Mankato Loyola’s ability to dictate the pace with defense Tuesday night enabled the Crusaders to upend previously unbeaten Madelia 67-65 in a Tomahawk Valley Conference boys basketball game at the Fitzgerald gym.
Freshman forward Covin Winter scored 22 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and collected five assists as the Crusaders improved to 6-9, 4-3 in the conference. Senior guard Preston Grams tallied 15 points for the winners, who also received 14 points and 14 boards from sophomore post Christian Barker and 10 points from junior guard T.J. O’Malley.
“We had a really good game plan going in,” Grams said. “We knew if we could stick with them the first five minutes that we’d have the momentum and adrenaline to keep it a game. We wanted to break their pressure and then settle down, run a play and be smart. We wanted to keep them out of their transition and make them earn their baskets. We just had to keep rolling with the punches and making plays.”
After Grams buried consecutive left baseline 3-pointers to give Loyola a 54-44 lead with 9:38 to go, the Blackhawks (11-1, 6-1) closed within 54-50 behind Kyle Pietsch’s follow-up and three free throws.
O’Malley then hit a left-elbow jumper and driving basket before Barker’s transition basket made it 60-52 with 4:48 left. Senior forward Hayden Jones, who led Madelia with 23 points, trimmed the deficit to 65-64 with a 3-pointer at the 47-second mark.
“We just need to work hard on our defense and then let out offense work of that,” Winter said. “We wanted to play at our own pace and not let them rush us. We knew we could do better in our offense when they got closer. We’re going to be on the rise from here and finish the season strong.”
O’Malley’s down-the-boulevard drive with 26 seconds remaining expanded the margin to 67-64 before Madelia’s final chance in the waning seconds came up two free throws short.
Freshman guard Kaydon Firchau ended up with 22 points for Madelia, which connected on 24 of 58 from the field for 41.3% compared to Loyola’s 26 of 58 for 44.8%. Loyola won the boards 38-36 and committed fewer turnovers 12-11.
“We didn’t want (Firchau) to get down hill because he’s a really good player,” Loyola coach Sam Carlson said. “We wanted to make him hit pull-up jumpers, which he can make, but you have to live with it. We kept moving on defense and got out on shooters when we could. Offensively, we stayed patient and got the ball inside to our big guy and then back out.”
Barker converted a pair of three-point plays as his 10 first-half points helped the Crusaders gain a 35-30 lead at the break. Winter put through 12 points and Grams added eight, while Jones led Madelia with 12 points.
“We kept battling the entire game and that’s what we do,” Madelia coach Jeff Van Hee said. “It’s tough to go through a season undefeated and we can still finish the season strong. We were at their place and they shot it much better than we expected. There were multiple times in the second half we were down by eight or 10 points, but we never gave up, and with all the adversity, these are the games that will help you the rest of the season.”
Loyola plays at Cleveland on Tuesday while Madelia plays Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City on Saturday at Springfield.