NRHEG 34 31 65
MVL 24 23 47
NRHEG (65): Tracy 24, Tollefson 23, Schwierjohan 7, Schendel 4, Kalis 3, Mangskau 2, Goette 2,
NEXT: Friday – Medford at NRHEG, 7:15 p.m.
