NEW ULM — New Ulm High School junior forward Colton Benson scored his 1,000th career point Tuesday night, the Minnesota Valley Lutheran boys basketball team won their fourth straight game and the Greyhounds of New Ulm Cathedral continue to see improvement as the season nears the halfway mark.

BENSON BREAKS 1,000

Colton Benson recorded his 1,000th career point Tuesday night in an 85-81 road loss at Norwood. Benson ended with 35 points and now is at 1,018 career points.

“He got his 1,000th point on a classic Colton Benson corner 3-pointer,” New Ulm High School head coach Matt Dennis said as his team is now 9-4 on the season after their second consecutive loss. “We have lost a couple of close game, but we are a young team that is growing and learning and our goal is for March. If we take our lumps along the way and learn from them, then it is OK to be 9-4 now.”

Dennis said that his team needs to be tougher physically and mentally after the two-game skid. “Teams are taking us off of our line and we are allowing it to happen,” he said. “And when you score 81 points, you should win. We did not come up with the loose balls [Tuesday] or the rebounds — we got moved — and that led to a lot of extra-chance opportunities [for NYA]. When you give teams extra possessions, they will score more points.”

Dennis did say that many times his Eagles are facing senior-led teams, while his team is almost all juniors.

“So we need to keep focused on growth, getting better and learning because we have a lot of basketball ahead of us,” he said.

Dennis has also looking for quality depth on his team.

“Right now we are comfortable with eight, but we are always looking for that next player,” he said.

Dennis said that Benson is a prolific scorer.

“They were on him [Tuesday] and he still had 35 points and his scoring opens up space for others,” Dennis said. “Colin Horning saw the benefits of that [17 points] with the middle so wide open. Jimmy [Osborne] and Nate [Firle, both juniors] — we are excited for what the future brings for both of them.I think that all of the juniors are still growing into their spots. We need to tighten things up defensively and offensively. We are scoring a lot of points, with the exception of the Worthington game [54 points].”

Dennis said that sophomore Will Fossen is getting into the rotation.

“He has been the nicest addition to our lineup,” Dennis said. “He had a great offseason. He may find himself with more opportunties.”

New Ulm hosts St. Peter Friday night.

CHARGERS WIN FOUR STRAIGHT

Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers head coach Craig Morgan said that his team is playing better after a 98-77 win over Cedar Mountain Tuesday.

“It is a combination of things,” Morgan said about the winning streak. “We are thinking better out there and making better decisions. That is leading us to not turn the ball over quite as much. We are getting more experienced as a team.”

The Chargers are now 9-3 overall, but two of their losses have come to teams with a combined record of 24-3 in Maple River (14-2) and Sleepy Eye St.Mary’s (10-1).

“I do not think that we have played our best basketball yet,” Morgan said. “We still have some lapses on defense, but they seem to snap out of it quick. And we have a lot of depth.”

MVL was also bolstered by the return of senior guard Cole Thompson, who came back early after a football injury to his elbow.

“I thought that we would get him back in the middle of February, but he was back in December,” Morgan said. “He has shot the ball well and he makes good decisions.”

Defensively, Morgan said that his team needs to improve.

“We have some communication issues that we have to work on,” he said. “You can’t be quiet on defense.”

Morgan said that his Chargers, who host St. Clair Thursday, need to keep improving on communication on defense.

“Our offense will find itself.”

GREYHOUNDS IMPROVING

New Ulm Cathedral Greyhounds boys basketball head coach Alan Woitas said that his team is improving as they have won two in a row. And it could have been three in a row if not for losing a 10-point lead to GFW with three minutes to go.

“It was a good learning experience for us,” Woitas said.

Woitas said the biggest turnaround has been a better defensive effort.

“We have started defending better in the last four or five games with more effort and energy,” Woitas said. “We have started to share the ball more and getting more players involved in the offense. And we have cut back on turnovers — we are right around that eight to 14 turnovers. We still have things that we need to work on.”

The Greyhounds are also still putting most of the same lineups on the floor.

“We still use the same seven or eight guys and see what matchups do well,” Woitas said. “But we have had different guys step up in different games and contributed in different ways.”

Woitas said that players like Jake Finstad and Isaac Miller have been scoring, as well as Elliot Hoffman.

“We need that third and fourth scorer to become more consistent,” Woitas said. “Carter Haala has also added points, as has Miles Boesch.”

Cathedral is at Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s Thursday before playing Edgerton Saturday at 12:45 p.m. at Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s. The Greyhounds then host MVL Tuesday.

“We play St. Mary’s and MVL, and those are the two teams that you want to see how you stack up against,” Woitas said.