Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Cathedral’s Shay Wilfahrt drives to the bucket while guarded by Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Mackenzie Merseth (20) during a Tomahawk Conference girls basketball game on Monday at Cathedral High School.

By Jeff Meder

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM — New Ulm Cathedral defeated Minnesota Valley Lutheran 55-39 on Monday in Tomahawk Conference girls basketball action.

The win gave the Greyhounds a two-game regular season sweep over the Chargers. Both teams entered the game searching for a win after suffering extended losing streaks. MVL wanted to avenge its 1-point loss to Cathedral on the Chargers’ home floor in December.

Maddie Gilles and Jenna Hotovec led the Greyhounds, scoring 31 and 14 points, respectively. Ella Mullenbach led the Chargers with 17 points and six rebounds, while Mackenzie Merseth scored 15 points and had nine rebounds.

“We played a very different Cathedral team,” MVL head coach Hailey Santos said. “They can play with the best of them. We couldn’t keep up with them.”

Gilles put MVL on notice that the Greyhounds came ready to play as she nailed a 3-point shot. Hotovec canned a 3 and Ava Krueger scored when she hit two free throws. Hotovec tried another 3, but she was fouled. She made two of the free throws and the Greyhounds were ahead 10-2. Later on, Gilles dropped in another 3.

Merseth scored the first 7 points for MVL. She scored 9 points in the first half, while Mullenbach had 6 points. Gilles scored 17 points and Hotovec added 9 points at halftime for Cathedral.

Both teams had problems shooting well due to good defense. Cathedral rebounded well, but it hit a brief scoring drought before halftime.

Gilles hit a 3-point shot before the buzzer sounded to give the Greyhounds a 30-15 halftime advantage.

Cathedral had used a full-court press in the first half. It continued to use it for most of the second half double-teaming wherever it could. This created some headaches for MVL.

Rebecca Kuck scored a basket early in the second half. Cathedral responded with six free throws, a 3 by Hotovec and Gilles completed the run when she slipped inside the MVL defense and she scored on a left-handed layup.

Later in the second half, Mullenbach scored a basket, and on MVL’s next trip down the floor, she dropped in a 3. She also hit two free throws.

Cathedral used a deliberate style of play in hopes of generating more offense. MVL used a full-court press late in the contest. MVL ended the game with a 5-0 run on a basket by Merseth and a 3 by Ella Hunter.

“We tried to use our defense to create energy,” Cathedral head coach Dave Wilfahrt said. “We used a deliberate style of offense to look for openings and take them when we could.”

He was also pleased that the Greyhounds did not let MVL back into the game.

“You never know what to expect in a cross-town rivalry,” Wilfahrt said.

Cathedral (5-11, 3-6) will travel to Wabasso (5-8, 3-5) on Friday. MVL (1-13, 0-8) will play at Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop (7-8, 3-4) on Thursday.