“This was not our best defensive game,” said Churchill. “But, both teams shot the ball well and that put a lot of pressure on both defenses.”
Sophomore Kevin Kalis paced the NRHEG attack with 24 points, hitting 11 of 18 shots.
“Loyola did not have a guy who could guard him in the post,” said Churchill. “But, we had good balance outside of Kevin.”
Nic Mangskau fired in 13 points, Spencer Tollefson and Oakley Baker scored 10 apiece and Trevor Tracy and Macoy Schwierjohann both contributed nine. Tollefson also dished out seven assists.
“It’s nice to see a whole bunch of guys score points,” said Churchill. “It makes you a lot tougher to guard when everyone is scoring."
Carson Siefert burned the Panthers for 30 points to top the Crusader scoring.
“We did not have an answer for him. If we played him tight he drove around us and if we backed off he knocked down a three,” said Churchill. “He is a really good player and took us apart defensively.”
Kalis led NRHEG on the boards by ripping down eight rebounds.
“We feel like we are getting closer to where we want to be,” said Churchill. “It doesn’t show in wins and losses but we are getting better.”
The NRHEG junior varsity wrapped up a successful 17-7 season with a 35-33 win over Loyola.
NRHEG was seeded seventh in the South Sub-Section 2AA Tournament. The Panthers opened tournament play Monday in Adams against third-seeded Southland, which brought a 19-7 mark into the game.
If NRHEG wins that game, it would meet the Hayfield/Medford winner at Mankato East this evening at 8 p.m.
The sub-section championship game is Monday at MSU-Mankato.
NRHEG 77, Loyola 71
NRHEG 40 37 77
Loyola 37 34 71
NRHEG (77): Kalis 24, Mangskau 13, Tollefson 10, Baker 10, Tracy 9, Schwierjohann 9, Krell 2.
Loyola (71): Siefert 30, Knutson 15, Tanhoff 13, Fink 11, Van Blarcom 2.
