MVL wins defensive battle

NEW ULM -- The matchup Tuesday night between the Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers and Sleepy Eye St. Mary's Knights showed just how competitive the Tomahawk Conference will be this year in girls basketball.

Defense was the name of the game, but the Chargers were the winners of the game, taking a 50-42 victory that kept the Knights with a perfect 4-0 overall record on the season.

"I thought we played against a good team," Chargers coach Dave Biedenbender said. "We knew we'd be in for a fight. The Knights played great defense, and that's something we haven't seen up to this point. The bottom line is we came out with an eight point win and I'm happy with that."

For the Knights, it may have come down to some missed opportunities.

"We played good defense," St. Mary's coach Bruce Woitas said. "We gave them a few second chances. I think we had blocked shots and they got the points. You've got to give our kids credit. They got more second chances and took advantage of them."

St. Mary's got off to a quick start, nailing the first four points of the game with buckets from Laura Huiras and Maria Gangelhoff. But after two Knights turnovers that resulted in consecutive layups for MVL's Karissa Kramer, the game was tied and the defenses took over.

Molly Mathiowetz had three blocked shots in two later plays, but it was MVL's Laura Hunter who made back-to-back hoops for an 8-4 Chargers lead. There were few chances for the Knights to go inside for points, so a three-pointer towards the end of the opening quarter by Mary Spaeth cut the Chargers' lead to 10-7 and kept the Knights close.

After nine turnovers in the first quarter, St. Mary's settled down in the second and stayed with the Chargers with continued tough defense, hitting six of nine from the free throw line and just three turnovers that resulted in no MVL points. For the Chargers, it was about offensive rebounds, plus five points from Eva Voss that gave MVL a slim 22-18 margin at halftime.

There were four plays in the third quarter that may have had a major influence on the final outcome. The first two were consecutive treys by Kramer to start the third, giving the Chargers some breathing space at 28-21. The final two were three more Mathiowetz blocked shots that resulted in buckets by the Chargers Hunter and Krohn to open up a 32-23 margin for MVL.

"The two three-pointers pushed us away and that made us feel a little more relaxed," Biedenbender said.

The final quarter started with a 38-29 Charger lead, but the Knights went on a 6-2 offensive run that cut the Chargers' lead to 40-35. MVL then had ball-control trouble, with a hoop and free throw by Maria Gangelhoff after a Chargers miscue, making it 45-40 Chargers with 1:38 to play.

But MVL went into a pass-and-stall offensive mode to draw fouls, resulting in two freebies by Voss with 1:10 left that made it 47-40, followed by a another Voss score with :40 left that gave MVL a 49-40 lead and the eventual 50-42 win.

Voss led the Chargers with 15 points, followed by Kramer with 11. Gangelhoff led the Knights with 15 points, three rebounds, two steals and three assists. Mathiowetz had seven points, seven rebounds, six blocked shots and three steals.

In B-squad action, MVL won 42-41.

Both teams play again at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, with the Chargers playing Cedar Mountain in Morgan, while the Knights host New Ulm Cathedral.