Rebels down Vikings in Mankato
Published 12:51 am Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Hayfield's Bobbie Stephens recovers a loose ball as United South Central's Trey Allis defends at Bresnan Arena in Mankato Monday. The No. 1 seeded Vikings lost 43-39 to No. 2 seeded USC in the Section 2AA South Division title game. -- Andrew Dyrdal/Austin Daily Herald

Hayfield's Brady Stevens posts up against USC in Mankato Monday. -- Andrew Dyrdal/Austin Daily Herald
MANKATO — For the second straight season, the Vikings saw their season come to an end in the Section 2AA South Division boys basketball title game in Bresnan Arena.
This time it was No. 2 seeded United South Central (24-5 overall) that ended Hayfield’s season with a 43-39 win over the Vikings Monday.
Hayfield took a 35-28 lead with 6:46 left in the game after Brady Kramer finished off a pair of drives to the hoop, but the Rebels closed the game on a 15-4 run as they dominated the glass.
“It came down to the second chance points pretty much,” Hayfield guard Bobbie Stephens said. “We knew going in that they were bigger and stronger and we had to keep them off the boards. We got them to miss some shots, but we couldn’t finish it on the rebounding end of it.”
USC out-rebounded Hayfield 41-20 as 6-8 center Kyle Baumann had 17 points, nine rebounds and Coleman Bushlack added seven points and 10 rebounds.
USC took the lead for good when Cole Stencel knocked down the Rebels’ only three of the night on a kick-out from Baumann that made it 39-37 with 2:02 left.
Stephens missed a three that would’ve put Hayfield back up and Bauman came up with a steal on Hayfield’s next possession.

Hayfield fans cheer on the Vikings in their Section 2AA Division title game against United South Central in Mankato Monday. -- Andrew Dyrdal/Austin Daily Herald
“We had a couple of late turnovers when we needed to be taking care of the ball,” Hayfield head coach Chris Pack said. “We knew it would be a low scoring defensive battle and every possession is so magnified in these games. We had that little bit of a lull and we couldn’t overcome it.”Stephens, who scored 12 points and was 4-for-14 on three-pointers after hitting 10 threes last Thursday, had one last three-point attempt to tie the game, but it went off the front iron with 34.2 seconds left and USC’s Baumann hit 3-of-6 free throws down the stretch to close the game out.
“They played really good defense,” Stephens said. “They help really well and they’re tough. It’s hard to get inside with Bauman being 6-8 and they’re tough all the way around.”
Hayfield’s defense dominated the first six minutes of the game as they held USC scoreless and forced eight Rebel turnovers. But the Vikings held just a 4-0 lead after that stretch as Cole Kruger, who finished with 16 points and three steals, hit a pair of free throws and got free for a lay-up.
“We didn’t take advantage of it,” Pack said. “We were playing great defense and I thought we should’ve had a multiple possession lead. We left something out there and I don’t know if it was nerves or what, but we just didn’t finish like we’re capable of.”
Hayfield won a share of its first HVL Gold Division title since 2001 this season and Stephens finishes his career as the second-highest scorer in school history and he ranks No. 5 all-time for career three-pointers made in Minnesota with 326 career threes.

Hayfield's Cole Kruger, right, is defending by USC's Trey Allis in Mankato Monday. -- Andrew Dyrdal/Austin Daily Herald
But all of that wasn’t on his mind after Monday’s loss.
“At the moment it hurts more than anything else. It’s my senior year and my last game and I can’t change anything now, I give credit to everybody, we had a hell of a season,” Stephens said. “(I hope next year’s team) doesn’t take anything for granted. They’ve just got to work 24-7 to get better and better and I have all of the faith in the world that they’re going to get back here next year.”
Besides Stephens, Hayfield will graduate Tyler Oakland, Caleb Gilbertson and Sam Freiheit.
“It’s going to be tough for a few days,” Pack said. “But we had a great season, we were conference champions and we had a 20-win season. It would’ve been nice to have a chance at St. Peter again, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
USC will take on St. Peter with a trip to the state tournament on the line Friday at 8 p.m. in Mankato.
USC 13 30 — 43
Hayfield 14 25 — 39
Hayfield scoring: Cole Kruger, 16; Bobbie Stephens, 12; Brady Kramer, 4; Brady Stevens, 4; Caleb Gilbertson, 1; free throws: 69 percent (11-for-16); rebounds: 20 (Kramer, 5); turnovers: 9
USC scoring: Kyle Bauman, 17; Coleman Bushlack, 7; Cole Stencel, 6; Trey Allis, 5; Steve Voigt, 4; Walker Linde, 2; Jason Huper, 1; Chris Melby, 1; free throws: 52 percent (13-for-25); rebounds: 41 (Bushlack, 10; Bauman, 9); turnovers: 16