Cardinals hope state drought ends Friday

It's been eight years since the Staples-Motley Cardinals advanced to the state tournament.

That is the longest drought since the Cardinals first started appearing in the state's final winter tournament back in 1981.

In order to break the streak, and secure the program's 12th state appearance, the Cardinals will have to knock off Class 2A's top-ranked New London-Spicer Wildcats.

The Wildcats enter their fourth-straight Section 6-2A final after beating fifth-ranked Albany 87-62 for the East Subsection title Tuesday.

NL-S owns a 28-2 record with losses to Willmar (58-56 OT on Dec. 28) and Morris (62-58 OT on March 5). Wildcats head coach Matt Cordes said the Morris loss was an eye opener.

"Losing is always a bit miserable, but sometimes it does help in the long run," he said. "Morris played very well that night and wanted it a bit more than we did.

"We learned that there is no substitute for plain and simple hard work. No matter how good or talented you think you are, you still need two things; a bit of luck and to work as hard as you possibly you can."

The Cardinals will take confidence in knowing they just defeated Morris 57-43 Tuesday to set up a rematch of the 2008 section final.

"I think we're focused and confident, but not overconfident," said Cardinals head coach Lynn Peterson. "I really like the focus. When we were on the bus for the Breckenridge game in Morris, the bus driver said this was the quietest bus he's ever had and that was on the way home.

"We've done good things, but we're not done. We haven't finished our work. There is still another chapter we want to write."

The Wildcats have outscored opponents 75.7-56.0 during the season and have improved that during the playoffs by holding teams to 44.3 points in the last three.

Last season, NL-S beat Morris to return to the state tournament after winning it in 2008. They were bumped off in the 2009 first round by eventual state champion Pelican Rapids.

Section 6-2A final

Who: New London-Spicer Wildcats vs. Staples-Motley Cardinals

When: 6:30 p.m. Friday

Where: Halenbeck Hall, St. Cloud State University

At stake: A spot in the Class 2A state tournament.

"The experience is very helpful, no doubt," said Cordes. "This will be Erik Tengwall's fourth time playing in this game. It helps to have experienced the stage, the noise and the emotion of the game, but it still comes down to who can execute."

Cordes described his team as balanced and deep. NL-S will look to push the ball and play full-court defense. They are led by Tengwall (6-foot-1, senior) and Jayme Moten (5-10, junior) who scored 23 points against Albany. Aaron Johnson (6-6, senior) added 21 points and 16 rebounds in the subsection final. Justin Zylstra, Brandon Zylstra and Aaron Jenny played key roles in the win.

Peterson thinks his team is pretty balanced and deep, too.

"We're just going to try and give ourselves a chance," he said. "We match up fairly well with them. They are very explosive, no doubt about that. Anybody that is left in this tournament is very good.

"For us, going into the Breck, Morris and this game we're trying to keep it simple. We're trying to keep our man in front of us and not get beat off the dribble. We're trying to block out and get the rebounds. If we do that we give ourselves a chance."

The Cardinals have given themselves a chance in 17 of their last 18 games. Their only tough loss in that time was to Class 3A's fourth-ranked Grand Rapids Feb. 23. Since then they have rattled off seven straight wins.

"They are very well-coached with experienced players and will certainly be well prepared," Cordes said of the Cardinals. "Both teams match up very well with each other. S-M can play and score in a variety of ways. The bottom line is we will have our hands full Friday night."

JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5856.