Chargers cruise to win

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Perhaps the biggest cheer in Minnesota Valley Lutheran's 93-46 win over Cleveland in Section 2-1A North Subsection tournament action came with just over three minutes left in the game when reserve Benjamin Leyrer hit a jump shot from the right wing.

Leyrer's basket, coming off the 36th turnover committed by the Clippers in the game, meant that all rostered players on the Chargers' lineup scored in the 19th straight MVL win.

Dan Unke led MVL (22-2) with a game-high 16 points. Justin Ohm added 12 and Tom Metzger 10 in the blowout win.

Andy Dauk led Cleveland (8-15) with nine points.

MVL will now meet the Sleepy Eye/McLeod West winner Thursday, 5 p.m., at Martin Luther College in New Ulm.

"The guys wanted to set the tone of what they can do," said MVL coach Craig Morgan. "We did not have a very good practice at all yesterday, but we thought that if we came out with intensity and put pressure on (Cleveland), they could not handle the pressure."

MVL did and Cleveland didn't.

The Chargers jumped to an 8-0 lead and then expanded that to a comfortable 18-2 margin with less than half of the first quarter gone. MVL's defense forced six Clippers' turnovers in the 10-2 run following two made Cleveland free throws. Ohm's trey and a Metzger basket off an errant Clipper pass made it 13-2 as Cleveland coach Kyle Atherton was forced to burn two quick timeouts in the first two minutes of the game.

The Clippers' John Wobbrock canned two baskets to cut the lead to 18-6 before MVL's defense forced five turnovers and took a huge 32-14 lead after one quarter on two baskets by Aaron Madson off the Clippers' 12th and 13th turnovers of the first quarter.

The Chargers would score 42 points off the 36 Cleveland turnovers in the game.

The Clippers scored the first four points of the second quarter but would not score again until there were just over two minutes remaining in the first half.

By then, MVL had ballooned that 32-18 lead into a 50-18 cushion as Charger reserves Shawn Black, Madson and Jon Beilke hit for baskets.

"There was a span (late in the second quarter) where our subs increased the lead," commented Morgan. "They did not hold the lead steady but increased it, and that is the ability that this team has with our depth. They (reserves) can keep leads or increase them; they all play solid defense."

Jason Lohmiller's bucket to end the first half saw MVL ahead 54-21 as Cleveland had more turnovers (25) than points (21) in the first 16 minutes.

MVL would hold leads of 42 points (66-24) on the second dunk of the game by Ohm, 45 points (77-32) at the end of three quarters and take their biggest lead of the game at 51 points, 85-34, on reserve Jeff Dolan's basket, again courtesy of the 33rd turnover by Cleveland.

"You don't want to bury a team bad like that," Morgan said. "Everyone just wanted to score and have fun."

Did the Chargers want that 100-point mark?

"No," said Morgan. "They all just wanted to score."

CLEVELAND 14-7-11-14--46

MVL 32-22-23-16--93

CLEVELAND (46): A. Dauk 9, Johnson 7, Wobbrock 7, Page 6, Starke 5, B. Dauk 4, Ploog 3, Gemscheid 2, Voit 2, Franz 1.

MVL (93): Unke 16, Ohm 12, Metzger 10, Pfeifer 9, Madson 8, Liggett 6, Ja. Beilke 5, Black 4, Polzin 4, Lohmiller 4, Dettman 3, Jo. Beilke 3, Bendix 3, Dolan 2, Leyrer 2, Firle 2.