Wolves fall in thriller

WINFIELD - Punches were traded all night long between Winfield-Mt. Union and Cardinal in their district opener game on Tuesday night, but it was Cardinal that got the last shot in, and it's the Comets who will get their shot at New London on Thursday.

Cardinal's Drake Harl hit three three-pointers in the second half, the last of which spiked a late lead for the Comets, and Cardinal hung on 55-53.

W-MU came out firing early on, especially point guard Christian Gerot who lit up the scoreboard in the first half. Gerot led the Wolves to a 16-6 lead with eight points early in the first quarter, but Cardinal freshman Landon Becker knocked down three shots from downtown in the first eight minutes and helped tie the game at 16-16 after one.

The Wolves stretched their lead to 31-26 at halftime, thanks in part to five more from Gerot, including a floater at the halftime buzzer, but Cardinal's Jarrett Greiner kept the Comets in the game with 10 points in the quarter.

The third period saw Cardinal come back and take a temporary lead. Becker scored five points in the third period, and Harl hit the first of three clutch threes to grab a 39-36 lead. Jared Arnold connected on an old-fashioned three-point play in the final minute for W-MU, and it was all knotted up at 39-39 going into the final quarter.

The two teams continued to battle with their seasons on the line in the fourth quarter. W-MU took back the lead early on, but Cardinal held a 51-50 advantage with just over a minute-and-a-half left.

Gerot, who had the hot hand all night for W-MU, knocked down another big shot to give the Wolves the 53-51 lead. On the other end, however, Harl stepped up and knocked down the eventual game-winner with just over one minute left.

'He's been a sparkplug for us all season,” Cardinal head coach Michael Strasko said after the game. 'When we need instant offense, he's kind of the guy we go to. He's not scared of the moment, and he stepped in and knocked them in with confidence.”

Ford's potential go-ahead shot didn't fall, and Cardinal pulled down a rebound and had Trey Albert on the line for a one-and-one with 16.8 seconds left. His first shot missed, and the Wolves had a shot to win it.

W-MU didn't get a bad look. Gerot attempted to scoop in a layup in the final ticks, but the shot didn't drop, and Albert cleaned up the defensive rebound.

Griffin Greiner went 1-2 on free throws with less than a second left, and W-MU tried to set up a play to throw up a half-court heave at the buzzer, but Albert broke up the entry pass and Cardinal hung on.

'They just hit some big shots,” W-MU head coach Brad Doerring said after the loss. 'We executed down the stretch, and our effort was good. It just seemed like everything this season seemed to roll around and go in for the other team, and when we had that happen to us, it didn't go in. It's the way it seemed like it was all year. It's just tough.”

Gerot finished with 17 points to lead the Wolves. Daunte Oepping was a consistent scorer all day, finishing with 16. Ty Yocum had 14. Arnold finished with three. Bryce Wade had two, and Graham Hagge scored one.

Jarrett, the older of the two Greiners, led Cardinal with 18 points, despite averaging just 3.3 points-per-game during the regular season. Becker finished the night with 14 points. Harl had 11. Albert scored five. Griffin had four, and Ben Clark finished with three.

Cardinal will now take on New London in the district quarterfinals, which will be on Thursday, Feb. 14, at Notre Dame. They'll play in the 6:30 p.m. game, with Notre Dame and Keota following.