Chargers to take on SESM one more time

NEW ULM -- There is a superstition in sports that states one of the hardest things to do is to beat the same team three times in one season.

Monday night, the Minnesota Valley Lutheran girls will attempt to do just that when they meet Sleepy Eye St. Mary's in the North sub-section title game 8 p.m. at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

The Chargers hold wins of 49-36 and 48-45 over the Knights this season. But Charger head coach Dave Biedenbender knows that his team is in for a close, tight contest.

"We beat them by 13 and three points; the three-point win was our first game after the injury to Sarah Gronholz," he said. "I expect it will be a very tight game."

The first-year coach feels that St. Mary's "is a very well-coached team. Bruce Woitas will have his team ready to go; I was told that he was a very good coach and seeing them play (against McLeod Wes) he made some adjustments in the game. Also, they are a good man-to-man defensive team and we need to be able to run our offensive sets decently against that. They do not over-extend full-court wise; they play a good half-court man defense, which we need to be ready for."

Biedenbender added that the Knights "have quite a few offensive threats. Nicole Steffl (5-foot-10) inside is a threat and we have to be prepared to stop her inside game. We must also be concerned about Ashley Mathiowetz from the outside (she had 15 points in the first game). She also likes to penetrate and we need to stop that."

Steffl did not play in that game due to an injury. "We zoned (Steffl) in the second game and they had trouble getting the ball into her. I know that (in the second game) Emily Schwartz had a good game (10 points)."

Biedenbender said that the Chargers defended Steffl with that zone and then pinched her in between Angie Unke and Jessica Merseth, something you will probably see MVL do again Monday.

With the two wins over St. Mary's, Biedenbender feels that his team may have a little psychological edge. "I think more of a psychological edge for us is that we have played so well coming into the (title game) and they have had a tough game with McLeod West (44-39 win). Knowing that we beat McLeod handily the second time, I think, that makes us feel good."

Biedenbender feels that the two easy wins coming into Monday's game "is good. Those wins prepared us for Monday ... Our defensive intensity will be the key."

NELSON IGNITES MVL: Gretta Nelson came off the bench Thursday and gave MVL a needed lift by scoring seven straight points, which made Biedenbender happy. "Gretta has improved so much; she is getting to the point where, in the last three or four games, she is getting more comfortable in the game."

Biedenbender said that preparing for a tournament game is different mentally. "You prepare different because it may be your last game."

KNIGHTS NEED TO HANDLE PRESSURE: Knight coach Bruce Woitas feels that his team has to be able to "handle MVL's pressure defense. They also do a lot of change-up defense. We feel that we have played them fairly tough both games, and we look forward to the challenge."

Woitas said "beating a team three times is overblown. The teams that we beat in the tournament we have beaten twice in the season, also. It is a whole new season. We need to eliminate turnovers and take care of the ball. We also need to control Erin Czer, Jessica Merseth and Leah Morgan.

"We have had close games all year and they haven't; we have had four or five overtime games and won them all. If we get into a close game, that may play to our advantage. Nobody is giving us much hope but we can't worry about what everyone else thinks. We'll come in relaxed and ready to play."

GAME NOTES: In both the first and second meetings, MVL outscored SESM 15-4 in the first quarter...The Chargers scored 31 and 29 points in the first half before being outscored in both second halfs...Merseth has scored 21 and 19 points in the two meetings.

BOYS TOURNAMENT NOTES: Tuesday night in tournament play, MVL will play Cleveland, a 56-49 winner over Lester Prairie. The Clippers enter with a 8-14 record. They have lost twice to Nicollet by 28 and 36 points. Enough said...When New Ulm Cathedral plays at Cedar Mountain that same night, CHS needs to have both Will Moeller and Joey Schugel hit double figures. They did in their first meeting and won. They didn't in the second contest and lost. The Hounds also must avoid their road woes. This year, CHS is 2-6 against conference foes on the road...If you are looking for a game to go overtime, go watch McLeod West and Sleepy Eye Public Tuesday. The Falcons own a 57-56 win at Sleepy Eye while the Indians won at McLeod West 55-54...New Ulm plays a tough Mankato East team Tuesday and it looks like their season will end then.

Column by Jim Bastian, Journal sports writer