Bethlehem Academy Perseveres in Overtime Thriller

The Faribault Bethlehem Academy Cardinals saw a double-digit lead dwindle in each half of their 67-60 overtime win over the Southland Rebels in Rochester on Tuesday night.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 7-0 lead about two minutes into the game and built a double-digit cushion before three of their starters had to sit with lots of time left due to foul trouble.

Damon Trump shots lights out in the first half and scored 16 points to lead Bethlehem Academy to a 38-30 halftime lead.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, their bench did not score a point while playing significant minutes. Despite that, Bethlehem Academy head coach Eric Hildebrandt praised his bench for giving the team quality minutes in the first half. He said they didn't turn the ball over and kept their fouls under control.

To start the second half the Cardinals scored four points, punching the lead back to 12 again only to see the Rebels get hot and begin getting fast break after fast break.

Southland took the lead for the first time in the game with around two minutes to go and had their chances down the stretch to win it. The Rebels missed the front end of a one and one that would have made it a two-possession game late.

After a flurry of scoring by Southland with layup after layup, Hildebrandt took a time out and seemed to settle his team down. At that point it was a one-point game.

Southland 5-foot-11 junior Jared Landherr caught fire in the second half and took over the game for several minutes. He finished with 30 points.

After the Cardinals tied the game at 58, the Rebels got the ball with 8.3 seconds on the clock and brought the ball up the floor and had someone other than Landherr take a last-second three-point shot, which I frankly didn't understand.

The only other Southland player in double figures was senior Thomas Bottema with 10 points.

Six-foot-2 sophomore Damon Trump led the Cardinals offensively with 20 points. Six-foot-2 junior post Alex Bongers collected 15 points and 6-foot junior Avery Hunt added 12 points and had to have double-digit rebounds. Bongers fouled out with 1:58 to go in the overtime. Hunt grabbed virtually every rebound on the defensive end of the floor in the overtime. Those three Cardinals were our Faribault State Farm Insurance agents Faribault players of the game.

Senior Brendan Trump and sophomore Jack Clark each had nine points in the win.

In the overtime, Southland scored just two points at the free throw line while Bethlehem Academy was 5 of 6 from the charity stripe and added two field goals in the four-minute session.

Southland ends its season with a 14-9 record and the 16-11 Cardinals will play Goodhue for the West Subsection Championship of Section 1A Saturday at 8PM in Rochester.

Southland would have won the game in regulation had they just hit their free throws. The Rebels finished the game 10 of 21 from the free throw line while Bethlehem Academy was 11 of 14.

In the Goodhue game, Randolph led much of the first half but trailed 25-21 at halftime and turnovers ultimately did in the Rockets in a 59-43 Goodhue Wildcat win.

The Wildcats scored 17 points off turnovers and outscored Randolph 21-6 at the free throw line.

Six-foot-4 senior post Jacob McNamara led the way with 16 points. Five-foot-8 senior guard Taylor Buck had 13 and 6-foot-2 senior Ben Opsahl finished with 12 points.

Randolph was paced by 5-foot-11 guard Grant Otte with 14 points; 6-foot-1 senior Calvin Stoesz added 10 points.

The Rockets finished their season with a 17-10 record and the 26-3 Wildcats will defend their subsection title Saturday night in the Rochester Mayo Civic Auditorium beginning at 8PM. Coverage on KDHL begins at 7:45PM.

Rushford-Peterson and Spring Grove play for the Section 1A East Subsection title beginning about 5PM.