Bethel vs St. Kate's 1-6-18

Made my way back over to Butler Center on the campus of St. Catherine's University on this sunny but still very cold Wild Card Playoff Saturday to take in an important MIAC clash between visiting Bethel and host St. Kate's.  While my main focus was on my Los Angeles Rams getting ready for their home playoff game against Atlanta that night, I was curious to see if the Wildcats could keep the momentum they had from their win over SMU on Wednesday night going.  And I wanted to see where Bethel was at as well and if they had managed to turn the corner after an incredibly disappointing December.

The Wildcats would get out to a 5-2 advantage in the opening minutes of the first period as a lay-up by senior guard/forward Alexis Garcia at the 8:32 mark and a "3" from the right top area by sophomore guard Jackie Radford at the 7:35 mark helped pave the way.  Senior guard Meg Clark's lay-up at the 5:49 mark maintained the three-point edge for St. Kate's at 7-4 but the Royals would knot things up at seven a piece on a "3" from the right top area by senior reserve guard Jasmin Bretoi with 4:54 left.  Things would stay on a relatively even basis after that as Bethel would again tie the score at 9-all on a score in the paint by willowy junior post Hannah Johnson with 4:02 left.  A short jumper from the left side with 2:13 left by Bretoi had things deadlocked again at 11-all and although the Wildcats would grab a 14-11 lead on a "3" by sophomore reserve guard Emma Nelson with 1:10 left, Bethel would come right back and get the game tied at 14 when Bretoi launched her second three-point bomb of the day from the left wing area with :55.8 left in the opening period so things seemed a bit unsettled once the second period got underway. 

The Royals would get things tied up again at 16-all at the 9:10 mark of the second period on an offensive rebound and putback by sophomore forward Taite Anderson but it was here that St. Kate's started to make life difficult for its opponent.  A Garcia drive and finish at the 8:52 mark and a short, turnaround jumper in the lane by Radford at the 7:35 mark now had the 'Cats up 20-16.  A Garcia lay-up in transition at the 7:10 mark increased the 'Cats lead to 22-16 and Bethel Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer; clearly seeing that his squad was having problems on both ends of the floor, called a thirty-second timeout to try and rectify the situation.  Initially anyway, that seemed to be a bit of a wake-up call for the Royals; particularly Bretoi who launched her third three-point bomb of the afternoon from the top of the key at the 6:43 mark and a Bretoi jumper along the right baseline with 4:30 left at least had Bethel back in single-possession range again trailing 24-21.  But the Wildcats were giving Bethel all sorts of fits on defense which stalled the Royal attack and Bethel hadn't yet figured out how to slow down the multiple weapons that St. Kate's has.  A Radford "3" from the right wing area with 3:35 left and a jumper from the left elbow area as the shot clock was expiring by freshman reserve guard Bailee Sillman with just :04 left had the 'Cats up 29-21 as the teams headed for the locker room at the half.  A check of the first half box score certainly must have given Bethel's Herbrechtsmeyer a reason to reach for the nearest bottle of Tums as not only had has his team gone scoreless in the last four minutes of the first half but they were also getting pounded on the boards by St. Kate's as well by a 26-14 count.  Despite Bretoi's best efforts, the Royals as a whole were not shooting that well either as they went 9-29 from FG range for 31% and 3-13 from behind the arc for 23.1%.  Throw in ten turnovers by the Royals in addition to all this and you can imagine that Herbrechtsmeyer definitely had a few choice words for his squad during the halftime break.  Meanwhile for St. Kate's, not a bad go of it at all as they shot 12-31 for 38.7% from FG range and 3 of 5 from downtown for 60%. 

Bethel appeared to be making inroads in the early moments of the third period as senior guard Abby Miller was able to connect with a lay-up in transition that drew a foul and the resulting "and one" by the former Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted standout at the 9:08 mark cut the Wildcat lead down to five points at 29-24.  Despite Meg Clark leaving the game at the 8:51 mark with an apparent bloody nose after taking an inadvertent blow and a subsequent thirty-second timeout taken by Head Coach Don Mulhern a short time later, St. Kate's appeared to steady the ship again as a jumper from the free throw line by Garcia at the 8:01 mark and a short shot from the left side by Radford at the 7:02 mark appeared to have the Wildcats in pretty good shape up by nine at 33-24.  A jumper from the right wing by Meg Clark who was back in the game maintained the nine-point edge for St. Kate's at 35-26 and you really had to wonder at that point if the Royals would be able to shake off the cobwebs and avoid yet another disaster to this once-promising season.  It was here, however, where Bethel was able to channel resolve and a renewed determination into a 19-5 run that really turned this game around.  Back-to-back three point bombs by the Royals three-point specialist Bretoi - one from the left wing area at the 5:24 mark and another from the right top area with 4:46 left - suddenly had Bethel back to within a single possession trailing 35-32.  Two Johnson free throws with 3:33 left and a short jumper by Bretoi with 2:09 left cut the deficit down to a tantalizing point at 37-36 and although the Wildcats were able to establish a bit more breathing room when freshman forward Kaitlyn Struemke connected with a lay-up with 1:54 left that drew a foul and resulted in an obligatory free throw, Bretoi struck again from downtown with a trey from the right wing area with 1:18 left that again cut the Royals deficit down to a point at 40-39.  Two more Johnson free throws with 1:06 left finally pushed Bethel ahead at 41-40 and a pretty, one-handed jumper in the lane by Johnson with :31 left in the third period increased the Royals lead to 43-40.  A short jumper in the lane by senior reserve guard Hannah Simpson with just one tick left in the third period now had Bethel up 45-40 going into the fourth period and the Wildcats looked as if they had been blindsided. 

St. Kate's fortunes worsened in the opening minutes of the fourth period as the Royals' Johnson was able to snare an offensive rebound and putback of her own miss at the 9:33 mark and a drive and finish by Anderson at the 8:54 mark now had Bethel up 49-40.  The Wildcats tried to cut into that cushion as Meg Clark got into the paint for one score at the 8:38 mark and one free throw by freshman guard Ashley Fosness at the 7:23 mark had the deficit down to eight points at 51-43 but when Meg Clark went down again at the 7:12 mark with an apparent knee or ankle injury, St. Kate's outlook indeed appeared dim.  In fact, when Miller uncorked a "3" for the Royals from the right corner at the 6:55 mark for a 54-43 Bethel lead, there just appeared to be no way out of this mess for the 'Cats.  But if there's one thing that we've discovered about St. Kate's this year is that they do have a penchant for being able to turn even the most dire straits into something positive and the Wildcats were able to launch an unlikely comeback bid.  Two Radford free throws at the 6:31 mark and a Garcia jumper from the left wing area at the 5:41 mark now had the deficit down to seven points at 54-47.  Mulhern called a thirty-second timeout to try and get his Wildcat squad primed and energized for this home stretch run.  Bethel tried to stall this comeback attempt as Miller uncorked a "3" from the left corner with 4:22 left that re-established the Royals double-digit advantage at 57-47 but St. Kate's was far from finished.  Garcia, the heroine from Wednesday night's win against SMU, tried to re-create those efforts as she connected with one lay-up in transition with 4:11 left and another one with 3:34 left that had the deficit down to seven points again at 58-51.  Meg Clark; shaking off the small setback that sidelined her just a few minutes before, dropped two freebies after getting fouled with 2:59 left that cut the Royals lead down to five at 58-53.  Garcia herself would add another free throw with 2:36 left after getting fouled and Bethel's Herbrechtsmeyer; perhaps sensing the worst, called a timeout to get his squad calmed down.  But when Meg Clark made a hard drive and connected with a lay-up that drew a foul and resulted in an "and one" with 1:59 left, few inside Butler Center doubted that the 'Cats couldn't bring this one back.  It was here though where Bretoi came up big for the Royals as her seventh three-point bomb - this one coming from the top of the key - with 1:42 left gave Bethel a bit more breathing space up 61-57.  There was still plenty of time for the Wildcats, of course, but they never could get things back to within a single possession again.  Meg Clark was unable to get one jumper to go down with 1:25 left and St. Kate's suffered a costly turnover with just under a minute left that killed off another chance.  The Royals would get even more breathing space when Johnson was fouled with :29.3 left and the former Duluth East standout calmly dropped two free throws to extend Bethel's lead to 63-57.  The Wildcats had one last chance on their ensuing possession but Nelson was unable to connect on a lay-up attempt and Bethel's Johnson would get fouled shortly thereafter with :13.8 left and two more charity stripe shots by Johnson helped the Royals avoid a near-disaster as they escaped Butler Center with a 65-57 victory.

I managed to catch up with Herbrechtsmeyer afterward who admitted to me that his squad simply had to pick up the intensity in the second half after a somewhat lackluster first half.  I also mentioned that I was somewhat surprised by the insertion of sophomore guard Haylee Barker into the starting line-up but the former Maple Grove standout has been making the most of this opportunity over the last few games and it probably gives Herbrechtsmeyer and his staff more depth at the all-important point guard spot as well.  Perhaps another reason is that it frees up Miller to give her more scoring opportunities; particularly behind the arc.  Not the prettiest game you'll ever see played by Bethel but they managed to get the job done when the chips are down and Herbrechtsmeyer and his team know full and well that their margin for error is now zero.  Meanwhile, a disappointing setback for the Wildcats after the big win Wednesday night against SMU but I still think there's a lot of positives that they can take going forward.  I'm impressed with the strides they've made on defense thus far this season and the young group of players that Mulhern has (Fosness, fellow freshman forward Morgan Kurth, Sillman, freshman Mackenzie Dettman along with sophomores Radford and Nelson) have the future looking bright.  For Bethel, simply a fantastic day for Bretoi in her reserve role with 27 points to lead all scorers that included going 7-11 from downtown.  Lost in all this was Johnson's "double-double" of 14 points and 11 rebounds.  Anderson also had 11 points for the Royals as well.  A bit more balance on the St. Kate's ledger with Garcia leading the way with 17 points while Meg Clark had 13 points and Radford had 12 points.  St. Kate's still had the edge in rebounding on this day by a 39-32 count although the Royals closed the gap on that front in the second half.  21 turnovers played a big role in the Wildcats downfall in this game although somewhat surprisingly St. Kate's had the edge in both "second chance" points at 17-10 and in points in the paint by a 22-12 margin.