Staff photo by Travis Rosenau
New Ulm Cathedral’s Margo Finstad dribbles the ball to the lane while trailed by Wabasso’s Kayleigha Johnson (3) in a Tomahawk Division girls basketball game on Saturday at Cathedral High School.
NEW ULM — With extra attention on Shay Wilfahrt and Jayde Altermatt, Margo Finstad had to remind everyone what she’s capable of.
Finstad did that with a career-high 24 points as she led the New Ulm Cathedral Greyhounds to a 57-43 win over the Wabasso Rabbits in a Tomahawk Division girls basketball game Saturday.
Finstad, who was out all of last season with an injury, previously had a 20-point career high on Dec. 11, 2023 in a win over Nicollet. On Saturday, Finstad was on her game again.
“I’m definitely not used to [leading the team in scoring], it’s a little uncomfortable [laughs],” Finstad said. “But I’m happy to do what I can for the team and whatever’s best. … I was just taking advantage of my opportunity since they were guarding up on Shay and Jayde.”
Wilfahrt still finished with 15 points and Altermatt added 9 points, but Finstad controlled the offense and kept the Greyhounds in front of a physical, back-and-forth game.
Staff photo by Travis Rosenau
New Ulm Cathedral’s Thea Paszkiewicz (22) dribbles the ball during a Tomahawk Division girls basketball game on Saturday at Cathedral High School.
Finstad connected on two 3s in the game, her first putting the Greyhounds in front 3-2 after Wabasso started with the lead on a bucket inside by Kenley Guetter. Finstad had her second 3 in the second half, but she focused more of her attack inside the paint, utilizing screens and open lanes to get to the basket.
“The last few games I haven’t been shooting well, so I decided driving might be better,” Finstad said.
Wabasso was led by Sara Carlson’s 11 points, while Guetter had 9 points and Ava Samyn added 8 points.
After Finstad’s first 3 put the Greyhounds up 3-2, Altermatt hit a 3 of her own from the corner for a 6-2 lead. Ashlyn Hillesheim’s drive up the middle of the lane put the Greyhounds up 14-8, their largest lead of the half, but Wabasso answered with buckets inside by Samyn and Carlson to trail 14-12.
A Carlson 3 moments later had Wabasso down 16-15 and a corner 3 with less than three minutes left in the half by Audrey Johnson tied the game at 20. The Greyhounds matched their largest lead of the half when Thea Paszkiewicz put back her own miss to make it 26-20, but the Rabbits got the final points of the half at the foul line from Guetter to trail 26-22 at halftime.
Staff photo by Travis Rosenau
Wabasso’s Sara Carlson (5) passes the ball away while defended by New Ulm Cathedral’s Shay Wilfahrt during the first half of a Tomahawk Division girls basketball game Saturday at Cathedral High School.
A 3 by Hillesheim got the Greyhounds going right away in the second half and they ended up getting a 7-0 run to go up 37-26 minutes later. The run started with a bucket off the glass by Finstad, a 3 by Wilfahrt and another layup by Finstad.
The Rabbits hung around, however, as Johnson stole a pass for a layup and Carlson sank a 3 to have them down 44-40. Carlson sank another 3 to have her team down 45-43, but Altermatt drained a corner 3 to answer.
Hillesheim ended up on the floor after that 3 with 1:59 to play and had to be helped off the court with a right leg injury. After a timeout, Finstad scored on a layup to start what ended up being a 9-0 run by the Greyhounds to finish the game.
The Greyhounds moved to 8-12 overall with the win and 5-8 in the Tomahawk.
“I’m very happy with how far we’ve come since the start of the season, but not comfortable, never settled,” Finstad said. “We can do better, we can still be better as a team. Individually, I think people are improving a lot, but it’s more of a team thing now and being able to work together better consistently, not just every few minutes.”
The Greyhounds host Cedar Mountain on Thursday in a Tomahawk game.
The Rabbits, now 6-17 overall and 4-10 in Tomahawk play, are at Cleveland on Friday for a Tomahawk-Valley Conference crossover game.