Saints outlast North Butler
By Kristi Nixon
GREENE — For the second time in a week, the St. Ansgar boys’ basketball team survived a close nail-biter in Top of Iowa East Conference action, this time, a 43-41 road tilt that saw North Butler miss a last-second shot on Friday, Jan. 20.
The Saints trailed 16-15 at halftime and saw that balloon to a 26-18 deficit behind the Bearcats’ Hunter Rademaker before a pair of three-pointers, one by Max Beland and the other by Carsen Sparrow, brought co-coaches’ Jason Squier and Eric Kline team to within a pair with 3 minutes, 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
A basket by Tyke Remster tied it a few minutes later, and then another Beland trey gave the Saints their first lead since the first half. St. Ansgar never trailed again, although the Bearcats went on to tie the game at 39 with 1:13 to go.
“We got some rhythm going,” Squier said. “We hadn’t been able to get a rhythm going with games canceled . . . The guys did a nice job. We sound like a broken drum, but the conference is really good this year. We have to tell them, ‘We’re a good team, too. You’ve just got to keep battling, persevere.’
“You know, with the foul situation tonight, the bench guys did a fantastic job.”
The full story and more photos are available in the Jan. 25 print and e-editions of the Enterprise Journal.
