MVL advances at Bethany

Face top-ranked Loyola today

By JEN SEAVEY

Journal Sports Writer

MANKATO -- Minnesota Valley Lutheran's defense and offense came together for a strong 69-22 win over Cleveland in the first round of the Bethany Lutheran College High School Holiday Tournament Thursday.

The team gained some much needed confidence after a loss last week to Wabasso (ranked 8th in the AP State 1A poll) -- confidence needed for their next game against Mankato Loyola. the top ranked team in the AP State Class 1A poll.

Using intensity and a defensive trap, the Chargers came out attempting to frustrate Cleveland.

"We wanted to set the tempo, make them play our type of game," said senior forward Jacob Firle. "We play better when we start with our defense, and I think we did that tonight."

The Chargers played with tough defense, holding Cleveland to just two points until just two minutes were left in quarter one. MVL was ahead 9-2 until Cleveland hit an outside shot, but Nathan Nass made an outside jumper, and Firle hit Andrew Harpestad on the fast break to make it 13-4 to end the quarter.

In the first few minutes of quarter two, the Charger increased their lead to 15 when Firle had a three-point play, drawing the foul on a made basket. After a Cleveland time out, Firle grabbed another rebound and made the shot. Andrew Beilke stole the ball and fired it down to Firle for another two points. The Charger's half-court trap worked when Nass stole the ball and mad the layup to make it 27-6. The Chargers continued their offense-creating defense, and ended the half 38-15.

"We were trying to trap and rotate on our defense, and cause some turnovers, create a little chaos," said MVL coach Craig Morgan. "We've been working on it a little more in practice, and things have been going really well."

"Tonight (our trap) worked," said Nass. "It hasn't worked well in other games, but tonight we put it together."

Their defense certainly worked in quarter three, as the Chargers shut out their opponents, while MVL raised their score by 15. In quarter four, MVL eased off a little bit, and Cleveland made seven points.

"They weren't very strong," said junior forward Nathan Nass. "But we played our game and we didn't go down to their level."

"I was really pleased with how our guys played team basketball," said Morgan. "We passed the ball and moved it around really well. We saw the open guy. It wasn't just one guy -- our big people were also hitting the little guys as cutters. It made the game a lot more fun to coach."

Firle led the Chargers with 17 points, three assists, and eight rebounds. Nass made 14 points, had four steals, and five rebounds. Beilke also had four steals and three assists. Dustin Lange grabbed six rebounds.

Tavish Satrom, the leading scorer for Cleveland, made 14 points.

The Chargers go into their next tournament game knowing what to expect. Coach Morgan has the boys gearing tup for Loyola's fast pace and defensive pressure.

"We know the next game is going to be a whole different game," said Firle. "And we are going to have to play at a whole different level."

The Chargers face Loyola today at 8:30 p.m. in the North gym at BLC.

Loyola 82, Nicollet 67

MANKATO -- Mankato Loyola scored too often, too consistently for Nicollet in an 82-67 victory in the first round of the Bethany Lutheran College.

Bret Brielmaier, the Crusader's 6-6 center, and Trung Ho, their 5-6 guard, each scored 20 points while Tyler Westman added 19, including three three-pointers.

Nicollet was led by Mike Rosin with 18 points. Rosin had 11 of his points in the third quarter, but added just three in the final quarter. Tony Hulke added 13 for the Raiders and Paul Nourie had 10.

Loyola will face MVL at 8:30 p.m. today in the north gym at Bethany, while Nicollet plays Cleveland at 8 p.m. in the south gym.

GHEC 60, LCWM 48

MANKATO -- Granada-Huntley-East Chain took advantage of balanced scoring to beat Lake Crystal/Wellcome-Memorial 60-48 in the first round of the Bethany Lutheran College High School Holiday Tournament Thursday.

The GHEC Mustangs advance to play Maple River today at 6:30 p.m. in the BLC North gym, while LCWM will play Cathedral on the consolation bracket at 6 p.m. in the South gym.

Scoring for the teams in the first half was nearly equal, with GHEC ahead by just one at the half. But GHEC pulled ahead in the third quarter, outscoring LCWM 21-13.

The Mustangs had four players score in double digits in the game. Senior guard Wade Blazejak made 18 points for GHEC, senior guard Josh Peterson made 11, and adding ten for the Mustangs were seniors Rusty Allison and Cameron Peterson.

Scoring 15 for LCWM was junior post Cody Larvick, and junior guard Dave Miller put in 12.