St. Cloud Cathedral storms back to shock Rush City in OT

<p>After last night’s game, before I could even open my mouth to ask a question, Rush City coach Joe Nelson said, “You can’t win with 25 turnovers against a quality opponent.” Amen to that. And, so, for the first time in 106 weeks, and after 41 straight regular season wins, Rush City took it on the chin from a determined bunch of Crusaders from St. Cloud Cathedral, at home and in OT, 61-58.</p> <p>Cathedral had a tough time scoring in the 1st half against Rush City’s size—especially with 5-11 junior forward Meg Januschka on the bench for 14 minutes with 2 early fouls—and the Tigers capitalized to lead 22-18 at the half, and then 44-33 with about 7:30 remaining. But, from there, St. Cloud went on a 17-3 run to take a 50-47 lead at 2:40. A 2 + 1 by junior post Jamie Guptill on an in-bounds play at 0:28 forced OT.</p> <p>The Tigers led for the last time 55-54 at 1:37 in OT as junior guard Kaylyn Bowen scored 2 off the glass and 2 from the line. But Megan Voit, also a junior guard, responded for St. Cloud with a 2 and 4-for-4 FT inside of 0:30 for the win.</p> <p>Voit was the whole story for St. Cloud in the 1st half, scoring 12 of just 18 St. Cloud points. Rush City used a balanced attack (junior wing Shayna Mell had 6, junior guard Elena Herberg had 5, and Guptill had 4) to take a 22-18 lead at the half. It had been 16-9 and 20-14, so it felt like the Crusaders were fortunate to be that close. Part of that feeling was Rush City’s 8-of-31 shooting in the 1st half and their 25-15 edge off the glass. The Tigers had 10 offensive boards in the 1st half but converted them into just 3 points.</p> <p>And, after being outrebounded 25-15 in the 1st half, St. Cloud held their own, 14-14 in the 2nd, and had a 6-4 edge on the glass in OT.</p> <p>St. Cloud’s 2-3 zone seemed to confound the Tigers. The Crusaders doubled Guptill and Mell in the lane, and closed hard on the 3-point line, too. “And they got into the passing lanes,” coach Nelson said, “they did a nice job of getting into the passing lanes. I thought we penetrated too far, actually. If we had gone in(side the zone) with just 1 or 2 dribbles, instead of trying to get to the basket, I think we would have had easier looks. But we’ll work on that.”</p> <p>Guptill scored 3 times early in the 2nd half while Herberg, Bowen and Stephanie Braund each scored twice, and Rush City seemed to be in control at 44-33 at 7:30 of the 2nd. But the Tigers turned it over on 7-of-14 possessions the rest of the way, making 2-of-6 shots. Meanwhile, the Crusaders made 6-of-their-next-7 shots down the stretch. A Voit 3 gave them a 48-45 lead, at 3:45, their 1st lead since 7-6.</p> <p>“We kept telling them,” St. Cloud coach Ron Prom said, “we just need to keep playing our game and sticking to our game plan. We were just going to keep plugging along. It was a game of streaks back and forth, and I told our girls to stay calm, hopefully this will even out. We’ll go on another run, and that’s what we ended up doing.”</p> <p>Voit scored those 12 points for St. Cloud in the 1st half and 25 for the game. Januschka scored 15, all in the 2nd half and OT.</p> <p>“Our girls kept their composure,” Prom continued. “Meg (Januschka) did a nice job of keeping her composure. We said, go to the basket, be patient, and the stuff will come. And it came to her, and we’re happy about that.”</p> <p>Guptill was a tower of strength for Rush City with 18 points, 20 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Herberg added 11 with 4 assists and 5 steals, Bowen also scored 11, and Shawna Mell added 10 with 10 boards and 4 blocks.</p> <p>St. Cloud knocked Rush City out of the post-season 2 years ago, and Rush City returned the favor last year. “We would love to see this matchup in the section final again,” coach Prom said, “but there’s a couple other pretty good teams in our half we’ve got to get by first, like Pine City. Rush City had a 2 point game (with Pine City) and we’ve got Pine City coming up. But, it would be great to see especially with this OT game and the way the last 2 seasons went, it would be a great matchup.”</p> <p>Coach Nelson said, “This is why we scheduled them. We need tough games. It’s going to help us. I know it’s going to help us. If we play them again, we better be ready.”</p> <p><strong>Player(s) of the Game</strong></p> <p>Guptill was huge for Rush City, but St. Cloud’s Megan Voit and Meg Januschka led their team to a tough, come-from-behind road victory, so they’re the PoG. Voit is a savvy guard who makes good decisions and has a great shooting stroke, as evidence bv her 7-of-11 FG and 8-of-9 throws. “She is a multi-sport athlete,” coach Prom told us, “and she excels at all 3 sports. She does a nice job of keeping her head, being level-headed, she doesn’t let the emotions of the game get to her. She did a nice job.”</p> <p>Januschka played a lot 2 years ago as a freshman, then missed last year with an ACL, according to coach Prom. She attacks the rim from the elbows and isn’t afraid to use her body to attack the defense. She made 5-of-6 FG. Voit and Januschka shot 12-of-17. Their teammates shot 7-of-31.</p>