Holiday hoopla begins

By JEREMY BEHNKE

Journal Sports Writer

MANKATO -- While the winter schedule takes a brief break for the holiday season, eight southern Minnesota boys basketball teams hardly view the next three days as a chance to rest.

The seventh annual Pepsi Bethany Lutheran Holiday Tournament kicks off at 6 p.m. today, and it gives fans a playoff atmosphere before the second half of the season begins.

Defending champion Minnesota Valley Lutheran, a 66-63 winner over Mankato Loyola a year ago, returns, as does third-place finisher Nicollet and consolation champion New Ulm Cathedral.

MVL (5-2): The reigning champs surprised Mankato Loyola and handed the hometown Crusaders only their second loss ever in the tourney.

The Chargers are going through a youth movement this year, but improvement on a game-by-game basis has been stressed this season, and it could be a chance for the Chargers to establish some momentum heading into the second half of the year.

"What it can do, after we won it last year, it can turn a season around for a team," MVL coach Craig Morgan said. "You can catapult forward. We look to this tournament as the point where we start to jell as a team."

The Chargers have a couple of sophomores that have been challenged to spark them early on this season. Point guard Greg Holzhueter is averaging 9 ppg and 6 assists per game and has filled in at a position manned by Andy Beilke the last few years.

Jake Unke has been a defensive stopper for his team.

"Jake Unke, he's been doing a nice job on the offensive top guy," Morgan said.

Morgan feels that for his team to repeat as champions, it needs to put together three nights in a row of good basketball. The overall balance means five or six teams are capable of winning it all.

"I think that just about anybody can win the thing," he said. "Last year was a ton of fun."

The Chargers open the tournament against St. Peter at 8 p.m. in the south gym.

Nicollet (4-2): The Raiders were defeated by the Chargers in the semifinals a year ago, but bounced back to take third over New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva.

The Raiders and Panthers meet again in the first round at 6 p.m. in the south gym. The undefeated Panthers return most of last year's team, including standout Bjorn Peterson.

"They got a bunch of guys back from last year's team," first year coach Ryan Hulke said. "They are very well coached."

The Raiders might be without the services of shooting guard Jeff Zimmerman, who may miss some time due to back spasms.

Shouldering the scoring load in Zimmerman's absence has been Mike Rosin. Rosin has scored 17.5 points per game and is also third on the team in rebounding. Mike Nourie has also overcome a slow start, and is scoring 10-15 a night and pulling down 10 rebounds per game, seven of them offensive.

The Raiders also have an offense that gives pretty much anyone the chance to bring the ball up the floor and they run the transition game well after a rebound.

"We defend well, and what we've done really well is we feel we have four point guards on the floor," Hulke said. "Whoever gets the rebound gets the ball up the floor."

Hulke has both played in the tournament and spent time as an assistant coach. He is making his first appearance at the helm, and he says the atmosphere is unmatched.

"It's great," he said. "Everyone is home for Christmas, and the gym fills up, no matter who's playing. It's a college atmosphere with high intensity games."

New Ulm Cathedral (1-5): The Greyhounds have lacked a consistent leader all season, but they are hardly a pushover entering the tournament and they look at it as a chance to turn things around for the season.

First-year coach Paul Hazuka thinks its an opportune time to see where his team stacks up.

"It's a good chance to play against other teams," he said. "It's a good measuring stick and we see it as a good way to improve our own game."

One of the obstacles the Greyhounds have to overcome is poor shooting. However, the Greyhounds are considered an athletic team by opponents and they look for that athleticism to help them out.

"We've been shooting poorly," Hazuka said. "Defensively, rebounding has been pretty tough. A lot of teams look at our athleticism. There's a chance that'll get us a win. But as long as we're not shooting well, it's going to be tough."

The Greyhounds are up against 5-1 Maple River, a team that went with a youth movement last year and is seeing the benefits of it now. Last year, the Greyhounds defeated Maple River for the consolation championship.

The Eagles start 6-foot 8 sophomore Elijah Blakesly, and two more sophomores come off the bench to provide spark. However, the Greyhounds aren't intimidated by Blakesly's height and they feel they can match up inside.

"We've got some height," Hazuka said. "I think we can be competitive if we can make good decisions."

Jeremy Behnke can be reached at jbehnke@nujournal.com