Turnovers plague Chargers in loss to Bluejays

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Minnesota Valley Lutheran sophomore Trace Gunderson (13) prepares to go up for a shot while guarded by Waseca’s Cyrett Long during a nonconference boys basketball game Saturday afternoon at MVL’s Storm Fieldhouse.

NEW ULM — Turnovers and indecision plagued the Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers in their loss to the Waseca Bluejays on Saturday.

With 25 turnovers committed, the Chargers struggled to get much of anything going in the nonconference game, falling 94-59 at Storm Fieldhouse.

Owen Birkholz led the Chargers with 12 points, while Pierson Brau and Ethan Schauland each added 10. Luke Merseth chipped in 9 points.

Waseca was led by Deron Russell’s game-high 31 points, while Carson Ohnstad had 27 points and Damarius Russell had 14.

Waseca was able to capitalize on MVL’s turnovers by building a double-digit lead early on. MVL’s only lead in the game came after a bucket inside by Brau that started the Chargers up 2-0. After that, MVL’s turnover troubles began, helping Waseca go on a 10-0 run to lead 12-2. The last three Waseca buckets during that run came off of MVL turnovers.

The turnover issues ended up leading MVL head coach Craig Morgan to use two of his five timeouts in the first five minutes of the game. He ended up using four timeouts in the first half.

“We had to [take those timeouts], we had to try to stop the bleeding,” Morgan said. “We were throwing the ball away and then we weren’t defending. When we would dribble or we’d make a move offensively, [we would] get ourselves into trouble instead of making that move earlier and looking for another player — the open player.”

Unfortunately for the Chargers, the timeouts didn’t help clean things up as Waseca extended that 10-run into a 17-0 run and a 17-2 lead after an and-one by Damarius Russell.

A putback by Merseth stopped the bleeding and he added a pair of free throws to have his team down 17-6, but the Bluejays were quick to get those points back and eventually stretched their lead to 29-10. The teams began exchanging 3s momentarily, with a corner 3 by Brau getting MVL within 15, 34-19.

Waseca pushed its lead back up to 57-33 at halftime after back-to-back MVL turnovers led to back-to-back Waseca baskets to end the first half.

“We’re rebuilding and we’re rebuilding not only players but also the team chemistry and the team philosophy of moving the ball and look for a shot,” Morgan said. “We can look and we can have a shot, but if there a better one to have, and if I pass it one more time, I may get it.

“And defensively, we need to get a lot tougher. We need to get a lot more hard-nosed on that.”

Waseca got the first three baskets of the second half before a Birkholz 3 ended the quick run. A 3 by Caden Danner put the Bluejays up 74-41 in the second half, prompting Morgan to use his final timeout with 12:22 left to play.

Waseca ended up leading by as much as 42, 83-41, after a 14-0 run midway through the second half. That run was ended after a 3 from Schauland.

The Chargers, who dropped to 0-3 this season with the loss, did have the tough task of playing a tough Springfield team on the road Friday night before hosting the now 4-0 Bluejays early on Saturday.

Knowing that they’ll be up against many more strong, experienced teams this season, Morgan said his team, which has just two seniors on it, will have to continue to learn the differences between JV and varsity.

“When you take a step from JV to varsity, there’s a learning curve that you have to understand. … You can’t make the soft pass that you used to make, these bounce passes that pass off of somebody’s shin, those gotta stop,” Morgan said.

The Chargers will travel to take on Martin County West on Tuesday night before returning home for a 6 p.m. Friday game against New Ulm Cathedral at Storm Fieldhouse.