MVL dominates Raiders in first game

By STEVE RODEWALD

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- The Minnesota Valley Lutheran girls basketball team started the season off with a flurry, dominating Nicollet from start to finish in winning 74-33 Tuesday night.

"I feel like it was a good start," MVL coach Dave Biedenbender said. "Obviously you want to come out and play a great game."

The Chargers started off hitting four of their first five shots including a couple of three-pointers. Then the Chargers went cold by missing seven straight, but were able to keep the Raiders at bay with a suffocating defense that made things tough all night on them.

Klare Swenson kept the Raiders in the game with six first quarter points. The quarter ended with the Chargers leading 19-9.

The Chargers came out firing on all cylinders in the second quarter in building a 32-14 lead, promping coach Kevin Christenson to call timeout.

Karissa Kramer and Amanda Dettman were able to get numerous steals and easy layups which made things very difficult for the Raiders. The half ended with the Chargers up 38-18.

The third quarter started out very sloppy for both teams, with the Chargers missing their first seven shots.

But Nicollet was unable to make any kind of dent in the Chargers lead. The Chargers defense was able to bottle up Swenson, who had eight points at halftime.

This played right into the Chargers hand as they were able to score many easy baskets and the Raiders found getting shots off very difficult.

"I thought we played great defense,we handled the ball well, we passed the ball well and looked real sharp," Beidenbender said. "I thought we shot the ball well from the outside, and that will help open up the inside."

Karissa Kramer led the way for the Chargers with 20 points, seven steals and five assists.

Kristin Patterson added 15 points while Cara Hanson had eight.

"Next week we play Wabasso, so we've got to be ready for the diamond press," Biedendbender said. " They've got two outstanding players in Amanda Fennern and Katie Schumacher, if we can neutralize them then I think we will have a successful game."

The Chargers (1-0) host Wabasso at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Shannon Renne led the Raiders with 11 points while Swenson scored eight.

"We've got some things we can build on," Christenson said. "It's not just one thing, there's so many areas, we're not doing anything really well, so we have to stop and think, where do we start from, what do we work on first."

The Raiders (0-2) host Catherdral at 7:30 Monday.