Three games into the season the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva boys’ basketball team was winless and the prospect of picking up a win in the Panthers’ fourth game of the season seemed improbable, considering NRHEG would face Faribault Bethlehem Academy, the No. 1 ranked team in Class A.

But the Panthers, fueled by Cory Camerer’s 22 points, knocked off the two-time defending Gopher Conference champion 48-46 for their first win of the season.

“All week long we preached being patient,” NRHEG head coach Brian Riley said. “We felt the only way we were going to be able to hang with this team was to hold them to under 40 points.”

The Panthers nearly pulled off that feat save for a late charge by the Cardinals.

The Panthers stayed close to the Cardinals in the early part of the second half on the scoreboard and finally were able to get up on Bethlehem Academy by four points with 11 minutes, 24 seconds showing on the clock as the jump shots started to fall.

From there the Panthers lead grew slowly to five points. Greg Ramaker extended the lead for NRHEG at the free throw line after a Cardinal player received a technical foul for slapping the court out of frustration. Ramaker made three of four from the line to make it an eight-point lead for the Panthers.

NRHEG grabbed an 11-point lead at one point, but Bethlehem Academy put on a full-court press to get back in the game.

The Cardinals hit a 3-pointer and converted two Panther turnovers into easy buckets to make the game 48-46 with 3.6 seconds left.

Bethlehem Academy had possession of the ball and looked for senior standout Chris Palmer for a final shot.

Palmer brought the ball across midcourt and found himself within a comfortable range to pull up and get a good look at a long 3-point shot.

NRHEG’s Brett Hagen was there to deny Palmer the shot by knocking it out of his hands before he could bring it up passed his waist.

“It feels so amazing to win,” Camerer said. “We come out every game trying our hardest and never giving up. It feels so good to finally get a win.”

Camerer was instrument in the win. His career-high 22 points came mostly from the interior and the Cardinals had little answer for him inside.

“I told the boys not to take the easy shots that they would give us from the outside but to be patient and wait for that shot that we want,” Riley said.

The shot that worked on the night, especially any shot that Camerer put up.

Camerer, a 6-foot-6 junior for the Panthers, had all 13 points on the scoreboard for the team going into halftime.

“I didn’t realize that he had all the points in the first half, but Cory really changes the look of our team,” Riley said. “He is a solid player.”

NRHEG (1-3) held the lead for the first few moments of the game by starting with the opening bucket. Both teams struggled to put in their jumps shots and were forced to take the ball inside to find even the few points they could that way.

Good defense by both teams with few fouls in the first half also accounted for the low scoring half.

The other four starters for the Panthers on Friday were Brett Hagen, Tyler Firme, Greg Ramaker and Keith Billing. The four combined for the rest of NRHEG’s scoring with 26 points.

NRHEG shot 59 percent going 13-for-22 from the foul line, while BA went 12-22.

The edge in rebounding went to NRHEG with 25 while BA came up with 22 and in the turnover category BA turned the ball over 14 times with NRHEG turning it over 15 times.

The next game for NRHEG will be in Mankato as they go to play in the Bethany Lutheran Holiday Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 27.

NRHEG 48, BA 46

BA 16 30 – 46

NRHEG 13 35 – 48

NRHEG scoring: Brett Hagen 9, Cory Camerer 22, Greg Ramaker 7, Tyler Firme 6, Keith Billing 5

Rebounds: 25; turnovers: 15; free throws: 59 percent (13-for-22)

BA scoring: Chris Palmer 22, Drew Matthews 13, Eric Hagen 4, Ryan Slattery 4, Chris Beranek 2, Jake Hanson 1.

Rebounds: 22; turnovers: 14, free throws: 54 percent (12-for-22)