Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Natalie Matzke (3) drives to the basket while guarded by Wabasso’s Leah Mathiowetz (12) on Thursday during a nonconference girls basketball game at MVL High School’s Storm Fieldhouse.

NEW ULM — After seeing their perfect 7-0 start to the new campaign hit an 0-5 slump, the Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers were quick to reassert themselves at the expense of the Wabasso Rabbits on Thursday night.

Getting everyone involved in some way or another, the Chargers jumped on the Rabbits early and often on the way to a 66-24 win in a nonconference girls basketball game at Storm Fieldhouse.

The Chargers (7-5) were led by Olivia Hammer’s 21 points and six rebounds, while Avery Freier had 13 points and four assists and Katlyn Stadick had 9 points and two steals. Also for MVL, Ellie Kaesermann had 6 points and six steals, while Avery Hahn had 6 points and five rebounds.

The Rabbits (1-16) were led by Ava Samyn’s 10 points.

MVL head coach Hailey Santos said that regardless of Wabasso’s record this season, she wanted her team to get back to playing the way they were their first seven games and not underestimate the Rabbits.

“We’ve definitely been in that slump and that affects the girls’ confidence,” Santos said. “They just want to get back on the right page and continue to be successful. Today we put an emphasis on relaxing and having fun and remember why we play basketball but also understanding we have an opponent to compete against. Sure, they didn’t have a great record coming into [tonight], but we’ve got to make sure that we take care of our business and we’re going to be fine. … Truly the full team came out and contributed.”

All 13 of MVL’s available varsity players played Thursday night, with 11 players scoring.

MVL took control from the opening tip-off, which Kaesermann won as she tipped the ball right to Freier for a layup with less than five seconds gone in the game. MVL continued its dominance with a full-court press, which it used to create five Wabasso turnovers in the first three-and-a-half minutes alone and take a 10-0 lead after Freier found Hahn open inside for 2. After a Wabasso timeout with 14:38 left in the opening half, the Chargers extended their lead to 15-0 after a 3 from Hammer and a steal for a layup by Freier. MVL then sent an entire new five on the floor for several minutes with the quick and cozy start.

“Any lineup we send out there on the court, we have the same standard,” Santos said. “We know they’re different players with different abilities, but we know what we need to do to be successful and emphasizing to the girls that, ‘We put you girls out there for a reason because we believe in you, we see you every single day in practice.’ To be able to kind of mesh together different lineups between the ones who are getting a ton of minutes and maybe the ones who are just contributing in practice right now is, as a coach, it’s the best kind of game to just see your team shine.”

Samyn scored inside to get the Rabbits on the board and ended up scoring Wabasso’s first 5 points before Leah Mathiowetz got into the scoring column to have the Rabbits down 21-7 moments later. Wabasso got its first and only 3-pointer of the game from Peyton Jenniges to trail 30-12, but MVL got a 12-0 run after that to lead 42-12. Jenniges ended the run on a basket in the lane that drew a foul, but she was unable to tack on the extra free throw. The Chargers then ended the half with two buckets from Hammer and a buzzer-beating layup by Freier to lead 48-14.

The second half saw more of the same, but the Rabbits were first on the board. MVL scored the next four baskets, however, to lead 56-16.

After Anistasia Smith converted an and-one to give the Rabbits some energy, Stadick took it back on the other end with a 3 to give MVL a 59-19 lead. MVL led by as much as 47 in the game.

The Chargers were also playing without starting forward Ziva Zahrt, who has missed the last four games with an injury, giving Kaesermann the start in her absence. Zahrt is expected to miss several weeks with an upper-body injury, but Santos said Kaesermann has played well in her increased role as expected.

“[Ellie’s] been starting the last couple games, even started the first game of the season when we had one out with illness, so that was an easy choice,” Santos said. “Ziva is massive shoes to fill out there on the court, but we have all the confidence in the world in Ellie and I think getting that extra time has just given her confidence as well and learning that she can be a powerhouse down low.”

MVL is at Redwood Valley on Friday night, while Wabasso hosts Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart on Friday night.