Staff photo by Steve Muscatello Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Abby Nelson tries a layup as Kierra Wilson of Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial defends on the play in the first half Tuesday at MVL. For more photos of this event go to cu.nujournal.com

NEW ULM — Minnesota Valley Lutheran started its season with a narrow 42-40 loss against Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial on Monday night in nonconference girls’ basketball.

The Chargers (0-1) were led by Maddie Spurgin with nine points, Emma Nelson with eight points and Lauren Paulsen with six points.

After trailing by as much as 11 in the second half, MVL tied it up at 36-36 on a bucket inside by Nelson with just minutes to play. A basket inside by Spurgin gave MVL the brief lead with under two minutes to go, but LCWM (1-0) took the lead right back on a 3-pointer by Kaitlyn Brown.

Nelson again put MVL ahead 40-39, but after a Knights’ free throw and a bucket inside by Kierra Wilson, LCWM took a 42-40 lead. The Chargers had a couple of chances to score with under a minute to play, but the Knights forced a late jump ball and a turnover with seconds remaining to close things out.

MVL led 4-1 early on in the first half, but LCWM went on an 11-2 run to lead 12-6, which forced a Chargers’ timeout. The Knights benefited on three 3-pointers during the stretch.

MVL continued to struggle finding the bottom of the net early on, but ended the half down just 22-16.

MVL coach Rollin Timm was pleased with his squad’s effort, despite the slow start.

“I’m happy with the effort,” Timm said. “It was the first game with mistakes and things like that, but the effort was there, especially in the second half. We stepped up our defense and started to work together. It takes awhile for the girls to gel as a team, and I’m thinking we’re only going to go forward from there.”

A rebound and put-back bucket by Wilson gave the Knights a 31-20 lead early in the second half, LCWM’s largest lead of the night. MVL, however, went on an 8-0 run to trail 31-28 after back-to-back baskets by Spurgin, one being a 3-pointer.

Despite a stronger surge by the Chargers in the second half, early turnovers and missed rebounds were too much for MVL to overcome in the end.

“We have to just keep moving on offense,” Timm said. “We need to work on our rebounding. We got better as the game went on, but we need to match the other team’s physicality. And being consistent on defense. I think we did a real nice job for much of it, but we’ve got to be consistent throughout the whole game.”

MVL travels to Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton for a 7:15 p.m. game on Thursday next.