Staff photo by Ari Selvey Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Pierson Brau (5) contests a shot from Sibley East’s Ezra Weber during a South Central Conference boys basketball game Friday at MVL High School.

By Ari Selvey

aselvey@nujournal.com

NEW ULM — Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s defense was the highlight of a 74-44 win over Sibley East in a South Central boys basketball game on Friday, allowing just 17 points in the first half en route to a strong victory.

“I think it was the guys and their determination,” MVL head coach Craig Morgan said. “They [Sibley East] played hard and we wanted to stop them. And we rebounded, I think that was the thing. We controlled the defensive rebounds in the first half, and I think that was the key. We went down and we couldn’t score, so we just rotated some guys around until we found some guys that did it and could break the ice. Then it just kept going.”

Sibley East struggles with MVL’s aggression and had a hard time setting up the offense in the half-court.

“We didn’t come prepared for this intense defense,” Sibley East head coach Dave Halquist said. “That’s probably one thing we’ve struggled with all year long is the pressure defense. Our guys get kind of panicky and we don’t run the offense. That’s one area we struggle with against aggressive teams. This is a very handsy team, they’re very aggressive and physical and our guys weren’t able to handle that tonight.”

Owen Birkholz led the Chargers with 16 points and four rebounds, while Brennan Bendix had 13 points, all in the second half. Ethan Schauland had 12 points, three rebounds and three steals, while Pierson Brau had 10 points and three rebounds.

Quintin DeVlaeminck led the Wolverines with 16 points, while Ezra Weber had 9 points.

Sibley East started the game with a 5-1 advantage after free throws from Weber and a deep 3 from DeVlaeminck. MVL tied it at 9 after a mid-range jumper and two free throws from Birkholz. The teams traded buckets for several possessions before MVL went on a 16-3 run, highlighted by a 5-point play from Birkholz. Birkholz made a 3-pointer and then was foiled after the shot, making both of his free throws in the double bonus. MVL took that run and a 30-17 run into halftime.

The Chargers switched to a full-court trap defense to open the second, and that, along with a barrage of 3-pointers from Bendix, forced Sibley East to call a timeout at 13:45 with the score at 43-24. MVL continued to score for a 9-0 run and go up 49-24 before Weber snapped the streak with a pair of free throws. MVL didn’t slow down, however, and another Wolverines timeout with 8:22 to play saw the Chargers up 57-26, thanks to a 3-pointer by Eric Sorenson.

The Sibley East defense tightened up, not allowing a bucket for three minutes while Jack Feterl and DeVlaeminck scored a layup and an and-one, but Birkholz got MVL back on the board with an and-one of his own. The Chargers continued to lock down on defense, and subs entered the game with two and a half minutes to play. DeVlaeminck scored 5 more points after this, but MVL’s Wyatt Feucht hit two 3-pointers and Micah Horak made two shots to complete the Chargers victory.

MVL (11-9, 3-4) travels to Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton on Tuesday. Sibley East (6-13, 1-6) plays at JWP on Monday.