Chargers get past Tigers in overtime
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NEW ULM -- Although Emma Nelson led Minnesota Valley Lutheran with a 14-point, 10-rebound performance on Thursday at MVL High School, it was her twin sister Abby Nelson that got to finish the night as the hero against Springfield.
Scoring the first 6 points for her team in overtime, Abby Nelson helped lead the Chargers (14-11, 9-7) to a 67-58 win over the TIgers (16-9, 10-6) in Tomahawk Conference girls' basketball action.
Abby Nelson also added seven rebounds for MVL and finished the night with 10 points.
Of course without a complete team effort, the Chargers likely wouldn't have been able to come back from a late 10-point deficit in the second half. Hannah Marzinske ended the night with 12 points and five steals, with one of those steals leading to a layup for a 52-50 lead with 2:06 left in regulation. That was the first lead for MVL since the first half.
Lauren Paulsen was also key for MVL on the boards and on defense, piling up 10 rebounds and four blocks, while Abbie Riederer chipped in 9 points.
But when the Chargers needed someone to step up in overtime, Abby Nelson did just that. She sank back-to-back 3s to open up overtime, giving the Chargers the energy boost they needed.
"I just had to keep it in my head that I just had to stay calm the whole time," Abby Nelson said of her approach in overtime. "If I was freaking out, then I know it would have gone in a different way than what would have happened. So that was my main focus."
She also gave credit to her teammates for banding together to start the initial comeback that led to overtime.
"I think that everyone did a really good job of playing their part and kind of sticking with it, playing as a team overall," she said.
The Tigers, led by Sydney Hauger's 23 points, led for most of the first half and took a 29-23 lead into halftime. They stretched that lead to 33-23 early in the second half after a bucket in the paint each by Courtney Wendt, who finished the night with 12 points, and Hauger.
A bucket inside by Lexi Fischer cut the MVL deficit down to 35-31, but Springfield went on a 6-0 run to take back a double-digit lead, 41-31, with less than 11 minutes to go in the second half.
A pair of Marzinske free throws tied things up at 50-all with 3:02 left in regulation, and despite the Tigers taking another late lead on a Hauger layup, Riederer drove inside on the other end to knot it up at 54-54.
Mackenzie Lothert also added 13 points for the Tigers, who were 9-1 over their last 10 games coming into Thursday's game.
Springfield head coach Dillon Schultz said that his squad will need to clean up the little things, like boxing out and limiting turnovers heading into playoffs.
"We did a really bad job boxing out for a majority of the game," he said. "And when we kind of took control in the second half at one point, I thought we were boxing out very well. But then we got away from doing the little things when we got the lead, and that's something our girls need to learn -- you cannot have letups in your game and when you're doing something well, you've got to continue doing it well."
Both teams will host Section 2A playoff games at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, as the No. 2-seeded Tigers host the No. 7-seeded United South Central, while the No. 3-seeded Chargers host the No. 6-seeded New Ulm Cathedral.
MVL head coach Rollin Timm said that come Tuesday, his squad will have to play with energy and intensity.
"We have to play with the energy we had tonight, but not like at the beginning of the game," he said. "We were pretty flat the first four, five minutes, but once we focused, we got going. We need to play with intensity. We can't let off on any play, and I think the girls are finally learning that every play is important and they've got to continue that energy level."