Morgan happy with effort of Charger boys

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Minnesota Valley Lutheran coach Craig Morgan said he was "happy with the effort" in his team's 84-67 win over Cedar Mountain Tuesday night.

"We shot the ball much better this game and our defense caused some turnovers, and our rebounding was a big part of the win," he said.

Another of the big concerns Morgan has this season is the Chargers' rebounding.

"We did a nice job there," Morgan said. "We outrebounded them 29-19 in the game."

MVL was led by Justin Ohm, who threw in what Morgan described as a "quiet 24 points. I didn't even realize that he had that many points."

Morgan also praised the play of Jason Lohmiller, who started for the Chargers and scored 16 points and hauled down seven rebounds, and Tom Metzger, who added 12 points.

"Tom has been consistent for us (in scoring) and had a nice floor game with his passing,"commented Morgan. "Jason got a lot of his by finding the hole and we got the ball to him underneath. He also had some good second-effort baskets."

Morgan added Jesse Pfeifer "didn't have a lot of points, but his floor game was also well-played. He was quiet scoring-wise, which is not a problem for us. But Jesse got the ball inside and kicked it out to either Justin or Tom. Jesse did a nice job going inside out."

Morgan also liked the Chargers' ball movement on offense. "We didn't rush the offense. We looked inside. We were aggressive on defense and patient on offense. Our defense caused some turnovers. When I put guys in, they executed well."

The earlier loss to Sleepy Eye High was due in part to the poor outside shooting by the Chargers against the Indian zone defense.

"I told the guys (after the loss) that if you rely on that outside shooting, that is what is going to happen to you. You have to come back and play defense," he said.

DEPTH HELPS MVL: This season, the Chargers are blessed with quality depth and that came into play in the win over the Cougars.

"By halftime, we had used 12 players in the game, and all 15 players on our varsity saw playing time in the win," Morgan said.

"Our reserves work just as hard as the starters do in practice. Each one of them brings something different and when you get them in during the right situation, it is getting better and better each game."

The Chargers are now off until Dec. 27 when they play in the Bethany Christmas Tournament. Their first game will be at 6 p.m. Dec. 27 against a Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial team that is currently 5-0.

"We have some days to practice and we can stick some things in to our offense and work on tuning up the defense," Morgan said. "We have some things to work on the next three days and then when we come back on Tuesday."

Morgan said Dan Unke "may practice on Friday and go all-out (in practice) on Tuesday. We will try and get him a minute or two in the tournament."

HOUNDS PLAY WITH MORE INTENSITY: Despite the 71-65 loss to a very good Sleepy Eye High team Tuesday night, New Ulm Cathedral coach Dan Wolfe was happy with the intensity of his squad.

"We had a lot more intensity then we had last game (a two-point loss to McLeod West)," he said. "We had an 11-point lead early in the second quarter before Sleepy Eye made a little run to close out the half," he said. "The second half was the difference in our inability to keep them off the foul line. They went to the foul line 31 times. Defensively, we are still a half-step slow, but our kids know that we have to improve on that."

Wolfe said the players on the team "know that they have to make a strong commitment to playing defense. In the end, you are not going to win games unless you can stop people on defense and rebound. We had very few turnovers in the game. They made 11 more free throws than we did and in a six-point game, that was big."

Wolfe, whose team will also play in the Bethany tournament at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 27 against St. Clair, said Sleepy Eye High made some big shots down the stretch that turned the momentum.

"We needed to play some better defense in that second half," Wolfe said. "We held (David) Ludewig to two points in the first half, but he ended up with 18 points in the second half. He got two 3s late in the game when we went to a zone defense, but I thought that we looked much better than the game before."

Wolfe said "the loss was a hard lesson for our kids to learn, but it is early in the season and it is a lesson that sometimes you have to learn to become a better team."

HADLEY PLAYS BIG: A successful team has to have a good point guard and the Indians, now 4-0 overall and in first place in the Tomahawk Conference at 3-0, have one in Josh Hadley.

"He did a nice job in the second half of pushing the ball up the court," commented Wolfe. "He got 10 defensive rebounds. When your point guard gets those kinds of rebounds, usually it is a longer rebound and you can push the ball up the floor."

Hadley also was key at the free throw line. "He went to the foul line six times in the fourth quarter. Bryce Belseth got to the free throw line eight times and he was 8-for-8. That was where they scored the majority of their points in the second half."

Wolfe said that was due in part to the Indians doing a good job of attacking the basket "but our help defense and individual defense was a half-step slow."

Sleepy Eye High has three nice players in Belseth, Hadley and Ludewig. "They are three very good players and they have been able find a couple of kids to help out defensively and on the boards. They return as many starters as anyone and it is no surprise that they are unbeaten. But we are only three games into the conference and there are a lot of things that will shake out here in December and later. There are a lot of battles to be won yet."

PLAYING 10 MEN A GAME: Wolfe said the Hounds "are playing a nine- or 10-man rotation each game. And only two of those kids are returning starters (Will Moeller and Joey Schugel), so we are trying to mesh seven new players together. It will take time and will be successful."

NEED MORE BENCH SCORING: If you ask Wolfe what he would want for Christmas, he would take perhaps one second to say more bench scoring.

"We need to get more scoring from the bench," he said. "We need Jacob Mertz to score, we need Bill Schreiber to score, Luke Schmitz, Hans Biebl ... We need more offensive punch from them and we believe that that will happen."

Wolfe said one pleasant surprise this year has been the play of senior David Groebner. "He is averaging a double-double and Dave did not play a lot as a junior. He has really stepped in to be the third scorer for us. If he continues to improve, he is going to be a strong post in the low post for us. So, along with our guard play, if we can have someone solid inside, we will have a balanced attack inside and outside."

MESSAGE TO EAGLES: There are seven young men who deserve recognition from New Ulm High -- Matt Schmidt, Rob Geistfeld, Eric Austvold, John Witt, Bob Wellmann, Charles Ganske, and Derik Johnson. These were the only seven players the Eagles had on the varsity roster in their win over Jackson County Central Tuesday night.

They all contributed to the win. They played a solid defensive game and did what had to be done. As coach Pat Burmeister said after the game it is not the quantity of the players but the quality. Tuesday night, they got the quality from all seven. The Eagles also promoted B-squader Tanner Miest to the varsity. The 6-foot-2 sophomore has been averaging in double figures for the B squad.

BARR RANKED BY BASEBALL AMERICA: Baseball America has published "Prospects Plus," which ranks the top baseball players in each state. In Minnesota, Mankato East's Joey Barr, a pitcher, is ranked second in the state (behind Cretin-Derham Hall's Joe Maurer). Barr is the only outstate player ranked in the top 14. Casey Jorgenson, who played for Sioux Falls (S.D.) in New Ulm last summer in the Upper Midwest Classic., is ranked second in South Dakota.

COACHES APPLY: Anyone interested in coaching American Legion baseball in New Ulm in the summer (Legion Gold, Blue, Junior Legion, VFW Gold) must apply to the American Legion in New Ulm. Even if you coached in the program last year you need to reapply.