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‘I’M BACK COACH’: Hagen’s buzzer-beater lifts Crusaders to Section 2A title


MANKATO – Good things happen to those who wait.

Mayer Lutheran senior Cole Hagen may have missed more than two months of the regular season, but that didn’t stop him from being the hero. With just seconds remaining, Hagen received the pass from fellow teammate Baden Noennig, set his feet, followed through, and found nothing but the bottom of the net as the Crusaders knocked off No. 1 Springfield 78-75 for the Section 2A title and a trip to the state tournament.

“I didn’t know exactly what was going on there,” Hagen said about the shot. “I didn’t know how much time was left. The ball got bounced out to me. I just grabbed it and put it up before the buzzer went off. It just felt perfect off my hand and went in.”

Mayer Lutheran senior Cole Hagen is fired up after hitting the game-winning shot to send the Crusaders to the Class A state tournament with a 78-75 victory over Springfield Friday night.

Mayer Lutheran senior Cole Hagen is fired up after hitting the game-winning shot to send the Crusaders to the Class A state tournament with a 78-75 victory over Springfield Friday night.

It was a moment that’s been long due for Hagen. With missing two whole months of the season, Hagen hasn’t been the normal shooter he’s been known as this season. He’s struggled throughout the Section 2A tournament shooting the ball, but when it mattered most, Hagen’s patience and determination paid off.

“It made up for all of it,” Hagen said. “I feel confident again. It was hard to stay positive for a time there. Now, I just feel great. I feel like I’m back to normal.”

The moment wasn’t lost on his coach and teammates either.

“He’s been struggling the whole section tournament,” Mayer Lutheran coach Pat Buchanan said. “He’s been struggling to get his shot going. I knew it was going to be a senior, and I thought it was going to be Kobey (Woolhouse), but it came up being Cole. That’s big for his confidence. When I went and grabbed him and hugged him, he told me, ‘I’m back, coach.’ That felt so good.”

“I’m so proud,” senior Garrett Tjernagel said. “It was just such a bummer for him to come into the season with back problems and fix that. Then he finally gets playing again and hurt his leg.”

“He just stuck with it,” Baden Noennig added. “He came out strong when we needed it.”

Hagen’s heroics wouldn’t have came at all if wasn’t for the play the Crusaders got from Noennig and Tjernagel. Both Tjernagel and Noennig took full advantage of their size inside to keep the Crusaders offensive going and to hang with highly-explosive offense from Springfield.

Just when it looked as if the Crusaders might pull away, Springfield’s star player Isaac Fink would bring them back.

“It was a game of runs,” Buchanan said. “They just would not stop. I knew they wouldn’t stop, but man, they just kept coming. They made us better today. They’re a champion in their own right. No matter what happened out there, that team’s a champion.”

Fink finished with 26 points to lead the way for the Tigers, and gave Mayer Lutheran all they could handle from the tip.

“He’s a beast,” Noennig said. “He plays with so much heart. He’s the best shooter I’ve ever played against. The kid can stroke it. He was tough to guard.”

After Fink converted a three-point play the old fashioned way, Noennig refused to let anyone else guard him. The Crusaders planned for multiple players to take turns on Fink coming into the game, but there was no way Noennig was letting his future AAU teammate get off that easy.

“When we game planned, we game planned for five different people to take him,” Buchanan said. “Baden told me. ‘coach, I got him.’ He did a fabulous job tonight. He made Isaac work. That was the two best players in Class A basketball, who are going to be teammates in AAU, going at each other. Baden did a heck of a job, and I know it was tough for him. He never wanted me to take him off him.”

While Noennig battled it out with Fink all game long, it was Tjernagel who came up with gusty play with that gave the ball back to Mayer Lutheran with a chance to win the game. Despite four fouls, Tjernagel slipped between Fink and the basket, drawing an offensive foul, giving Mayer Lutheran the ball for the final possession.

“I do that a bit,” Tjernagel said with a laugh. “I kind of forgot the fact that I had four fouls. I just kept playing. I saw him coming and though he’s trying to win this back for his team. So, I just stepped in and thought we’ll see what happens. We got the charge call, and you couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

With the win, the Crusaders are headed to the state tournament for the first time since 2000, and just the second time in program history. The win was nice, but for Buchanan, it’s everything that his team has done in just one season that makes it so special.

“The relationships go further than just winning this game,” Buchanan said. “Winning this game is sweet, but it’s the relationships that we are going to have for years to come. I try to give these young men everything. My knowledge. My experiences in life. It’s to help them get to the great things out there. They’ve shown me how to guide them, and how to be a better man myself. A better coach. A better husband. A better father. They’ve taught me more than I’ve taught them.”

Mayer Lutheran should enter the Class A state tournament as the No. 1 seed after knocking off back-to-back top-10 ranked teams to claim the Section 2A title. Official seeds will come out Sunday morning, but the Crusaders will play Thursday at Williams Arena against a team to be determined.

“It feels amazing,” Hagen said. This is what we’ve been trying to do for four years. It’s just incredible. It feels like a dream come true.”

“I’m trying to soak this in,” Buchanan added. “When I got the job, I just knew the Lord was telling me that there was a purpose for me to be here. It was to do something special, and I think that’s what we’re about to do.”

Follow Kip Kovar on Twitter.

Twitter: @Kovar_HJSports 

 

 

 

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