ST. CLOUD -- The Willmar Cardinals lost their way coming out of the halftime locker room Thursday night at St. Cloud Technical High School.
By the time they got their bearings, the Tigers had turned a tie game at intermission into a rout with a 14-0 run.
Too late, the Cardinals rallied to within a basket at 49-47 with 1:30 left but would end up losing the Central Lakes' contest 59-49.
"Hats off to Tech," said coach Steve Grove, "but we didn't come out ready to play that second half. We made some poor passes and they jumped on us. Still, our kids made a valiant comeback to get within two."
It was 23-all at half. St. Cloud Tech used an eight-point burst in the first 90 seconds of the second half to grab all the momentum. Ryan Hagemeyer's basket at 12:00 ended the 14-point Tech run at 37-23.
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The Cardinals' used steals by Matt Seehusen and others to mount a comeback. Kyle Townswick, who finished with a game-high 18 points, made four free throws and later a trey to close to 49-47 at two minutes.
Willmar had a chance to tie after a Matt Roisum rebound, but Tech's Jordan Hansel stole a pass and converted it into a lay-up. An intentional foul was called on the play and he made two free throws, plus Tech got the possession with just over a minute left. This time it was too late for a comeback.
The first half was a feisty affair with fouls and turnovers preventing either team from finding an offensive rhythm. Townswick had nine by halftime and Matt Roisum eight of his career-high 14 points, plus 10 rebounds.
Tyler Horning, Seehusen and Hagemeyer each finished with five points for Willmar, who was a cold 14 of 28 at the line and 2 of 14 from the arc.
Willmar was without starting wing Corey Hanson (ill) while the Tigers are temporarily without 6-foot-5 junior Aaron Fruth (injured).
SC Tech 59, Willmar 49
Willmar (1-2, 1-2) 23 26 -- 49
SC Tech (2-0, 4-0) 23 36 -- 59
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WILLMAR - 16-39 FG (2-14 3 pt); 15-28 FT; 25 rebounds; 20 fouls ... Scoring: Kyle Townswick 18, Matt Roisum 14, Tyler Horning 5, Matt Seehusen 5, Mike Dunham 2, Ryan Hagemeyer 5 ... 3-point shots: Townswick 2 ... Rebound leader: Roisum 10 ... Assist leader: Townswick 3, Seehusen 3 ... Steal leader: Seehusen 4
ST. CLOUD TECH - 23-43 FG (2 3 pt); 11-19 FT; 20 rebounds; 26 fouls ... Scoring: Nate Clark 14, Tony Williams 4, Ryan Maciej 3, Jordan Hansel 10, Justin Nilson 17, Nate Laudenbach 3, Nate Uphus 10, Collin Stinogel 8 ... 3-point shots: Hansel, Laudenbach
NEXT -- Willmar: Saturday, home vs. Litchfield, 7:30 p.m.
