With quick hands and feet, the Chargers turned a 45-19 halftime lead into a 72-31 rout over the Le Sueur-Henderson Giants in a South Central Conference girls basketball game.

The Chargers (9-6, 2-1) created several turnovers early on and kept the tempo up on the Giants (1-11, 0-6) all evening, keeping the Giants off the scoreboard for the first five minutes and 37 seconds of the second half.

Olivia Hammer led the Chargers with 14 points and four steals, while Avery Freier had 13 points and four steals, Violet Hammer had 12 points and Ziva Zahrt had 11 points, six rebounds and three steals.

Zahrt had 15 rebounds in a win over Redwood Valley on Saturday and despite finishing with six Monday, four were offensive rebounds that kept the Chargers on the attack. Chargers head coach Craig Morgan was also able to put entirely new rotations on the floor throughout the game with MVL’s big leads.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Minnesota Valley Lutheran senior Nora Grace Otto catches a pass near the paint during Monday evening’s South Central Conference girls basketball game against Le Sueur-Henderson at MVL High School.

The Chargers, who dropped a game to Waseca on Jan. 17, bounced back this past weekend against Redwood Valley and made it back-to-back wins with Monday’s win.

“One big thing that was different from Waseca was that we made sure to keep a lot of energy and always stay positive,” Zahrt said. “And we have to make sure not to underestimate the team we’re playing, so I think a lot of it is mental, honestly.”

Ruby Fitz led LSH with 10 points.

MVL shot 48% from the floor to LSH’s 28%.

MVL opened up the game with an 8-0 run before LSH took a timeout with 16:14 still to play in the opening half. The Giants ended the Chargers’ run with a basket from Muriel Hilgers, but Olivia Hammer got that back on the other end and Zahrt gave the Chargers a double-digit lead with a putback bucket. MVL ended up turning those buckets into a 10-0 run and 18-2 lead, with Tori Ringen’s bucket capping off the run.

The Chargers increased the lead to 25-6 as Morgan subbed a whole new rotation into the game moments later. After a brief 5-0 run by the Giants had them down 25-11, MVL’s lone senior Nora Grace Otto found Ellie Kaesermann on a cut to the basket for a 27-11 lead. After returning to the floor, Zahrt continued grabbing rebounds for the Chargers and had two putback buckets as a result during her second stint on the floor, her second putback giving MVL a 35-17 lead.

“I like to be as aggressive as I can in the post to try and get a rebound because I just want to do whatever I can to help my team, whether it’s getting rebounds or getting putbacks,” Zahrt said.

Avery Freier knocked down a 3 for a 38-17 lead.

After a 3 by Olivia Hammer and a putback by Kaesermann, the Chargers had a 45-19 lead at the half.

A Violet Hammer jumper kicked off a 15-0 run by MVL to start the second half. The run was also finished by Violet Hammer on a layup for a 60-19 lead as the Giants were finally able to get back on the board with a 3 by Teagan Graham with 12:23 left to play.

MVL finished the game with a 7-2 run, which included a 3 by Taryn Freier and bucket insides from Avery Menk and Adelyn Harstad.

MVL is at Sibley East for a conference game Tuesday night.