MVL tops St. James in subsection final

By DAVE CLARK

Journal Sports Writer

MANKATO - No clever leads needed for this game. Let's cut right to the quick.

The Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers boys basketball team grabbed the 2002 Section 2-2A West Subsection Championship Monday night at the Taylor Center in Mankato with a thrilling 57-51 win over the St. James Saints.

"Not too many of our guys are going to ride the bus home," said Chargers coach Craig Morgan. "They're going to float."

The subsection championship marked the Chargers 25th win against just two losses, and snapped a ten-game win streak for the Saints, who end their season at 21-5. It puts the Chargers two wins away from a trip to the state tournament in St. Paul next weekend, with their next game, the Section 2A Class 2A Championship, coming this Friday night at 8 p.m. at the Taylor Center.

The game featured everything except a Saints lead, and it could be argued that MVL won the game in the first quarter. The Chargers ran off to a 8-2 lead, but St. James roared back and eventually tied the game at 9-9 for their closest look at the lead all night.

MVL's Aaron Madson quickly nailed a trey to put the Chargers back in front 12-9, followed by the main reason the Saints eventually lost the game: a first quarter turnover that led to Chargers points.

MVL led after the opening eight minutes 21-13, with 11 of those points coming courtesy of ten Saints turnovers. "The kids came out strong in the first quarter, but it was nip and tuck the rest of the way," said Morgan. "The Saints made some defensive adjustments along the way."

Those adjustments came late in the second quarter, as the Chargers outscored the Saints 8-1 and held their biggest lead of the game, 29-16, with two minutes to play in the half. St. James then scored the next six points, four from the free throw line, to end the half down just seven, 29-22.

But while the Saints reduced their turnovers in the second quarter to just three, they only grabbed one offensive rebound, and didn't seem comfortable going against MVL's game long full court press.

Both teams scored ten points in the third quarter, leaving the final stanza open for thrills and a 39-32 Chargers lead. The Saints began with three unanswered hoops to pull within one, 39-38.

The teams then began pulling out the three point shots that had been missing all night. Madson hit his second one of the night, followed by the Saints Nate Ewert, then MVL's Jacob Bielke. With 3:10 left in the game, the Chargers clung to a 45-44 lead.

Madson then nailed his third trey, with St. James' Tyler Kaus hitting his first three pointer, and it was 48-47 MVL.

With 1:36 left, MVL's Bryant Polzin hit two free throws, and the MVL lead was 52-49. Derek Lanoe then hit a hoop for the Saints, and MVL fouled Kaus with 38.3 seconds left, giving St. James a chance for their first lead of the game.

But Kaus missed both attempts, and the Chargers hit five of their next six freebies, so now MVL plays either Hayfield or Waterville-Elysian-Morristown on Friday night.

Jacob Firle played an outstanding inside and short game for the Chargers and he led all scorers with 22, with Madson adding 10 for MVL. The Saints were led by Greg Burman with 11 and Kaus with 10.

MVL - 21 8 10 18 - 57

St. James - 13 9 10 19 - 51