Chargers defeat Tigers

BY JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM - Even a flu bug that hit four Minnesota Valley Lutheran Charger players --sidelining starter Jeff Dolan along with reserves Karl Struck and Shawn Black and weakened post Jake Firle -- could not stop MVL Friday night.

The Chargers erased an 18-16 first quarter deficit by outscoring Springfield 24-14 in the second quarter and ran off with a 75-5 win over the Tigers in Tomahawk Conference action.

Aaron Madson paced MVL 15-1;18-3) with 18 points to lead a balanced Charger offense. Bryant Polzin added 16, Jake Firle 14 and Jason Lohmiller 12.

Ryan Sturm topped Springfield,. 6-10 in the Tomahawk Conference, with `19 with Brandon Wilhelmi adding 15.

" I was pleased with the effort of the kids and especially with the play of Josh Dettmann and Aaron (Madson) who played strong for us," said Charger coach Craig Morgan. "We had some guys who played tonight - like Jake (Firle) who was sick today in school. With the players gone because they were sick, we had guys out there jelling together with our depth."

But battling the flu was not the only concern that the Chargers and Morgan had espcially after that first quarter. Tiger Ryan Sturm came out and canned his all five of his shots from the field and buried one of his two 3-balls in the first eight minutes to lead Springfield to an 18-16 first quarter lead with the senior accounting for 13 of the 18 Springfield points.

"We did play good defense on him in that (first) quarter, "commented Morgan. "He plays hard and is a good player who can shoot from the outside or the inside."

The Chargers, who trailed by a 15-10 mark midway through the opening quarter, used a Madson basket followed by a Jason Lohmiller hoop to take a 20-18 lead early in the second quarter. Pat O'Leary's trey regained the lead for the Tigers before rebound baskets by Bryant Polzin and Lohmiller gave MVL a 24-21 lead with two minutes gone in the second quarter.

It would be a lead that they would hang onto the rest of the game.

The first of two treys from Madson ignited a 12-5 run that saw MVL gain momentum and a 36-28 with 2:40 left in the half when Firle was found wide open under the Tiger basket after a Springfield miss.

It was also a quarter when the Chargers shut down Sturm, holding him to just two points.

"We backed off a little bit and tried to play inside the lane a little more, "Morgan said. "We tried to get out on the floor more - we had Jake guarding the smaller guys shooting the three's and Josh hit him on the long pass."

"We just just tried to stick on him (Sturm) tighter, help out on his drives, and make sure that he did not get any open shots," said Firle who added seven rebounds and a blocked shot to his night's work.

MVL increased their lead by outscoring Springfield 9-0 to begin the third quarter as the Tigers missed their first four shots of the quarter with Madson banging home a trey and Lohmiller and Firle getting baskets inside for a 47-32 lead one minute into the second half.

"Our big guys really played well again," said Morgan about his three big men who were responsible for 42 of the Chargers 75 points."They passed together and really worked well. With the three-some that we have inside, they have jelled together.It has been key for us to get those big guys to shoot. They also go to the boards strong."

MVL held onto that 15-point lead to close out the third quarter as Andy Beilke buried a trey and Madson hit a bucket as the buzzer sounded to end the quarter.

Firle's three-point play and a Jake Beilke 3-ball saw MVL comfortably ahead 68-49 with three minutes gone in the final quarter.

"I was just wore down because of the flu," commented Firle. "But we knew that with guys out because of being sick so we had to step it up no matter what condition we were in."

MVL also won the "B" game 64-53. Andy Shoop and Andy Beilke each netted 12 for MVL with Abe Krueger and Blll Vogel both scoring 17 for the Tigers.