MVL made just five shots from the floor in the first half as it struggled with both turnovers and shotmaking.

“We’ll have to practice a little bit harder,” MVL head coach Craig Morgan said. “Lake Crystal put some nice pressure and played good defense on us, and we need to handle that better than what we did. But as long as we keep improving with each game, I’m happy.”

The offense did improve in the second half, scoring 9 more points than in the first, but still turned it over at a high rate as the Chargers finished with 30 turnovers on the day.

“Second half, our intensity and our attitude was good,” Morgan said. “We just couldn’t get a run in there. We got close, to within 8, but we just couldn’t get past that hump. We’ll go practice again on Saturday and get ready for Loyola on Tuesday.”

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Ziva Zahrt goes up for a layup during the third-place game of the LCWM girls basketball tournament Tuesday at LCWM High School.

Avery Freier led MVL with 10 points, three rebounds and four steals, while Violet Hammer had 8 points and three rebounds. Tori Ringen added 7 points.

MVL made its first shot seven and a half minutes into the game as Ringen made a layup. LCWM had built a 13-3 lead, but Ringen made a 3-pointer on the next possession to cut the lead to 13-6. Freier made a layup to put the score at 16-8, but LCWM responded with a 3 and a layup as MVL called a timeout with 5:40 in the half down 21-8.

Ziva Zahrt hit a mid-range shot for MVL to cut the lead to 21-10, then Hammer hit three free throws to put the score at 26-17. LCWM made a free throw of its own for a 27-17 halftime lead.

MVL started the second half with three consecutive turnovers, but then made two consecutive shots as Freier and Zahrt hit layups for a 29-21 game. Hammer made a free throw to cut the lead to 29-22 as the Knights called a timeout. LCWM came out of the timeout with a 7-0 run to extend its lead to 34-21 before Ringen made two free throws to stop the run short. LCWM continued to control the game, however, extending the lead out to 47-28. Freier made a mid-range shot and a 3 to cut the lead back to 47-33. but it wasn’t enough to get the Chargers back in the game as time ran out.

MVL (4-4) play at Mankato Loyola next Tuesday.