Streeters prevail with 53-47 win over Wildcats

Peschel goes up for two of her 33 points in Tuesday's win.

If anyone wondered whether or not Kali Peschel was worthy of a Division I scholarship, she quieted her critics Tuesday night as she scored 33 points to lead the Mainstreeters to a 53-47 win over New London-Spicer.

The Streeters entered Tuesday's game ranked No. 2 in the state and on a 27-game winning streak. New London was ranked fourth and their only two losses on the season came against Sauk.


It was a great match-up. The Streeters had Peschel, the dynamic junior who earlier this year verbally committed to play basketball at Iowa University. They also had Maren Greenwaldt, the 1,000-point three-point shooting specialist.

New London-Spicer countered with 6'3" Abbey Knisely, one of the top centers in the state in Class AA. They also had newcomer, Taylor Thundstedt, who, as a freshman, is one of the most impressive underclassmen in the Class AA.

Maren Greenwaldt dribbles past a New London defender. Greenwaldt was shut out in Tuesday's game, missing on only five attempts. But she did a great job defending the Wildcats' top player, Taylor Thundstedt, holding her to 13 points.

Early on it was tough to see which way the game would go. Knisely fittingly scored the Wildcats' first bucket and Peschel fittingly followed with a layup to tie the score 2-2. It was a back and forth effort after that with New London holding a slight lead over the Streeters.

Trailing 11-9, Peschel pulled up at the top of the key and faked a bounce pass that her defender followed, leaving her open to drain a three and give Sauk the lead. But Knisley answered with a bucket and Thundstedt banked in a three-point shot right in front of Sauk's bench to ignite not just the Wildcats but the raucous supporters on the Wildcat side.

Trailing 17-12, Sauk's Kourtney Nelson made a huge basket to make it 17-14. A New London basket made it 19-14, their biggest lead of the game before Peschel nailed another three. Macy Weller followed with a nice drive down the lane for two. After a Wildcat miss, Peschel forced a turnover and was fouled trying to convert. She made one of two free throws for a 20-19 game.

A three-pointer by New London gave them their last lead of the night at 22-21. Weller made two free throws in the final minute of the first half for a 23-22 Streeter lead, a lead they would hold the rest of the night.

Peschel got the scoring started in the second half and she dominated the rest of the way, even prompting the announcer to call one of her baskets a "Peschel Special." The remark brought a hot-tempered New London fan down after the game to confront the announcer.

Peschel simply couldn't be stopped. Several of her second-half baskets came from about 15 feet out. She would dribble at the top of the key, drive the right side and shoot on the run over her smaller defenders.

Peschel found her spot on the court where she made several key shots to lift the Streeters to the victory.

Another big bucket came from Emily Petermeier. She had taken close to a dozen shots in the game but had not scored a basket until well into the second half when she nailed a three for a 33-28 lead.

Petermeier was just 2-for-15 from the floor, but the shots she made were big ones that came in key spots in the game. The senior also had a great defensive play when she saved a ball going out of bounds and knocked it back into play and off a New London player to earn the Streeters a possession.

Meanwhile, Sauk's triple tandem of centers was doing a great job not just rebounding, but blocking Knisely. Shelby Deters, Kourtney Nelson and Weller all had double-digit rebounds in the game and Deters especially was in Knisely's face all night.

The frustration for the New London senior must have mounted because she fouled out with 5:46 still left to play.

It was a huge break for the Streeters, and the referee's call was questionable, bringing a roar from the New London section. New London head coach Mike Dreier was irate, but to no avail, as Knisely had to watch the rest of the game from the bench.

Abbey Knisely (53) fouled out with 5:46 to play. The call didn't make Wildcat head coach Mike Drier very happy.

At the time of her fouling out Sauk held loosely to a 41-39 lead as the wildcats were building momentum. Peschel promptly rebounded a Deters miss and put it back for a 43-39 lead. Peschel scored again to make it 45-41 and once again to make it 47-41. In fact, Peschel scored 11 straight points for the Streeters from the it was 39-35 until they led 50-47 with a minute to play.



Then Shelby Deters took over. She grabbed a huge rebound off a Wildcat miss and was fouled. She made one of two, making it a two-possession game. After the Wildcats missed an three-point attempt, Deters grabbed yet another rebound and was fouled. She promptly sank the next two to put the final nail in the coffin, giving the Streeters three wins over rival New London-Spicer and eliminating them from the playoffs.

Peschel finished with 33 points on 12 of 32 shooting, including three 3-pointers and 6-for-11 from the line. She also grabbed 12 rebounds.

Deters turned in a phenomenal performance as well with 16 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end. She also had five blocked shots and hit those key free throws down the stretch.

Deters did an outstanding job guarding Knisely. Deters finished with 16 rebounds and 5 blocks and also made three key free throws down the stretch.

Macy Weller had seven points and 10 rebounds and Kourtney Nelson finished with four points and 12 rebounds. In all, Sauk outrebounded the Wildcats 66-52.

Macy Weller finished with 7 points and 10 rebounds.

Shoooting-wise, both teams struggled. Sauk shot just 23 percent (18-76) from the floor and just 4-for-29 (14 percent) form three-point range. They were 13-for-25 from the free throw line.

But new London wasn't much better. They shot 15-for-61 (24 percent) from the field and 3-for-20 (15 percent) from three-point range. They were 14-for-22 from the charity stripe.

The Streeters were relentless defensively. Above Shelby Deters causes a turnover as Kali Peschel moves in. While it doesn't show up in the scorebook, Sauk beat the Wildcats to a lot of loose balls Tuesday night.

The win gives Sauk Centre a great chance at qualifying for next week's state tournament. They will face Staples-Motley (17-13) in the Section 6AA finals this Friday at 8 p.m at St. Cloud State University.

The Streeter bench was into it. Left to right: Beth Gieske, Lexie Berscheit, Paige Baum, Ashley Gruber and Kourtney Nelson.