Staff photo by Ari Selvey Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Trace Gunderson (13) puts up a shot during a South Central Conference boys basketball game against Le Sueuer-Henderson Thursday at MVL High School.

NEW ULM — Minnesota Valley Lutheran had some surges in the second half but were unable to overcome Le Sueur-Henderson as it fell 73-64 in a South Central Conference boys basketball game on Thursday.

LSH had a significant size and length advantage over MVL, with four rotation players listed at at least 6-5, which helped them secure rebounds and deflections to pester the Chargers offense.

“They’re bigger,” MVL head coach Craig Morgan said. “Every team brings something different. Their team brought that challenge, having some really big kids with some good size. We just have to adjust some things of our game, and we have to bring other parts up.

“When we were trying to pressure their guards a little we did OK, but then the guys on the backside need to look to steal the ball on some of the longer passes. We made some in-game adjustments, and some of them worked, and some of it didn’t.”

Pierson Brau led the Chargers with 11 points and six rebounds, while Luke Merseth had 11 points and five rebounds. Owen Birkholz had 11 points and four assists, while Brennan Benix had 8 points.

MVL opened the game with a 3-pointer from Connor Bode, which they carried into a 9-5 lead after a layup by Ethan Schauland. The Giants responded with a 3-pointer by Hunter Vinkemeier and a converted and-one by Mareng Kang to take the lead, which they never relinquished for the rest of the game. LSH continued to score to take a 18-12 lead, but MVL cut back into it with a pair of mid-range jumpers by Merseth and Birkholz to force an LSH timeout.

MVL continued to keep it close with a 3-pointer from Bendix, putting the LSH lead at 20-19, and Pierson hit a reverse layup to make it a 22-21 game. LSH took a 25-21 lead after a 3-pointer by John Karels, but a 3 by Birkholz narrowed the lead back down to 27-26 a few possessions later. LSH finally got some breathing space with a 13-4 run to close out the half and go up 40-31.

Bendix made a 3-pointer to open the second half and cut the lead to 40-34, but LSH soon went on another 13-4 run to take a 59-40 lead.

MVL had perhaps its strongest few minutes of the game in response, going on a 12-2 run to cut the lead to single-digits at 61-52.

“We made some good passes within the offense,” Morgan said. “I think we played a little better defense, and the matchups were a little easier for us.”

However, LSH recovered, going up by as much as 69-53. MVL fought back with a putback by Schauland, then put together a 5-1 run to cut the lead to 73-64, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Giants as LSH took home the win.

MVL (10-8, 2-3) travels to Maple River on Tuesday.