12-27-2019
BY JACK BULLOCK
BREESE – It's been nine seasons since the Mater Dei Knights claimed the title of their own holiday tournament.

Coach Ron Schadegg's has his team in the running after two days of the 59th annual event.

It wasn't easy to say the least, but the Knights are sitting at 3-0 in Pool B after “grinding” out a 47-41 win over Washington County rival Okawville on Friday night.

Six-foot-five senior forward Caleb Zurliene came up big for the Knights scoring a team best 18 points and he had three big blocked shots on the defensive end.

Mitchell Haake is a 6-foot-5 junior forward who added 11 points for Mater Dei and he also was important on the defensive end of the floor.

The frontcourt pair helped lead the Knights to a 28-19 rebounding edge as they held the Rockets to just three offensive rebounds, with none coming in the fourth quarter.

Senior guards Grant Goebel and Jacob Schadegg added nine and five points respectively in the victory for the now 10-3 Knights.

Coach Jon Kraus had his Rockets in contention for the entire night but they never could put the big run together to get the lead as Okawville fell to 6-4 on the season and 1-2 in Pool B.

Six-foot-seven senior Jackson Heckert led the Rockets up front with 14 points before fouling out with 2:07 left in the game.

“Jackson (Heckert) he's a load in there and he is hard to guard. Everybody has problems with him. He had a fantastic game. He kept them close,” said Coach Schadegg. “He finishes well around the basket.”

Mater Dei had chances to pull away early in the fourth quarter, but they failed on six free throw attempts, including consecutive 1-and-1 chances early in the final frame.

This allowed the Rockets to inch closer to the hosts.

Five-foot-ten Lucas Frederking was held scoreless in the first three quarters but the junior guard scored 11 points in the final 5:42 of the game, hitting a trio of 3-pointers and adding a couple of free throws for Okawville.

Unfortunately for Coach Kraus in company, Mater Dei finally hit their charity attempts in the final minutes (7-of-9) to stay in championship contention.

The Knights will need a win on Saturday over Mascoutah at 9 pm to secure a spot in Monday's title game.

Mater Dei got off to the best start of the two clubs, with baskets by Goebel, senior guard Zach Napovanice and Zurliene for a 6-0 early lead.

Heckert scored all five of the Rockets points in the first quarter with 1-of-2 from the foul line and pair of shots near the basket.

Goebel added a 3-pointer for a 9-5 first quarter advantage for BMD.

The Rockets committed three turnovers and were just 2-of-8 from the floor as they fell behind in the opening frame.

The host Knights used a 13-3 run towards in the second quarter to get their first double-digit lead.

Haake and Schadegg both hit 3-pointers in the run while Zurliene made a great spin move which turned into a reverse lay in and a conventional three-point play play as he was fouled by Heckert.

Reserve senior forward Ben Kassen added a couple of free throws and Haake added a nice move in the paint for a 22-11 spread with 2:34 remaining in the half.

Okawville senior guard Jackson Harre stopped the bleeding just before intermission with drive to the basket as the Rockets went to the break down by nine.

Having committed five second quarter turnovers and hitting just 3-of-8 shots from the field, Okawville was fortunate to be down only 22-13.

As he did in the first quarter, Heckert was the only offense for the Rockets in the third quarter as he added nine points to his total.

Heckert scored on consecutive possessions in the lane late in the quarter to get his squad to 29-22 with 2:31 left.

But a drive to the basket down the baseline by Goebel and a pair of free throws by Zurliene got the Knights back up by double-figures.

Zurliene scored seven of his points in the quarter as Mater Dei looked like it could coast home as they were up 33-22 heading to the fourth.

However much to the chagrin of Coach Schadegg, the Knights left the door ajar for an Okawville rally.

Two straight 3-point bombs sandwiched around a pair of missed front end 1-and-1's by Mater Dei put some drama back into the contest.

When Harre hit his second trey, the Rockets were down just 36-30 with 2:48 to go.

However the Knights made some big plays in the final minutes with Haake, on two consecutive drives to the basket, got the fourth and fifth fouls from Heckert.

He scored on the second drive and, even though his missed the FT, the Knights were in charge with an eight point lead.

Harre ended his scoring night with his third trifecta and also a pair of foul shots.

Mater Dei finished off the win from the stripe (5-of-6) in the final :56.

Okawville got two “window dressing” 3-pointers from juniors Tyler Parsley and Caleb Unverfehrt.

The final points for BMD were two free throws by Schadegg with :14.8.

Breese Mater Dei ended up unofficially 14-of-36 overall from the floor (38.8 percent) but they were better close to the basket (11-of-26).

The Knights committed just nine turnovers and snagged seven of their defensive rebounds in the final eight minutes.

Okawville ended up 14-of-38 overall and 6-of-13 from the 3-point arc.

The Rockets with close out pool play on Saturday against Red Bay (AL.) at 3 pm.

“It (the win) wasn't as pretty as we would like it, but we found a way to win tonight,” said Coach Schadegg. “Wins are difficult in this tournament. It doesn't matter who you play on any given night here it is a challenge. It's what makes this tournament great. It is five games in four days and you have to grind it out. You have to challenge your kids to get through this.”

Coach Wayne Harre got 13 points from senior Terry Pelczynski and 10 points from senior guard Carson Parker.

Junior Jaxon Goforth tossed in eight points in the Nashville victory, improving to 11-2 on the season.

Wesclin (5-6) are now 1-2 in Pool A for head coach Brent Brede.

The Warriors were led by 5-foot-11 junior guard Carson Wessel with nine points.

Nashville held Wesclin to just four first half points as they led 22-4 at intermission.

A victory by Nashville over Breese Central Saturday at 7:30 pm will secure a spot in the championship game on Monday night.