Boys basketball: Albany's defense stymies CHS, 58-39

ALBANY – Ben Hartmann, Nick Raeker and the guys wearing purple Tuesday night have a clear understanding of the system.

At Albany, it's the law according to head coach Cory Schlagel.

"There is lots of emphasis on defense and hard work," Hartmann said. "Lots of hard work."

Albany did both in beating St. Cloud Cathedral 58-39.

In a matchup of the top two teams in the Granite Ridge Conference before a packed gym, the thought was that this was going to be reminiscent of the last time the teams played, when Cathedral won in overtime on a last-second shot.

That both teams cleared their benches best describes how one-sided this one turned out. And that had a lot to do with Albany's defense.

"It was a good game, a good defensive game," Raeker said. "Our defense was a lot better than the first game, when we gave up 70-some points."

It was nothing fancy. Albany (8-1 GRC, 16-2 overall) played straight man-to-man, locking down Cathedral's quick, athletic guards.

And the Crusaders (7-1, 15-4), who love to run and gun, had no answer.

"The last couple of games, we've been shooting the lights out," Cathedral head coach Matt Meyer said. "And tonight we couldn't get anything to drop.

"Part of it is Albany. Albany plays good defense. And part of it is we were cold."

Cathedral made 3 of 21 three-point attempts. The Crusaders shot 71 percent from the free-throw line. Tuesday, they were 10 of 21.

And there were no second chances. Albany out-rebounded Cathedral 47-30.

"We did very well on the defensive end," said the Huskies' Kyle Birr, who had 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists. "It was really nice having Zac Tomsche back."

Tomsche missed the first game at Cathedral, nursing football injuries. He had four points, but spent most of the night chasing the Crusaders' Brindley Theisen. Theisen, a 6-foot-3 senior forward/guard headed to St. Cloud State, wound up with 17 points. But it was a hard night.

"It all starts with Zac Tomsche," said Schlagel, who is in his fourth season as Albany's coach. "He might be the best defender I've ever coached. ...

"What he does may not show up in the stats. He doesn't score a ton of points. But what he does for us defensively is unreal."

Albany led 24-18 at halftime. At that point, Theisen had 13 points for the Crusaders. Meanwhile, seven Huskies scored, led by Birr's five points.

That's another axiom for the system according to Schlagel: balanced offense.

"It was fun," said Hartman, the 6-6 senior post who had 11 rebounds and two blocked shots. "We're really moving the ball nicely."

Cathedral hung around for most of the second half. Senior guard Bryant Bohlig drilled back-to-back three-pointers to cut the deficit to 39-32 with 7:49 to play.

But that was as close as the Crusaders would get.

Raeker answered with a pair of three-pointers to get the lead back into double digits. The 5-8 senior captain scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half.

Meanwhile, Birr was pouring in 14 of his 19 points in the final 18 minutes.

"As bad as we were offensively, out defense kept us in it," Meyer said. "But give the credit to Albany.

"Whenever we made a mistake defensively, Albany capitalized. We didn't have the firepower tonight. They (the Huskies) are good. Albany is well-coached."

CATHEDRAL (39) — Mike O'Hagan 2, Brindley Theisen 17 (5 rebounds), Bryant Bohlig 11 (2 steals), Jack Schramel 0, Isaac Heying 4, John Peschel 0, Jake Spaniol 1, Nathan Giambruno 0, Tommy Auger 0, Brady Buckentine, Jeremy Hartung 1, Andrew Ellingson 0, Keaton LeClaire 1, Nathan Stracke 0. Totals: FG 12, FT 10-21, REB 30, ASST 2, TO 6, ST 6, PF 14.

ALBANY (58) — Nick Raeker 12, Kyle Birr 19 (7 rebounds, 3 assists), Kenny Weber 8, Zac Tomsche 4, Ben Hartmann 5 (11 rebounds, 2 blocked shots), Neal Anderson 0, Jonathan Harlander 4, Josh Terres 4, Logan Van Drehle 0, Joel Klein 0, Tyler Birr 0, Gabe Haakonson 0, Danny Odenthal 2, Ben Von Wahlde 0. Totals: FG 20, FT 14-20, REB 47, ASST 11, TO 13, ST 1, PF 16.

Halftime score: Albany 24, Cathedral 18.

Follow Tom Elliott on Twitter @sctimestom or call 259-3661.