WAHOO, Neb. - St. Albert fell behind early and never recovered in a 66-43 loss to Nebraska Class C1 No. 2 ranked Wahoo Neumann in prep boys basketball action Friday night.

The Cavaliers were up by 11 points after the first quarter and took a 41-17 lead into the break. They sank five of their eight 3-pointers in the first half.

"In the second half we continued to fight, but we just weren't able to close the gap," St. Albert coach Dale Scott said. "I think we saw a pretty high level of basketball tonight, and hopefully the guys will stay hungry and try to get ourselves to that level."

The battle of the boards was the biggest key in the game, as Neumann held the Falcons to a total of 13 rebounds on the night.

"They absolutely killed us on the boards," Scott said. "They're pretty athletic and they worked hard. They were a lot more physical than we were."

Point guard C.J. Gradoville was the lone St. Albert player to break into double figure scoring Friday, finishing with 12 points to go with three steals. Doug Moran added nine points.

The Falcons are on the road Tuesday at Fremont, Neb., Bergan.

St. Albert 10 7 10 16 - 43

Wahoo Neumann 21 20 16 9 - 66

St. Albert: Jake Brown 0, Nolan Batten 6, Quinn Walsh 0, Doug Moran 9, Jake Hoffa 2, Alan Caniglia 0, C.J. Gradoville 12 (3s), Matt Herrington 3, Josh Marshall 0, Matt Waters 4, Marc Baumert 7, Matt O'Malley 0.

Wahoo Neumann: Jordan Morrissey 0, Chad Langmeier 8, Adam Dailey 1, Matt Maly 8, Seth Sabata 0, Joe Proskovec 2, Jared Poskochil 7, Aaron Brandt 18, Brandon Mach 5, Ryan Reeves 4, Jason Ahrens 13.

Records: St. Albert (7-3), Wahoo Neumann (9-1).

Ratings: SWI: St. Albert 4th (1A-2A). Nebraska: Wahoo Neumann 2nd (C1).

Daily Nonpareil - 01.14.06