 |
| Bethel's Emily Erickson seemed to be everywhere at times on this Saturday and her heroics helped the Royals outlast St. Scholastica when it counted. |
Made the easy run over to Robertson Center on the campus of Bethel University on this early February Saturday to take in a pivotal late regular season matchup between visiting St. Scholastica and host Bethel. The Saints were coming into this game on a reasonably hot streak; winning seven of their last eight games including Wednesday night's win over at Macalester. The Royals also had some momentum as well as they were winners in four out of their last five games and with both teams tied for third place and both fighting to move up and guarantee themselves of at least one home game in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs, it was easy to see that there was a lot riding on this game. And the Royals were looking for some payback as well having dropped the previous meeting to the Saints back in mid-January up in Duluth.
St. Scholastica would waste little time in not only grabbing a lead but setting the tone for this game. After slender junior forward Kloey Lind got one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 9:23 mark of the opening period, the Saints would up their lead to 4-0 a short time later when sophomore guard Evie Schmitz casually drained a "3" from the left wing area at the 8:57 mark. Fellow sophomore guard Ava Riegel would connect on a lay-up at the 8:20 mark and then Lind would bookmark this 8-2 run with a pretty drive and lay-up at the 7:36 mark. Bethel would cut the deficit to four when junior forward Emily Erickson maneuvered into the paint for a score at the 6:40 mark but St. Scholastica would increase its lead even more. Sophomore guard Ava Haus would connect on a jumper from the left corner area just inside the arc at the 6:03 mark and two free throws by Lind after she was fouled at the 5:23 mark now had the Saints enjoying a 12-4 advantage. The Royals would try and cut into the lead as sophomore reserve guard Kenzie Lundeen connected on a pretty reverse lay-up at the 5:07 mark but then St. Scholastica would strike again a minute later with 4:07 left when Evie Schmitz buried her second trey of this ballgame that pushed the Saints lead to 15-6. Junior reserve guard Gabby Voigt's drive and finish with 3:09 left maintained the nine-point edge at 17-8 and a drive and finish by senior guard Jackie Johnson with 2:37 left kept the lead at eight at 19-11 before Bethel finally came alive on the offensive end. Back-to-back scores by senior reserve and All-American forward Elly Schmitz - a lay-up with 2:10 left and a three-point bomb from the right top area with 1:34 left - suddenly had the Royals back to within a single possession down 19-16 and a short time later, a tough jumper along the right baseline by sophomore reserve guard Alaina Bonacquista with :41.5 left cut the deficit to a scant point at 19-18. St. Scholastica was able to up its lead to 20-18 on one free throw by Riegel after she was fouled with :27.6 left but the Saints were getting a close-up look at how quickly their lead could shrink when Bethel got their offense cooking.
St. Scholastica would grab a 22-18 lead at the 9:28 mark of the second period when Lind grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback but the Royals would quickly respond on their subsequent possession when senior point guard Colette Duininck buried a "3" from the right wing area at the 8:51 mark that again closed the gap to one before the Saints could open up a bit more breathing room. Voigt would drain a "3" from the left corner area at the 7:38 mark and then Haus would connect on a short jumper from the right side at the 6:54 mark that gave St. Scholastica a 27-21 lead. Right back came Bethel, however, as they again got the deficit cut to one. Bonacquista would snare a steal and race the other way for a lay-up that also drew a foul and her ensuing and one made it a one-possession game again down 27-24. A bit later, Elly Schmitz would use her 6'0" frame to snare an offensive rebound for a putback that had the Royals down by just one again at 27-26. Two free throws by junior forward Cally Peterson after she was fouled with 3:21 left kept Bethel in that one-point range down 29-28 and a short time later, senior combo guard/forward Ali Born would snare a steal and race the other way for a lay-up with 2:31 left that finally pushed the Royals out in front by one at 30-29. St. Scholastica would take the lead right back on their subsequent possession when Lind slithered into the paint for a score with 2:06 left but right back came Bethel's Born with 1:40 left as she got into the paint for a score that had the Royals back up 32-31. Not to be denied, the Saints would find a bit of a burst before the intermission. Johnson would knock down a pair of free throws after getting fouled with 1:12 left to put St. Scholastica back out in front again and then Haus would bang home a "3" from the left top area with :45.1 left that had the Saints up by four at 36-32. Bethel's Duininck would answer on the Royals' subsequent possession with a three-point bomb from the right corner area with :27.1 left that cut the deficit to one at 36-35 but St. Scholastica would get a bit of a reprieve with :09.6 left as Evie Schmitz would knock down a pair of free throws after getting fouled. So while it was far from perfect, the Saints had seemingly weathered the worst so far and had a three-point lead to 38-35 to take back to the locker room at the halftime break.
The subtle change in this contest came at the outset of the third period when Bethel's Born snared a steal in the backcourt and got a lay-up out of it at the 9:09 mark that once again had the deficit down to one at 38-37. St. Scholastica would again attempt to build up its safety net when Riegel connected on a lay-up at the 8:30 mark but now the Royals were unleashing their trademark pressure defense that always makes opponents feel like the raptors from the Jurassic Park movies are zeroing in for the kill which also helped unleash a key 12-1 run. Bethel would quickly get the deficit reduced to one when senior combo guard/forward Rosalie Penke knocked down a jumper off the glass at the 8:12 mark and one free throw by Erickson after she was fouled at the 7:34 mark leveled this contest at 40 a piece. Erickson would strike again at the 7:26 mark with a pretty reverse lay-up that pushed the Royals ahead at 42-40 and then a tough score in the paint by Elly Schmitz a short time later at the 6:58 mark made it 44-40. At the 6:26 mark it was Erickson's turn again as she muscled into the paint for a score to make it 46--41 and less than a minute later at the 5:35 mark, Elly Schmitz would bring the house down - and up Bethel's lead to eight when she buried a cold-hearted "3" from the right wing area to make it 49-41 and Saints Head Coach Jason Schmitz; seeing his team clearly in the danger zone, had little choice but to take a match to a timeout to get his squad settled down. But this stoppage in play failed to have the desired effect as the Royals would up their lead to nine at 51-42 when Peterson got into the paint for a score at the 5:04 mark. St. Scholastica appeared to have an answer when Haus made a daring drive into traffic for a score that also drew a foul and her ensuing "and one" with 4:00 left cut the deficit down to six at 51-45. But then Bethel would launch a 5-0 push that gave the Royals a double-digit cushion. Erickson would bang home a "3" from the right corner area with 2:45 left to make it a 54-45 ballgame and when Bonacquista snared a steal and raced the other way for a lay-up with 2:24 left, Bethel was now enjoying a 56-45 lead and the Saints Jason Schmitz had to take a match to a thirty-second timeout as this one was starting to get away from his team. St. Scholastica got some temporary relief when junior reserve guard Jada Biersbach knocked down a jumper in the lane with 1:56 left but then the Royals' Erickson came back with consecutive scores to re-establish the double-digit cushion. The former Chisago Lakes standout would first get a tough score in the paint with 1:41 left and less than a minute later she would connect on a pretty, one-handed jumper in the lane with :50.8 left that gave Bethel its largest lead yet at 60-47. The Saints did manage to trim the deficit on two late scores as Lind would slither into the paint for a bucket with :43.9 left and a lay-up by Evie Schmitz with :10.1 left got St. Scholastica back to within single digits again at 60-51 but given how this third period had gone so in favor of the Royals with their pressure defense, it certainly appeared that the Saints might wilt for good.
Surprisingly, however, St. Scholastica did not wilt when things were looking bleak for them. Instead, they were able to dig deep and claw their way back into this thing when many other teams might not have been able to and they went right back to work once the fourth period got underway. Haus would muscle her way into the paint at the 9:47 mark and drew a foul as well and her ensuing "and one" narrowed the deficit down to six at 60-54 and when Haus would get fouled again a short time later at the 9:13 mark, the former STMA standout got one free throw to go down out of the deal that cut it down to a five-point game at 60-55. Alarmed at the inroads its opponent was making, the Royals stepped on the gas again. Born would connect on a lay-up off of an inbounds pass at the 7:54 mark and a bit later at the 6:56 mark, Elly Schmitz would work her magic again with a drive and pretty reverse lay-up that restored the nine-point cushion at 64-55. A score in the paint by Born at the 6:24 mark maintained the nine-point lead at 66-57 as would two free throws by Duininck after she was fouled in transition after a steal at the 5:01 mark that kept Bethel up by that nine-point margin at 68-59. Still, the Saints refused to break out the white flag. Haus would bang home a "3" from the right wing area with 4:02 left and Jason Schmitz would call for a thirty-second timeout in hopes of setting up strategy for the home stretch. But Bethel was able to again restore the nine-point lead when Bonacquista buried a "3" from the right corner area with 3:38 left before St. Scholastica could resume its process of trying to nibble away at the deficit. Lind would slither into the paint for a score with 3:13 left that reduced the deficit to seven at 71-64 and a lay-up by Riegel with 2:38 left got the Saints a bit closer down 72-66. But the Royals were in no mood to be generous hosts by any means and with 2:05 left, Bethel's Erickson would throw another monkey wrench into the Saints comeback agenda as she would bury a "3" from the left top area that once again restored the nine-point lead that the Royals had been enjoying at 75-66. Undaunted, St. Scholastica still forged ahead. Riegel would get one free throw to go down with 1:51 left and a short time later with 1:12 left, Johnson would get a pair of freebies to go down after getting fouled in a transition opportunity that had the deficit cut to six at 75-69. But it appeared that the Saints finally had a window open to complete this unlikely comeback a short time later when Haus was able to snare a steal and race the other way for a lay-up with 1:05 left that suddenly had the deficit down to four at 75-71 and here's where a very confusing and controversial moment occurred in this game. The Royals would miss a lay-up attempt on their subsequent possession and St. Scholastica's Haus snared the defensive rebound and initially looked for an outlook pass to initiate a possible transition opportunity with :40.7 left. However, one of the officials apparently blew their whistle inadvertently and play stopped right then and there. From my perspective; not knowing what was going on for sure in camera, I had initially assumed that the Saints' Jason Schmitz had called a timeout but as I found out later, that was not the case at all (more on that later). In the meantime, St. Scholastica's Jason Schmitz was in an uproar as he was attempting to make his case that he in no way had requested any timeout whatsoever. In fact, one of the officials was preparing to start things anew from the baseline for the Saints before both teams headed for their respective benches. As it turned out, this odd set of circumstances proved to be the final undoing for the Saints as they would get whistled for a five-second violation when attempting to inbound the ball from the halfcourt line area. That effectively forced St. Scholastica to have to resort to fouling and with :31.8 left, Bethel's Bonacquista would get fouled and the Colorado Springs, CO native got one free throw to go down out of it pushing the Royals lead to 76-71. Still a slight opening for the Saints after this but with :14.3 left, Lind's lay-up attempt was errant and Bethel's Elly Schmitz was there for the defensive rebound that snuffed out the last real hope that St. Scholastica had. Royals Head Coach Jon Herbrechtsmeyer would take a thirty-second timeout to discuss strategy with his squad and with :08.9 left in regulation, Erickson would get fouled and got one free throw to go down out of it. The Saints' Jason Schmitz would take another timeout but St. Scholastica's last bit of flame flickered out when the came up empty on their subsequent possession. Bethel's Herbrechtsmeyer would take one more thirty-second timeout with just :02.4 left for safe measure and the Royals were able to dribble the clock out and bag a crucial 77-71 victory.
I was able to catch up with St. Scholastica's Jason Schmitz afterward amidst the flurry of activity in the hallway and stairwell. I first had to ask him about that crucial moment when his squad was down by just four with :40.7 left in regulation. "I didn't call a timeout......We had a fast break going" he said in a disappointed tone; trying to explain the inadvertent whistle by one of the officials. And while we'll never know how things might've turned out had no inadvertent whistle been blown, it's still an indictment on the officials for this to happen in the first place. But even with that, you still have to admire the resiliency of this young St. Scholastica team for finding a way to fight back after they got themselves down by double-digits in that third period. But we'd be amiss, too, if we didn't credit Bethel and what they can do when they unleash their pressure defense. That element alone can take so many teams out of their comfort zone and can easily make a small deficit look like a mountain in a relatively short span of time.
When you delve into the final box score for this one, it becomes easier to see how and why Bethel was able to do what they did - especially once the third period got underway. While the Royals were far from perfect in protecting the ball on their own end, they did force 19 turnovers by the Saints on this day. And, not surprisingly, Bethel had the edge on the boards on this day by a 36-30 count and a decided edge in offensive rebounds at 14-6 which inevitably led to a decided 12-5 edge in those all-important "second chance" points that the Royals enjoyed on this day. And it's not much of a surprise either that Bethel had a decided edge in points in the paint at 42-34 and a whopping 29-7 edge in bench points on this day as well. What's a bit of a surprise is that the Saints actually shot a bit better than the Royals did from both FG range (24-49 for a straight 49%) and from behind the arc (5-13 for 38.5%). But Jason Schmitz and his staff might've had needed a few Tums on the way back to Duluth when he saw that his squad was 18-26 from the charity stripe for 69.2%. Sigh......You know, I know that I harp on free throw shooting all the time and here is yet another classic example of where shaky free throw shooting came back to bite a team - especially in a close game like this. You have to make free throws. You just have to. Now, having said all that, I can't completely absolve Bethel on this front either as they were 10-15 for 66.7%. They were able to get away with it - this time around anyway - because they were able to make up for it in other areas. But this isn't the first time we've seen the Royals a bit shaky at the charity stripe and the last thing you want to have happen is this element costing you in a playoff or an NCAA Tournament game.
The thing that really stood out to me for Bethel on this day was Erickson and how she once again seemed to be everywhere when her team needed her to be there so I guess it's no surprise at all that she paced the Royals today with her 18 points. And the All-American Elly Schmitz; getting a "double-double" with her 14 points and 12 rebounds. And how about the youngster; Bonacquista, coming off the bench in a reserve role and coming through with 13 points? Born was also her steady, reliable self as she also finished with 13 points and even Duininck; the point guard on this team who you wouldn't necessarily expect to have big scoring days finished with 11 points. To me, it's just further evidence of Bethel being able to be good when they have to be good and everybody stepping up in their role. But St. Scholastica had heroines on their side as well on this day ; particularly Haus whose 25 points led all scorers on this day. Lind had a solid day in tallying 13 points and Evie Schmitz wasn't far behind as she finished with 12 points.
