Cardinals' run falls short

VAN WERT - After coming through in the clutch in four straight last-minute wins, the New Bremen boys basketball team finally ran out of luck Friday night.

As the Cardinals fought for a chance to make the state semifinals for the first time since 1960, Columbus Grove made one key shot after another, including five threes in the fourth quarter and three on its last three possessions. Although New Bremen held a five-point lead with 2 1/2 minutes left, the Cardinals came up one stop short and fell 50-48 in the regional final at Van Wert.

"When you hold (Blake) Reynolds to two points in the fourth quarter but they hit five threes, that's huge, especially in a tight game," New Bremen coach Cory Stephens said. "When you can score 15 points in one quarter from the 3-point line, that's big."

Reynolds, who came in averaging a team-high 15.9 points per game, scored 12 on Friday, but only managed five after halftime as the New Bremen defense clamped down. But Tayt Birnesser stepped up for the Bulldogs with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from behind the arc, including the game-winning trey.

After Birnesser drained the shot from the top of the key with 13 seconds left, the Cardinals had 10.9 seconds to get the ball up the court and tie the game. Dave Homan got the ball and drove along the baseline for a final layup, but it went just long and Dan Homan couldn't get control of the rebound before the buzzer.

"I believe Reynolds passed him the ball, and our goal was to take Reynolds out of the game defensively," Stephens said of Birnesser's three. "He hit the open player, like good players do."

Tied at the start of the fourth, Nick Alig gave the Cardinals the lead with a three on their first possession of the fourth and the defense held until Trey Sautter tied it with 5:46 left. Birnesser gave the Bulldogs the lead with a three with 4:48 to go, and Dave Homan drove for a layup to take it back on the next possession, drawing a foul but missing the free throw to make it a one-point lead.

Reece Busse and Dave Homan added layups to make it a five-point lead with three minutes to go, but Columbus Grove wasn't going anywhere. Sautter and Gabe Clement sank treys to give the Bulldogs the lead with a minute and a half left before Busse hit a pair of free throws to make it 48-47 Cardinals.

With the Cardinals pressuring heavily, Columbus Grove called timeout with 24.2 seconds left to set up Birnesser's winning shot.

"He's a senior, he hit five threes just (by) himself," Stephens said. "So we knew he was a shooter, we said, 'Chase him off the line.' "

With a four-point lead at the half, the Cardinals got called for three fouls in the first 25 seconds of the third quarter, including two on Dave Homan that briefly sent him to the bench. Within a minute, Sautter hit a three from the corner to tie the game, and Birnesser sank one a minute after that to give the Bulldogs the lead.

By the time Stephens called timeout, it was 29-24 and the Bulldogs were riding an 11-2 run.

The two teams traded buckets, with the Bulldogs unable to push the lead above seven and the Cardinals unable to get it below three until senior Mitchell Hays forced a turnover with 1:00 left and Stephens called timeout to save the possession. Thirty seconds later, Dave Homan lined up a shot from the top of the key and drained it to tie the game.

"It started with the seniors we had last year, we told them when we made it to Wapak, 'This is an expectation now. We've got to continue to do it,'" Stephens said. "So this year when we made it to Wapak, it's like, 'Okay, the expectation was to make it here, now we've got to expect more, because we just can't be satisfied.' Now we're in the regional final game, and we're one or two plays away from going to the final four, which is huge."

After the Bulldogs got a three from Birnesser and a four-point play from Reynolds to go up 8-2 with just under three minutes left in the opening period, the Cardinals came right back with a 9-0 run to erase the early deficit. Trevor Bergman hit a trey from several feet behind the arc to make it 8-7 and Busse added a pair of layups to momentarily put the Cardinals up 11-8. With 25.6 seconds left, Birnesser hit a three to tie the score heading into the second.

The two teams traded baskets in the early minutes of the second quarter, but New Bremen caught a break when Birnesser was called for his second charge of the game with 3:03 left in the half, the second of three offensive fouls called against the Bulldogs in the first half. Birnesser went to the bench and the Cardinals edged out to a 22-18 lead at halftime before Columbus Grove battled back in the second half.

With the loss, New Bremen ends its season at 19-9.

"We're here. We're good enough," Stephens said. "We proved to everyone we're good enough. Now, that's not good enough for us. We've got to take that next step and expect more."