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March 17, 2000
Charged upBy JIM BASTIAN Journal Sports Writer NEW ULM -- March Madness becomes a little more intense today for the Minnesota Valley Lutheran girls basketball team when the Chargers invade Williams Arena for their semifinal game against Ogilvie at 1 p.m. The game can also be seen on KMSP-TV. MVL is entering with a 22-5 season record while the Lions of Ogilvie, who play in the Great River Conference, come in at 23-4. "We know very little about them," said Charger head coach John Barenz. "They seem to be smaller than us; their tallest player is 6-foot but then the rest of their players are 5-foot-7 or smaller. They like to run the fastbreak and like to play a diamond press similiar to what some teams do in the Tomahawk Conference. "Plus, they have a very good point guard who likes to drive to the the basket, and they really live or die on the 3-point shot." Barenz feels that when a team like MVL gets to this point in the state tournament, one of only four teams left in Class A, it is a matter of not being so much concerned about what the opposing team does best but what his team does best. "All season long it has been a concern of doing what we do best," he said. "It is a matter of carrying out the fundamentals of both our offense and defense as best as we can. We've been moderately concerned about that." One thing that Barenz and the Chargers will look to do is to take advantage of their height advantage with 6-foot junior Sarah Gronholz and 5-foot-11 freshman Jessica Merseth on the inside. The Chargers also have a height advantage from the perimeter, with sophomore Leah Morgan at 5-foot 10, and 5-foot 8 junior Erin Czer. They can also bring off the bench Julie Dzwonkowski, who is 5-foot 10. "We absolutely will try to use (height) to our advantage, especially if they a zone defense like we hear that they do," Barenz said. "We will try to push the ball inside. If they play a man-to-man defense, we will still try and push that ball inside to Sarah and Jessica." Barenz feels that the keys to an MVL win will be their ability to get the ball inside. "Our two post players then have to make their shots. But also, as we have stressed all season, is that we have to make good decisions with the ball." Defensively, the Chargers have to look to stop 5-foot-6 Lindsay Johnson, who scores 16.9 points a game, and the tallest girl on the Lion team, 6-foot Gretta Stritesky, who scores 15.4 points a game. Those two have scored 32 of the 66 points a game that Ogilvie is averaging. "We will try to do the same things that we have been doing the last four or five games, using four different defenses and rotating them on each possession." Barenz has "a little concern" that all of the hoopla surrounding the state tournament may distract the team a little from the game. "The kids have been pretty good about it; we have treated if like another game. We are not treating this like a pleasure trip; we are going up there and have fun, but we want to play as well as we can. "A lot of people are excited. The fan support has been tremendous and, in a sense, almost overwhelmed by the attention and support from all around." Barenz hopes to stress several things to the team prior to the game. "In terms of playing the game, we will stress that rebounding is extremely important to us -- that has given us the edge all year. Second, we have to make good decisions on offense. "Also I want to stress, as we have all season, that we are here because we have been very blessed by God and now have an opportunity to play this game in the best way that we possibly can with the talents tha He has given us."
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