Wabasso downs Chargers

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- If you are looking for a statistic as to why the Wabasso Rabbits topped the Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers Friday night, you need only to gaze at both team's three-point shooting.

Wabasso hit on 8 of 23 shots from three-point land -- including a sizzling 5-of-6 in the first quarter -- while the Chargers misfired on all 17 missiles as the Rabbits stopped the Chargers' 10-game winning streak with a 94-82 win.

Brent Baune hit for a game-high 31 points to lead four Rabbits in double figures. Matt Samyn added 18, Dan Mathiowetz tossed in 16 and Jase Guetter 10 as Wabasso improved to 12-1 in the Tomahawk Conference and 16-1 overall.

Samyn added 12 rebounds with Mathiowetz garnering nine. Wabasso had 37 rebounds in the game.

Jake Firle paced the Chargers (9-4;12-5) with 24 points and scored his 1,000 career point midway through the first period. He now has 1,016 career points. Dustin Lange contributed 12 while David Petersen, Nate Nass and Andy Beilke each scored 10.

"The kids played really hard despite some of the mistakes that we made," said Charger coach Craig Morgan. "Their pressure was really tough (27 Charger turnovers in the game) -- they double-teamed us really hard. But we gave them too many second chance shots in the second half -- they must have had 20 second-chance shots (12 points on rebounds or putbacks)."

"We knew coming in that this was going to be a hard game," said Rabbit coach Ryan Swanson. "After they beat (Sleepy Eye) St. Mary's we knew that we were in for a real dogfight."

But for the first quarter it appeared that the Rabbits would be content to just sit outside that three-point arc and fire away as they used that 3-ball to erase a 12-8 Charger lead (which came on a Firle rebound for his 1,000th career point) and hold a 27-18 lead when Alex Plotz hit back-to-back treys and Baune ended the first eight minutes with a 3-ball with 20 seconds left for a 31-20 Wabasso lead.

"We like to take those shots," commented Swanson."We take quite a few attempts -- it is one of the easier shots to get up so if you can hit a good percentage of them, it is a good way to score some points."

But the Chargers would use buckets from Dustin Lange and Andy Beilke and a free throw from Mark Thiesfeldt to slice the Rabbit lead to 31-25 early in the second quarter

A Baune trey preceded a basket by Baune on a Charger turnover for a 40-27 lead.

But following an MVL timeout, the Chargers outscored Wabasso 12-2 to battle back to within 42-39. Two free throws by Andrew Shop sparked the run as David Petersen, Dustin Lendt nd Dustin Lange keyed the comeback.

"We were lucky to go hot right away," said Swanson who saw his team's three-point accuracy drop to 1-of-6 in the second quarter. 'They kept coming back."

That momentum swing by the Chargers -- an 11-5 run to end the first half -- continued in the second half as a 47-42 Wabasso lead was cut to a precarious 49-48 lead as Lange and Firle hit for baskets just one minute into the third quarter.

"We made some adjustments (at halftime)," said Morgan." We moved our defense and brought our big guys further back and had our guards come up and loop over the top. We had some guys who handled the ball better (only 11 turnovers in the second half)."

The Chargers,who host New Ulm Cathedral on Monday, hung tough with Wabasso, scoring the last four points of the third quarter, trailing only 67-62.

MVL would trail only 83-80 on a Beilke rebound basket but the Rabbits scored the next five points led by a Baune assist on a basket by Jase Guetter and two Baune free throws with :51 left in the game.

"He (Baune) distributed the ball well -- he was throwing up at halftime and during the game,' said Swanson. "He got injured but he is a real fighter for us."

The Chargers tried to cut into the Rabbit lead with the 3-ball but missed on all nine shots from beyond the arc.

"We had to try to keep up with two-point baskets and we could not hit the threes," Morgan said. "We just did not have the shooters that they have. If we get a couple of those (three-point shots) made at the right time we're all right. We work on it in practice but I think that our (three-point shooting) is a tribute to their defense -- they were on our face all night."

MVL won the "B" game 66-40. David Petersen led the Chargers with 15 with Tyler Morgan adding 13. Colin Froehlich led Wabasso with 11.

WABASSO 31 16 20 27--94

MVL 20 22 20 20--82

WABASSO (94) Baune 31, Samyn 18, Mathiowetz 16, Guetter 10, Plotz 8, Plaetz 5, Riley 2, N. Baune 2, Sobocinski 2.

MVL (82): Firle 24, Lange 12, Petersen 10, Nass 10, Beilke 10, Shoop 4, Lendt 4, Harpestad 4, Thiesfeldt 3, Struck 1.