12-18-2019
BY JACK BULLOCK
ST. ELMO – “It's really nice to get back to .500.”

That was one of the first things that Cumberland head coach Justin Roedl said after his team's 58-40 win in the opening round of the 60th annual St. Elmo Holiday Tournament on Wednesday night.

Shaking off the rust of inactivity since having no practice or games since last Friday's win over Martinsville, the Pirates finally got going after a sluggish first half to roll into the championship semifinals.

Due to Inclement weather in the area, the Pirates didn't play or practice since the win and it showed in the first two quarters of play as they went to intermission with a one-point lead at halftime over Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg.

The Pirates, however, awoke from their hibernation with a strong final 16 minutes to put themselves in the event's final four.

The victory evened Cumberland's record at 4-4 on the season and sent the Pirates a step closer to their first ever St. Elmo Holiday Tournament title in the program's fifth year at the event.

Three of the Pirates ended up with double-figures in scoring in the triumph.

Six-foot-three junior Brennyn Cutts paced these Buccaneers with 19 points.

Ross Hemmen, a 6-foot junior guard added 18-points while and 6-foot-4 freshman Jaxon Boldt notched 10 markers.

Coach Roedl also got nine points from 6-foot-2 junior Wyatt Napier.

The majority of the points scored by Cumberland were inside as the club used its size its advantage, especially in the second half.

“At the half we talked about how Windsor/Stew-Stras had out played us. They got every loose ball, every offensively rebound, they just out worked us,” said Coach Roedl. “The difference in the game was us waking up and matching their intensity. Matching their physicality. We did that and the third quarter was one of the best quarters we have played this year.”

By contrast the Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg Hatchets, after a pretty good opening two quarters, were held to just four points in the third quarter as they fell behind for good, dropping to 4-5 on the season.

A bright spot for the Hatchets was 6-foot-1 freshman Jordan Wittenberg, who led his club with 18 points.

Six-foot-one sophomore Samuel Vonderheide added eight points for W/SS.

Although the Pirates led for most of the first half, they couldn't shake loose from the predominately young Hatchets.

Mainly due to a pretty bad second quarter where Coach Roedl's club committed seven of their 13 turnovers and missed seven overall field goal attempts.

Mental errors also plagued the Pirates in the early going.

After getting eight early points from Hemmen and four from Boldt, Cumberland led 16-10 with just a few seconds remaining in the first quarter.

But a foul 40 feet from the basket by sophomore Gage Thompson allowed Jordan Wittenberg to go to the line after being fouled attempting a desperation 3-pointer.

The freshman nailed down all three attempts to close the gap to 16-13 at the end of one.

After managing to extend their lead in the second quarter to 23-15, Cumberland allowed the Hatchets to go on a 9-0 run to take the lead.

Jordan Wittenberg opened the run with a 3-pointer from the left wing and he closed the scoring with a steal and a fast break lay in for a 24-23 Hatchets' lead.

Coach Roedl called a time out and the Pirates responded with a bucket by Cutts, his third of the quarter as Cumberland led by just a point at the break.

Whatever the Pirates' coach said at intermission got his club rolling in the third quarter.

Cumberland started the run with Hemmen delivering a 3-pointer from the top of the arch along with a pair of scored on drives to the basket by Napier.

Hemmen got a conventional three-point play from Hemmen, forcing a W/SS timeout at 35-26 with 4:09 left in the third.

Boldt, Cutts and Hemmen all scored additional points to close out the quarter.

Cutts also got to the line for a three-point play and converted a mid-range shot for a 44-28 advantage at the end of the stanza.

W/SS got just two scores from Vonderheide as the Hatchets were only 2-of-11 from the field as they trailed by 16 heading to the fourth quarter.

The Pirates sealed the victory in the early moments of the final frame.

An early basket by Napier on an assist from Hemmen was followed by six points from Cutts.

Cutts nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing and scored on a fast break while being fouled.

His made free throw gave Cumberland a 52-30 lead with 5:57 left.

The Hatchets would get no closer than the final score the rest of the way as they fell into the consolation side of the bracket.

The Pirates ended up with an edge in all categories in the contest.

Coach Roedl saw his team hit 23-of-45 overall (51.1 percent) but just 2-of-9 from the arc.

The Pirates crushed the Hatchets on the glass, out-rebounding them 31-15.

W/SS had just four offensive rebounds in the whole game.

“We kept them off of the boards and we took better care of the basketball on the offensive end,” said Coach Roedl. “That (turnovers) is what got them going in the second quarter. We were being lazy, not running to the spots on the floor where we need to be on offense. We took care of those things in the second half. I didn't say too much to them at halftime. The kids made the difference on the floor.”

Cumberland was also effective from the foul line, hitting 10-of-12.

W/SS ended up 15-of-45 (33.3 percent) and they added nine turnovers to their troubles.

Cumberland will play the winner of the South Central vs. Ramsey matchup in the final quarterfinal game to be played.

That game will be held on Thursday night because of the Tuesday night postponement.

W/SS will take on the loser of that game with both of those contests back on schedule for Friday night.

“We have some big, strong kids, not just inside but also our guards,” said Coach Roedl. “I knew they (W/SS) couldn't match up with us for the entire game. We needed to be patient and the kids took that to heart in the second half. We just have to put that together for a full game.”