Streeter boys fall to rival Dutchmen

They were beaten down by the flu the past three weeks, and it looked as though the effects were still lingering Saturday night as Sauk ran out of gas in a 72-60 loss to Melrose.

The Streeters held a 23-14 lead when the Dutchmen went on a 16-0 run to lead 30-23 at the half.

Melrose came out strong in the second half and Sauk just couldn't get going.

Isaac Winters fouled out of his final game as a senior, but what a year he had, leading Sauk in scoring and rebounding. Winters will no doubt continue his basketball career at the next level. Before committing his fifth foul he led the Streeters once again in scoring on Saturday night.

But Melrose had too many of their players clicking and once they got up they didn't let up.

The Streeters's regular season ends with 18 wins, 14 more than they accomplished last year. Quite a season for Sauk and first-year head coach Mike Ellens.

Melrose goes on 16-0 run to take first-half lead

Sauk Centre started strong, leading 23-14 at one point, but Melrose went on a 16-0 run to lead 30-23 at halftime.

Austin van Beck scored 14 first-half points for the Dutchmen. Isaac Winters leads the Streeters with 10 points.

Update on the Sauk Centre vs. Melrose Area boys basketball playoff game at St.John's University...

With 11:15 left in the first half, the Streeters boys basketball team leads Melrose Area 16-5.

~RO

Scenes from last night's section championship win by the Streeters girls basketball team

Action from midway through the second half, with the Streeters leading 47-35...


Soaking up the win...

On Target: Streeters heading to Minneapolis for State Tourney

The Streeters hoist their second straight section championship trophy.

The Mainstreeters scored 50 second-half points as they ran away with the section 6AA Championship Friday night in St. Cloud.

Sauk struggled to a five-point halftime lead against the 17-13 Staples-Motley Cardinals, but came out firing on all cylinders in the second half on their way to a 78-58 win.

Kali Peschel scored 31 points, her second straight game of 30-plus. She also scored 33 in the sub-section title game over New London-Spicer on Tuesday.

Kali Peschel went for 31 points, giving her 64 in her last two games.

After being shut out on Tuesday, senior guard Maren Greenwaldt scored 14 points on four three-pointers. Emily Petermeier and Krista Primus also nailed big threes and Lexie Berscheit got into the act late in the game putting the final nail in the coffin with a three of her own.

As a team Sauk shot 48 percent from the floor and 45 percent from three-point range. They allso made 17 of 19 free throws (90 percent).

When the final buzzer sounded the celebration was mild at center court as the Streeters found themselves in a familiar spot. They beat the same Staples-Motley team at the same site a year ago to make their first ever trip to state.

Krista Primus and the rest of the Streeters were 17-for-19 from the free throw line.

This year came with more lofty expectations and the Streeters have lived up to them so far. But they know they have more to prove. Last year they lost their first and only game of the state tournament. This year there mantra is "been there, want more."

The Streeters will face Section 1AA Champions Caledonia on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Target Center.

Tickets go on sale for the game on Saturday morning at the high school. A pep rally will also be held on Tuesday afternoon (time to be determined). Several fan buses are also being lined up for Wednesday's game.

Stay tuned to the Streeter Sports blog for more information.

More photos:

Streeters win! Final score: Sauk Centre 78, Staples-Motley 58

The Sauk Centre Mainstreeters girls basketball team will open the Class AA state tournament on Wednesday, March 16, with a 6:00pm game.  They face Caledonia, the winner of Section 1AA.

Plenty of offense tonight between both teams.

This year's seniors enjoyed hoisting up that trophy following the win.

Halftime at SCSU - Streeters 28, Cardinals 23

A physical battle is underway in the Section 6AA championship game.

Action from the first half of the game tonight.


The first half was a dog fight, and the Cardinals had the game tied at 14-14 at one point before the Streeters pulled away for a slim lead at the break.

Below, the first half comes to a close at SCSU tonight...


In the opening minute of the second half, a three pointer by Kali Peschel put the Streeters up 31-23.

At the 16 minute mark, Macy Weller's first bucket of the night made it 33-26.

The sophomore post followed that 30 seconds later with a rebound shot and a free throw that was nothing but net to give the Streeters their first 10-point lead of the game, 36-26.

With just under 11 minutes left, a slicing layup by Maren Greenwaldt answered two straight buckets by the Cardinals and the scoreboard read Streeters 47, Cardinals 33.

With just over seven minutes left, the Cardinals hit a three pointer and the score was Sauk Centre 59, Staples-Motley 42.

Check back later for the final score!

~RO

Sauk boys earn hard fought playoff win

Nick Leen and Patrick Knoblauch collide as they go for a rebound in Thursday's hard-fought win over Holdingford.  Sauk will play Melrose Saturday night at St. John's University at approximately 7:45 p.m.

It didn't come easy, but the No. 2 seeded Streeters held on to defeat No. 7 seed Holdingford Thursday night in Sauk Centre.

Travis Rieland, Terrence Ellis and Patrick Knoblauch hit key free throws down the stretch in a 61-57 win.

The Streeters got out to a decent start and led 22015 before the Husker went on an 8-0 run to take the lead. A bucket by Nick Adams put Sauk back on top and Knoblauch added a three pointer before Isaac Winters found Adams under the basket for another score and a 29-23 halftime lead.

The Huskers battled back in the second half, nailing a three-pointer on their first trip down the floor. They eventually took the lead and led 39-38 midway through the second half. Rieland then drilled down a three and Adams converted on a three-point play for a 46-42 lead. Isaac Winters scored to make it 48-44. Adams added another key bucket to increase the lead.

The Streeters led 54-48 with 1:30 to play. Holdingford closed the gap to 58-54 but that was as close as they got.

It was 61-54 when they made a three-pointer at the buzzer.

The win advances Sauk (17-10) to the second round of the sub-section playoffs where they will play the winner of the Melrose/St. John's Prep game. The semi-final will be Saturday at 7:45 at St. John's University.

The winner of that game will play next week for the sub-section title.

Nick Adams drives past a Holdingford player Thursday.

Streeters boys basketball opens the playoffs with a grueling 61-57 win over Holdingford

For the first time since 2007, the Sauk Centre Mainstreeters boys basketball team has won a playoff game.  The Streeters have shaken off three years of losing basketball to earn an impressive #2 seed for the Sub-Section 6AA-East playoffs.

It wasn't easy, though.

Seventh-seeded Holdingford entered the game 7-19 overall, and in their only meeting with Sauk Centre this season, they lost 74-43 back in December.

In Sauk Centre tonight, the visiting Huskers gave the Streeters all they wanted, but fortunately the Maroon came out on top 61-57 to advance to the sub-section semifinals.

Up next: a classic rivalry game on Saturday night at St.John's University. Tip off is at 7:45pm, and the opponent will be none other than the Melrose Area Dutchmen - crosstown I-94 rivals with the Streeters.

Melrose beat #6 seed St.John's Prep 75-55 tonight in their quarterfinal game.

Section 6AA East and West quarterfinal results tonight:
Pierz 62, Albany 60
Sauk Centre 61, Holdingford 57
Minnewaska Area 69, Osakis 40
West Central Area 62, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 61 2 OT (a #6 seed upsets the heavily-favored #3 seed)
Melrose Area 75, St.John's Prep 55
New London-Spicer survived an upset bid by winless Paynesville Area 86-71, the Bulldogs had the Wildcats on the ropes at halftime - in fact, with 4:47 left in the first half, the Bulldogs held a 28-25 lead!
Breckenridge 66, Benson 64 (Roger Lindahl's Braves have an early exit from the playoffs)
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 69, Staples-Motley 44

Interestingly, the last season that Sauk Centre won a playoff game, back in 2006-2007, the Dutchmen and Streeters met in the sub-section championship. Melrose won that game 52-47.

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.

Streeters hold slim 23-22 lead at halftime vs. NL-S before taking the game 53-47 and earning a second straight sub-section title!

It's quite an epic battle underway at St.John's University tonight!

The New London-Spicer Wildcats took control early and led 19-14 with just a few minutes left in the first half.

The Streeters then went on a run and pulled in front 21-19 after Macy Weller hit a free throw.

Weller followed with two more free throws with 35 seconds on the clock to put the Streeters ahead 23-22.

The score stood up to the first buzzer.

**Update at 8:49pm... with 13:50 left in the game, NL-S called a timeout. The Streeters hold a 33-28 lead at this point.

The Streeters hold a 43-41 lead with 5:03 left in the game. It is going down to the wire!

Final score: Sauk Centre 53, New London-Spicer 47. The Streeters (28-1) advance to face Staples-Motley in a rematch of last year's Section 6AA championship.

The Section 6AA championship game will be at 8:00pm at St.Cloud State University's Halenbeck Hall, this Friday night.

Staples-Motley defeated #1-seeded Benson 54-42 in the Sub-Section 6AA-West championship game tonight in Morris. The Cardinals are 17-12 overall, but went 3-7 in the Mid-State Conference this season, good for fifth place.

More will follow on Wednesday morning.

~RO

Tonight's marquee match up moved to 8:01 p.m.

Tonight's sub-section final game between Sauk Centre and New London-Spicer has been moved to 8:01 p.m. due to countywide elections.

The game pits two of the top Class AA teams in the state. Sauk Centre (27-1) is tanked No. 2 is statewide polls. New London-Spicer (26-2) is ranked No. 4.

The Wildcats will need to shut down Sauk Centre all-stater Kali Peschel, who is averaging over 18 points per game. The junior is the school's all-time leading scorer and has verbally committed to play at Iowa University in the fall of 2012. They will also need to watch Maren Greenwaldt. The spunk senior reached 1,000 points last week and is a three-point extrordonaire.

The Streeters, meanwhile, will have to find a way to stop Abbey Knisely. The 6'3" senior center has been a dominating presence in the paint the past three seasons. The Streeters will rely on the likes of Macy Weller, Shelby Deters and Kourtney Nelson to keep Knisely in check.

The Wildcats also have Taylor Thundstedt, a dynamic freshman who score more than 20 points in the semi-final win over Albany. Thundstedt is very athletic and a good shooter as well. The Streeters will likely stick Greenwaldt on her. In their last meeting Greenwaldt held Thundstedt to 4 points.

It should be a great one! Get there early to get a seat and don't forget game time is at 8:01.

Go Streeters!!!!