Lundberg's game-tying buzzer beater not enough as NRHEG falls in overtime

Minneapolis – For its first ever trip to the Minnesota Class AA state tournament, the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva boys basketball team and its ‘Big 3’ sure knew how to rise to the occasion.
Down 54-51 with 5.5 seconds left on the clock, NRHEG guard Benji Lundberg hit a fade away three-pointer to force overtime against the second-seeded Crusaders.
Sadly, that was the climax of the Panthers’ bid for a state title.
Missing seniors Tyler Raimann and Oakley Baker for overtime, second-seeded St. Cloud Catherdal outscored NRHEG 16-5 on thier way to a 70-59 win, dashing any hopes of a state championship run for NRHEG Wednesday night at Williams Arena.
“Those two are pretty important pieces to our team,” commented Panthers head coach Pat Churchill. “And it’s not like those kids didn’t want it, we just didn’t have the firepower without those two on the floor.”
Churchill immediately added, “I’m really proud of the kids with how they battled and how they fought their way back to give them a chance.”
The game started back-and-forth and ended in regulation the same fashion. Prior to Lundberg’s game-tying shot, the Crusaders held a slim 52-51 lead after Jason Jongbloedt’s shot attempt was blocked. Occurring during that time was Baker picking up his fifth foul of the game which forced a pair of free throws on the other end- extending the lead to 54-51.
Just a minute into the four-minute overtime, Raimann picked up his fifth foul in similar fashion. Missing both of their starting big men, the Panthers struggled mightily to slow down St. Cloud Catherdal’s Mitchell Plombon and Michael Schaefer. In the final four minutes, the two juniors combined for 14 of the Crusaders final 16 points, much of which came from the charity stripe. Plombon finished with a 25 points and Schaefter added a game-high 33.
"Their bigs played really well; they shoot really well,” commented Churchill. “Tyler (Raimann) came and battled on the boards and went right at them – he’s a warrior and he played his heart out tonight. It’s just too bad they couldn’t give him six fouls.”
After starting the half with a 27-22 lead, St. Cloud Cathedral quickly established a 10-point lead after NRHEG hit a cold spell. In the second half’s first seven possessions for the Panthers, they managed to registered just five points.
Then, like many of NRHEG’s games in the postseason, Lundberg provided a spark.
Scoring four straight points, the junior guard managed to get the Panthers within three. Lundberg also had a hand in a small surge to end the first half, scoring the half’s final four points. He would finish with a team-high 18 points.
If Lundberg was the spark in the second half, then Raimann was the surge. As the Crusaders went scoreless for eight-straight possessions, Raimann took over – scoring 10 of the Panthers next 14 points – to give NRHEG the slim 43-42 lead.  Raimann finished the contest with a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.
After falling behind early in the first half, NRHEG leaned on the shoulders of its final piece to the ‘Big 3’ in Baker. Despite going 2-for-6 from beyond the arc in the first half, the St. Johns commit was able to record eight points, to include a big bucket late in the half that cut the lead to 21-17.
As tough as it is for a team to lose a game like that, especially if it’s the programs first ever trip to the state tournament, Churchill noted that his team will regroup and be focus for the consolation bracket.
“We got a chance to play tomorrow, (Thursday) and I expect these kids to come out and play the way they played all year. I fully expect us to be ready to go and play hard,” he added.
The Panthers will play the loser of Breckenridge and Crosby-Ironton in the consolation semifinals on Thursday at Concordia University-St. Paul. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.