Cardinals pull away from Celina in opener
NEW BREMEN — New Bremen dug its way out of an early hole on Friday night, trailing 8- 0 to begin the game, but a strong second quarter and second half sparked the Cardinals to come back and earn a 38-27 win over Celina in non-conference action in their season opener.
Celina jumped out to an 8- 0 lead and New Bremen didn’t score until two minutes left in the opening quarter.
“I told them in the beginning you just have to keep fighting and control what we can control,” said Cardinals coach Cory Stephens. “We can control our energy and effort. Energy and effort goes a long way on the defensive end. Defense can be consistent. I think we had some good looks that just didn’t fall and we just had to keep shooting.”
Offense was tough to come by for either team on Friday.
The Cardinals managed a couple of baskets and trailed 10- 4 at the conclusion of the first.
David Homan hit a three to begin the second and Trevor Bergman hit one of his own later in the quarter and the Cards trailed 15-12 at the half.
Reece Busse then took over in the second half
He scored New Bremen’s first basket in the half, a three, and propelled the Cardinals to their first lead of the night.
Busse then scored on a fast break to extend the lead.
On the Cardinals next possession, Bergman had a strong drive to the bucket for a layup to put New Bremen up 20-15.
Celina came back and tied it at 22-22, but David Homan get a three with just second left to put the Cardinals up 25-22 heading into the fourth quarter.
Busse hit his second three of the night to go up by four.
Later, David Homan gathered the rebound off a missed three by Mitchell Hays and put it in to take a six point lead.
On the next possession, Homan blocked a Celina three-point at
tempt in the left corner, but the Bulldogs kept possession.
Celina scored with 2:44 left to cut the lead to 31-26 and called timeout.
The next Cardinals points came from Busse on an and-one and a successful free throw to go up 34-26.
Celina fouled a couple of times in the last minutes to get to the bonus but the Bulldogs came up short on the offensive end their last few possessions and the Cardinals secured the 11-point win.
After a sluggish start, New Bremen demonstrated patience on the offensive end, especially in the fourth quarter after building their lead, with Stephens noting early on his team was trying to force shots.
“In the fourth quarter we told them we don’t have to score to win but if we have a great shot, we’re going to take it,” he said. “I felt like early in the game we were trying to force things a little bit too much on the pass or
on the dribble.”
Busse led the way for the Cardinals with a game-high 17 points, scoring 15 in the second half.
“He played really good, especially in the second half. He’s been constantly in the gym shooting and working on his game,” said
Stephens on Busse. “I told him after halftime to just go out and play. And that’s what he did. He made some plays there in the second half.”
David Homan finished with 12 points including two threes and Bergman finished with six.
Celina’s Josh Rasawehr led the Bulldogs with 13 points.
New Bremen will be back in action next Friday at home against
Midwest Athletic Conference foe Minster.