Depth Experience

Depth and Experience. It's what gets it done for the Mayer Lutheran Crusaders who are now 16-1 on the season and ranked 4th in the only poll that matters and that's the Minnesota Preps weekly rankings. The Crusaders had four seniors finish in double figures last night compared to one for Sibley East as Mayer Lutheran went on to win 69-51.

Why is Mayer Lutheran going to be a state tournament factor deep into the playoffs? Because they play eight seniors and three juniors who can all be trusted with meaningful minutes and they have size to throw at people.

Take for instance their defense of North Dakota State bound Marshall Bjorklund. The Crusaders used 6-foot-7 junior Travis Rollo, 6-foot-7 senior Jesse Senst, 6-foot-4 senior bruiser Josh Genske, and crafty 6-foot-5 battler Luke Buttenhoff all on Bjorklund and they won the battle. Sure Marshall had 21 points on seven of 13 shooting both from the foul line and field plus he grabbed a massive 17 rebounds. But the foursome of the Crusaders together scored one more point than Marshall, forced the big Wolverine into five turnovers, and they attacked him defensively from the front and back all night long.

There is no question that Marshall is the best player on the floor. He swallows rebounds, blocks shots, and his offensive ability from the high post on down is incredible to watch. Bjorklund's smooth ability to put the ball on the deck and finish with either hand should be video packaged and sent to all young aspiring power forwards because it's something to see.

Sibley East was in this basketball game through most of the first half but when Marshall had to sit the wheels came off the wagon. Down 16-14 Marshall needed a rest and instantly everything went the way if Mayer Lutheran who were allowed to shift their focus from Marshall in the post to attacking Sibley East with ball pressure and jumping into passing lanes. With Marshall out the lead grew to 18-14 and 20-14. The Wolverines quickly got Marshall back in but the momentum of the Crusader pressure was crushing the damn. There were leaks everywhere as Sibley East turned the ball over in every way possible. The Crusader crowd was going crazy, the bench was nuts, and the momentum even caught to the veteran official's counting. With some number of minutes and 28 seconds on the clock Sibley East in-bounded the basketball and then a ten second call was whistled with the second total at 21 seconds. Yes that ten second call was given after seven seconds as the tempo of the refs count matched that of the wired crowd.

With Marshall back in the perimeter opened up and Sibley East got a pair of threes to drop. But back the other way Marshall picked up foul number two with a couple minutes to go in the half. Sibley East thought it was a bogus call, which it wasn't. Marshall put his hand into the opponent's waist or chest before swatting the ball into the wall. That foul was legit but his first was a charge call that was completely garbage as the Crusader stepping into Marshall's path was still moving his feet like Luigi does in Super Mario Brothers 2, the old Nintendo version.

So with Marshall down once again the Crusaders went into the break up 32-20 and the game was pretty much theirs from then on. The Wolverines did jump on Marshall's back as he rebounded, swatted shots, assisted to teammates, and scored on several possessions including a nasty one-handed open floor jam. They cut the lead to six points but just like the previous time these teams played an open floor basket from Mayer Lutheran senior Aaron Cook and a three from junior Mitch Gassen gave the Crusaders a huge boost of momentum. And from there Mayer Lutheran closed the game out in the final minutes winning 69-51.

So what makes Mayer Lutheran so good? Depth and experience. Eight seniors play and eight seniors contribute. Guards and wings Chad Ische, Scott Willmsen, C.J. Byrne, Cook, and Gassen can all seemingly shoot, handle, they are unselfish, and the biggest thing I've seen them do is defend. They can harass anywhere on the floor and when one group sits down the next player steps right in place. A team with athletic and/or quick guards like say Minnehaha Academy or New London-Spicer may give them some trouble but than again because the Crusaders have depth these guys can constantly play fresh. And five or six fresh defenders with reasonable quickness can wear down one or two fast guards any day as long as pressure is consistent and they are playing together within a productive system.

Also, if a team has a big to deal with Mayer Lutheran has four to throw back at them. Rollo blocked Bjorklund's shot three times last night plus Travis hit a couple soft jumpers and totaled an assist or two moving the ball. Senst is a huge body that will come in and lay on a post making them tire because he's tough to move. Genske is a Southwest State football commit and he plays aggressive like you would expect a football commit to do. Then you have Buttenhoff who is very crafty with his offense as he leads the team in scoring at a dozen a contest.

Why is Mayer Lutheran 16-1 and ranked 4th in state? Because of depth and experience. They have only two guys who average double figures but eight players who score five or more points a game with three averaging between eight and nine points. They have four serviceable posts and six or seven interchangeable guards and wings. All of these players are experienced juniors or seniors. Why do they win? Depth and experience.