NEW LIFE ACADEMY USES SIZE TO BEAT SACRED HEART AT STATE BOYS BBALL

FIRST HALF –
New Life Academy jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game with a basket and a pair of three-pointers.  Sacred Heart finally got on the scoreboard when Breck Bloom made a three-pointer with 13:34 left in the half to get within an 8-3 deficit.  New Life Academy responded with an 11-0 run as Sacred Heart was 1 of 11 from the field (1 of 7 on three-pointers) and trailed 19-3 with 8:35 left.  Sacred Heart finally broke the offensive drought with eight straight points with back-to-back baskets from Greg Downs, an acrobatic layup from Josiah Sundby, and two free throws from Landen Denney to get within a 20-11 deficit with 4:39 remaining.  New Life Academy outscored Sacred Heart 29-15 the rest of the half and took a 29-15 lead into halftime.
Sacred Heart shot 25 percent (5 of 20) from the field in the half and shot 1 of 9 on three-pointers.  New Life Academy outrebounded Sacred Heart 29-11 behind 6’8 senior Erick Reader’s (a future Minnesota Golden Gopher) 11 rebounds.

SECOND HALF –
New Life Academy built a 38-18 lead three minutes into the half before Sacred Heart used a 7-1 run behind a basket from Downs, a three-pointer from Ethan Arntson, and a layup by Isaac Sundby to get within a 39-25 deficit five minutes into the half. New Life Academy continued to build on the lead and had a 60-37 lead with 4:14 left, and both teams went deep into the bench the rest of the way. Every player that dressed for both teams got in, and one of the highlights for Sacred Heart was Isaac Ortiz scoring a pair of baskets and Johnny Speicher adding a three-pointer in the final minutes.  New Life Academy won the game 62-46.   New Life Academy outrebounded Sacred Heart 49-25, including 22 offensive rebounds. New Life Academy also had 36 points in the paint compared to Sacred Heart’s 22.  New Life Academy also had 22 second chance points compared to Sacred Heart’s 5.

Sacred Heart drops to 27-5 on the year and will play the loser of Spring Grove and Mankato Loyola at Noon on Thursday at Concordia University in St. Paul.  KROX will have the game on the radio with a RiverView Health pre-game show at 11:30 a.m.
New Life Academy improves to 25-5 and will play the winner of Spring Grove and Mankato Loyola at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, March 24, at Target Center in Minneapolis.

FOR COACH DESTRY STERKEL’S POST-GAME COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW-