Eagles fall to Giants 64-41

BY JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM - When you are a team coming off a 4-19 season, you need to make sure that each possession in your first game of the new season leads to points.

For New Ulm High School, possessions by the Eagles in the first quarter led to 11 turnovers and nine points for Le Suer-Henderson as the Giants jumped to a 17-5 lead after one quarter and downed the Eagles 64-41 Tuesday night in non-conference girl's basketball.

Sarah Rivere led the Giants with a game-high 20 points and Lynnea Bender added 11.

Brittany Gorres paced the Eagles with 11 points.

"This was a tough loss," said first-year Eagles' coach Brad Metter. ":I saw some positive things tonight on the floor but I also saw a lot of things that we need to work on. But I did see some positive things and one of those things is that we do not let down. They continued to play hard all the way through the end. We had girls hustling at the end (of the game) and still coming up with steals for us."

But it would be turnovers - 11 in the first quarter and 23 in the game - that allowed LeSueur-Henderson to grab a 17-5 lead after one quarter and never really look back.

The Giants led 7-3 as the Eagles used a rebound basket from Amanda Rosenau and a free throw from Brittany Gorres to pull to within those four points.

But then New Ulm would allow the turnovers to let the Giants expand that lead from 7-3 to 17-3 as the Eagles went scoreless for almost five minutes and trailed 17-5 at the first break when Gorres hit a jumper with :25 left in the quarter.

"We made some mental mistakes - we did a nice job of pushing the ball up the court - but we made some passes that we shouldn't have made. The girls were a little over-anxious in wanting to make things happen that just weren't quite there yet and have them develop."

Sarah Riviere, who would come off the bench for the Giants to score her 20 points, took advantage of the miscues and hit for three straight baskets before getting an assist on a A.J. Schuter trey for a 16-3 lead.

But New Ulm would whittle away at the lead and slice it to 22-12 on a Gorres' 3-ball with 4:20 left in the first half.

However the Eagles hit a two minute scoring drought which allowed the Giants to increase that 10-point lead to 27-12 when Riviere finished off a three-point play with just over two minutes remaining in the first half.

That momentum by the Giants, who held a 29-16 halftime lead, continued in the third quarter taking leads of 36-18 on a Riviere trey and ballooned that margin to 41-21 with 3:12 left in the third quarter.

"We were pretty upbeat going into that third quarter,' commented Metter. "We were nervous in that first quarter - played better basketball in the second quarter - and were upbeat going into that third quarter. But we gave them some easy baskets; they (LeSueur-Henderson) are going to be a good team. They moved the ball well and shot the ball well."

The Giants would take a 52-25 lead after three quarters thanks to an 11-0 run at the end of the quarter.

"We were not aggressive enough in the passing lane; we did not have a hand in their face. But I was pleased with our hustle; we did not give up," said Metter."I was a little concerned about our conditioning because of our loss of practices that we have had. I was also happy with the way that we pushed the ball up the floor; there were a lot of positive things."

New Ulm also lost the ":B" game 43-17. Megan Schuetzle led New Ulm with six points.

LESUEUR-HENDERSON 17-12-23-12=64

NEW ULM 5-11-9-16=41

LESUEUR-HENDERSON (64): Riviere 20, Bender 11, Stockwell 8, Schulter 6, Schaffler 5, Quiram 4, Thelman 4, Bachus 2, Lueck 2, Sunderman 2.

NEW ULM (41): Gorres 11, Rosenau 8, Flor 6, Drill 6, Stueber 5, Kitzberger 3, Hauge 2..