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January 12, 2000
MVL downs CougarsBy BOB VARMETTE Journal Sports Writer NEW ULM -- They're just too tall -- for everybody. Of course, they wouldn't actually say that to their opponents. The Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers' twin towers -- junior Sarah Gronholz and freshman Jessica Merseth -- combined for 26 points and led the Chargers past the Cedar Mountain Cougars 52-38 Tuesday night in Tomahawk Conference girls basketball. The 5-foot-11 Merseth topped three Chargers in double figures with 16 points and the 6-foot-1 Gronholz added 10 points -- all in the first half. Gronholz also had five rebounds and seven blocked shots. "We are tall, you've got to give us that," Gronholz said. Yeah, you do. The Chargers' heighth was the key factor in their rally from a nine-point deficit after the first quarter. MVL fell behind when Cedar Mountain (6-3, 4-3) shot 7-for-15, including 2-for-3 from the field, in the opening quarter. "They came out really, really tough," Merseth said. "They were really hot on their shots. And they were boxing out like crazy, doing a good job of rebounding. It took us a little while, but we got into our game." That game was the inside kind. After shooting only 4-for-14 from the field in the first quarter, MVL (7-3, 6-1) went to its twin towers of doom. Gronholz was 3-for-3 from the field in the quarter and Merseth was 3-for-4. Down 17-8 to the Cougars, the Chargers started the second quarter with Gronholz on the bench with two fouls. She came back in with 6:34 in the half and -- with Merseth -- helped take the Chargers on a 10-0 run to start the quarter. MVL took its first lead of the game with 4:17 in the second quarter when Merseth got loose inside and put the Chargers up 18-17. In the MVL run, Cedar Mountain was 0-for-9 from the field and committed seven turnovers. The Cougars committed 10 turnovers for the quarter and 28 for the game. It was all brought about by the Chargers' switch to a man-to-man press from the zone they opened with. "Their pressure killed us," Cedar Mountain coach Kent Thiesen said. "In the first quarter, we did some things pretty well. Then the pressure came and we got out of control." Once the ball left the Cougars' hands, it went quickly down court with the typical result a Chargers' basket. "We didn't help," Thiesen said. "Anytime they came up with pressure -- you have to give them credit -- they ran the floor well. They created the opportunities and they converted them." The press not only forced the Cedar Mountain turnovers, but they also forced a very ragged offense that produced few good looks for the Cougars. And when they actually got a decent look, it often got swatted back in their face by Gronholz. Gronholz blocked three shots in the critical second quarter. "I love those blocked shots," Gronholz said. "It's just like going up there and saying, 'Get it out of here.'" While Gronholz dominated on defense, Merseth took over offensively with junior forward Erin Czer, who finished with 13 points. Merseth picked up four points in the third quarter and Czer had eight points as MVL continued the charge it started in the second quarter by outscoring the Cougars16-5 despite only shooting 7-for-21 from the field. "Jessica is a real good athlete," MVL coach John Barenz said. "She's able to make those shots even with people in her face." The Cougars -- faced with hands in their faces for the last three quarters -- shot 8-for-45 (17.8 percent). Junior forward Kelly Mace led Cedar Mountain with 11 points. Senior forward Kristi Krenz added seven points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for the Cougars. "I think (Cedar Mountain) came out hot," Barenz said. "They got a nice lift. I thought we were still playing good defense. It's just they were making good shots. "We switched to the half-court trap and we looked to take away the outside looks for them. We had good pressure from Gretta Nelson all game long. She had a good game at point for us." In the junior varsity game, MVL decisioned Cedar Mountain, 35-26. Cedar Mountain will host Sleepy Eye at Morgan Friday in a Tomahawk Conference game. MVL will also be in Tomahawk Conference action Friday when they meet Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop in Winthrop. CEDAR MOUNTAIN 17 4 5 12--38 MVL 8 21 16 7--52 CEDAR MOUNTAIN (38): Kerkhoff 0-1 0-0 0, Koenig 1-1 0-0 2, Mathiowetz 2-7 1-2 5, C.Distad 2-13 1-2 5, Mace 4-14 2-2 11, Johnson 2-7 1-3 5, Christensen 1-5 1-2 4, Krenz 3-9 1-2 7, Seifert 0-0 0-0 0, Stokesbary 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 15-60 6-9 38. MVL (52): Nelson 1-4 0-0 2, Standing 1-1 0-0 2, Grams 0-0 0-0 0, Bruns 0-0 2-2 2, Morgan 2-9 0-0 4, Madson 1-3 0-0 2, Czer 4-11 5-7 13, Gronholz 5-10 0-0 10, Olson 0-1 0-0 0, Dzwonkowski 0-0 0-0 0, Merseth 8-16 0-0 16, Enter 1-1 1-2 3, Doehling 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-57 8-11 52. 3-point goals--CM 2-6 (Mace 1-1, Christensen 1-2, C.Distad 0-3), MVL 0-1 (Czer 0-1). Fouled out--None. Total fouls--CM 11, MVL 18. Rebounds--CM 39 (Krenz 10), MVL 43 (Morgan 6). Turnovers--CM 28, MVL 23.
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