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March 11, 2000
4th quarterpropels MVLto section titleBy PAUL DUNLAP Journal Sports Editor MANKATO -- Good teams step it up in the fourth quarter. Friday night at MSU-Mankato's Otto Arena, that team was Minnesota Valley Lutheran. The Chargers blew open a tight game with a 16-4 scoring edge in the final stanza to win the Section 2A girls basketball championship 52-32 over Nicollet. MVL, now 21-5 on the season, advances to the Class A State Tournament where they will face Section 1A champion Kenyon-Wanamingo. The game will be played at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Otto Arena in Mankato. "I just think it was a total team effort," Charger coach John Barenz said. "We had some individuals who were really nervous, but they gutted it out and helped us out in a big way. Players like Hannah Enter and Julie Dzwonkowski, they both gave us a huge lift off the bench." "MVL stepped it up and played a really nice game," said Raider coach Kevin Christenson, whose team ends its season with a 21-5 mark. "I thought, going in, the key would be who could get to the loose balls and who gets all the rebounds ... it really seemed like MVL got to those and gave themselves a lot of opportunities." Both teams came out timid to start the game, and the turnover total would rise very early. A pair of Sarah Gronholz buckets gave MVL an early edge, and Jessica Merseth came through with a pair of her own as the Chargers went up 10-8 after one. The problem was the fact the two teams combined for 12 turnovers in the opening eight minutes. "We worked on a number of different ways to break (Nicollet's press)," said Barenz, who saw his team commit 26 total turnovers to Nicollet's 25. "We were running a pattern break, which might have been a mistake, and I adjusted it a little bit. After that, to our credit, I thought we did a nice job -- we're good dribblers but it seems like we're afraid to dribble at times." Two more baskets from Gronholz gave MVL a four-point edge early in the second, but a 7-2 Nicollet run capped off by Joslyn Hornung's bucket swung the momentum back in the Raiders; favor. Erin Czer and Dzwonkowski each had three-point plays late in the half, and an Enter putback in the final seconds gave MVL a slight 24-22 lead at the break. "At half, we're down two and telling the kids that the nerves are gone -- just go out and play," Christenson said. "We didn't rebound as well as we would have liked to and didn't get to as many loose balls as I thought we would, but I was confident in the second half that we'd come out and do that. MVL came out and matched or maybe improved upon our intensity in the second half." The Chargers scored six of the first eight points to gain a 30-24 lead after thebreak, but a Chalsey Truebenbach bucket followed by two free throws from Melissa Cords once again made it a two-point game. That's when the run started. Gronholz hit a runner and another bucket off an Enter feed, and Heidi Madson's two free throws ended the third-quarter scoring with MVL on top 36-28. Nicollet couldn't get anything going offensively until Truebenbach's two free throws with 6:21 left, ending the nine-point run and cutting the lead to 39-30. "I think (the run) all started with our defense," Barenz said. "We were switching defenses quite frequently, and the keys to our defense are perimeter pressure but also to get the board. I thought we did both in the fourth quarter." The rebounding edge was 16-2 in favor of the Chargers in that final eight minutes, and every loose ball was going MVL's way. Three different times in the quarter the second free throw of a one-and-one was missed, and three different times the Chargers came up with it. "What we needed tonight was the ultimate defensive effort," Christenson said. "We weren't making our shots, and it seemed every time MVL would make the first free throw, miss the second, and still get the board. That was huge." The Raiders didn't score again until 2:25 remained, and by that time the Chargers had built a 44-30 advantage. After Jessica Koppendrayer's steal and bucket stopped the bleeding, Czer and Enter made six straight free throws as MVL took the section title and the trip to state. "Erin Czer hit huge free throws at the end of the game for us," Barenz said. "Everybody ... Leah Morgan was outstanding handling the ball, Jessica Merseth ... Sarah Gronholz dominating the boards. It was just a nice team effort." Gronholz finished the game with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Merseth had 10 pointsand six boards before fouling out, and seven of Czer's nine points came from the line. Truebenbach's eight points led the Raiders. Cords had seven, and Krista Kettner ended with six points and six boards. "I don't know if I want to keep them down to earth -- this is a great win for these kids," Barenz said. "I hope they enjoy it. Come Monday, we'll get back to work." NICOLLET 8 14 6 4--32 MVL 10 14 12 16--52 NICOLLET (32): Truebenbach 8, Cords 7, Kettner 6, Wright 4, Koppendrayer 4, Hornung 2, Brown 1. MVL (52): Gronholz 16, Merseth 10, Czer 9, Morgan 6, Madson 4, Enter 4, Dzwonkowski 3.
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