ROCHESTER — A change from zone to man at the half made the difference for the Glenville-Emmons boys’ basketball team on Tuesday night.

The Wolverines beat the Bethlehem Academy Cardinals 60-49 to advance in the Section 1A West Division postseason playoffs.

Glenville-Emmons shot out to a 7-0 lead, but then the Cards were able to slow the fast-paced Wolverines offense down, and they were able to get the ball to their players in the paint against G-E’s 2-3 zone defense. Plus, the boys just were tense, seemingly about playing a tough opponent or perhaps about a big venue. The game was at the Mayo Civic Center.

The Faribault school led 28-20 at the half.

Wolverines coach Dan Fredrickson had his players switch to man defense and gave them a talk.

“Coach said we are champions, and we got to play like it,” said G-E guard Peter Hansen.

He said Fredrickson told them to “let the game come to you.”

Fredrickson said he told them that when they play high-quality competition, ”let’s take what they give us.” The Wolverines came out a new team in the second half, moving the ball around, getting it inside, grabbing rebounds, making 3-pointers the old-fashioned way and even getting an Alley Oop to Lau.

Glenville-Emmons closed the gap, but Bethlehem Academy still slowed the game. It remained tight for most of the second half.

By the time 2:19 was left, Glenville-Emmons was ahead 48-44, finally pulling away a little thanks to sound post moves and second shots off rebounds. Fredrickson called a timeout. After that, G-E just melted the clock, and the Cardinals had to foul. The Wolverines were hot on the night at the line, making 16 of 19 free throws for the night. Bethlehem Academy was five of 11.

In the last two minutes, the Cardinals seemed to tense up and couldn’t get shots to go in.

Forward Andrew Lau put on another scoring clinic, garnering 27 points for the game.

“I’m just glad we won,” he said.

He said the team settled itself down at the half and was able to come out and play their game in the second half.

With seconds left, Lau stole the ball and looked to put an exclamation mark on the game. Cardinal Tim Angell fouled Lau hard, sending him to the floor and to the line. Lau missed the first one but made the second.

Bethlehem Academy coach Franz Boelter said his team defended much better in the first half. He said his players lost some discipline in the second half.

He gave credit to the Wolverines for a good performance, calling them a “senior-laden ball club.” Bethlehem Academy starts one senior, three sophomores and a freshman, while G-E starts five seniors.

“I’m proud of us,” Boelter said. “Our days are ahead of us.”

The Wolverines play the Goodhue Wildcats at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. Goodhue is seeded No. 1 in the bracket, while G-E is No. 2.

The Wildcats defeated Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton 78-39 on Tuesday.

Click here to see a photo gallery from the game.

Click here to see a video from the game.

Glenville-Emmons

Andrew Lau 27, Peter Hansen 15, Tyler Woodside 8, Ryan Dempewolf 5, Wyatt Madson 3, Landon Hall 2

Bethlehem Academy

Kyle Filzen 16, Kirk Allen 13, Adam Clark 5, Tim Angell 5, Cullen Trnka 5, Mark Mahowald 3, Sam Jensen 2