St. Scholastica 85, Yellowjackets 71
Box Score

It was only two weeks ago that the Yellowjackets and Saints met on a Saturday night at Mertz Mortorelli Gym.  The result was a game where the Yellowjackets had little difficulty in picking up their eighth victory of the season.  On New Year's Eve, the teams met in the second half of their extended "home-and-home" series and the Saints turned the tables on the Yellowjackets.  Behind a big-shooting second half, the Saints built up a huge lead and coasted to an 85-71 win over on their home court, Reif Gym.

It was just the second win of the season for the Saints, who now stand at 2-8.

A tight game at the break with the Saints leading by a point was blown wide open early in the second half.  Ben Aalfs (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson) hit a three-pointer early in the half, the first three of the game for the Yellowjackets, giving them a 34-32 lead.  The next time they would hit a bucket, however, they would find themselves down by 17, as the Saints went on a 19-0 run, fueled by Chris Hamers.  Hamers, who scored a game-high 28 points, was 8-12 from outside the arc and at one point hit five consective threes, four coming during the run.  The Yellowjackets would stop the run on a layup by Adam Hjelter (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson), but the Saints would continue the incredibly hot shooting and put the game out of reach.

The first half was a seesaw battle, with each team building up leads as large as six points, the Yellowjackets building up their advantage on a pair of free throws by Eric Effertz (Ladysmith, Wis./Ladysmith) with 3:53 remaining in the half.  In the final two minutes, the lead changed hands four times as the Saints went on an 11-4 run to pull ahead by a point at 32-31.  The first half was good for the Yellowjackets, who shot 52.2% from the field, including a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line.  Brendan Bauer (Eleva, Wis./Gilmanton) and Bronson Byrne (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska) paced the Yellowjackets with eight points apiece. 

It was all Saints in the second half, as they shot an astounding 68%, including 11-16 from three-point range.  The lead bulged to 25 points, 70-45, with just under eight minutes to play when the Yellowjackets began to close the gap, but it was already too-little, too-late and the Saints began to sub players in.  The hot hand for the Yellowjackets down the stretch belonged to Eric Holten (Barron, Wis./Barron), who scored 11 points in the final eight minutes.  Holten finished with 14 points, all of them coming in the second half.  He was tied with Aalfs for the team lead.  They were the only two Yellowjackets to score in double figures.

Bauer had team-bests in rebounds (6) and assists (3) while Byrne led the Yellowjackets with four blocks.

In addition to Hamers heroics, the Saints got double digit points from Brett Tester (15), Derek Steve (11), Jonah Dahlman (10) and MarShaan Johnson (10).

The Yellowjackets (8-5, 2-2 WIAC) will now jump into the teeth of their WIAC schedule, beginning with a road game at UW-Oshkosh on Wednesday, January 4.  The opening tip-off will be at 5:00 p.m. and the game can be heard live on 91.3 FM KUWS with Matt Johnson on the call.