ABOVE: Martin County West's Emily Anderson goes up for a shot as Emily Schettler boxes out a Crusaders defender Saturday in Trimont during a Tomahawk Valley Conference, Valley division game.

TRIMONT – The Martin County West Mavericks put on a solid defensive showing in its game against Mankato Loyola Catholic School on Saturday afternoon, securing a 53-40 victory and showcasing the depth of the team in a Tomahawk-Valley Conference, Valley Division girls basketball game.

With the win, MCW secured a perfect 12-0 record in conference games this season and will play in the first-ever Tomahawk-Valley Conference Girls Basketball Championship against Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s on Feb. 18.

“We knew they’d come in and probably play a 2-3 zone against us,” said MCW head coach Cliff Anderson. “So we wanted to attack it. We didn’t do a very good job in the first half, so we had to change our game plan a little bit and try to trap them a little bit more to get our up-and-down pace going for us.”

Leading the Mavericks was Emily Anderson with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Emily Schettler had 13 points and two rebounds. Avery Sanders had 9 points and four assists, while Courtney Anderson had 6 points and three assists.

The scoring started slow for both teams in the first, taking three and a half minutes for the first points to be added to the scoreboard. Once the Mavericks opened the scoring courtesy of a shot from Schettler, the Mavericks jumped out to a 6-0 lead. It took five and a half minutes for Loyola to sink their first basket of the afternoon, but once it went in it triggered an 8-0 run that gave the Crusaders their first lead of the night going up 8-6.

The Mavericks’ offense raised the intensity of the game as time progressed through the first half with a brief exchange of the lead, but another 6-0 run by the Mavericks started again by Schettler put the Mavericks back on top 16-10. The Crusaders continued to try and battle back as the half continued but were only able to pull within 2 points, 23-21, when the buzzer gave the signal ending the opening half.

“Well, all year, our defense has been leading our team,” said Cliff Anderson. “Leading things, so we have to stay focused on the defensive end and just play solid defense. That’s going to keep us in ball games when our offense is stuttering or slowing down a little bit.”

A quick bucket by MCW extended the lead almost as soon as the ball was back in play, going up 25-21. Schettler and Emily Anderson heated up as the half progressed, putting the Mavericks up 39-29. The Mavericks only allowed 8 points in the first 12 minutes of the second half while Emily Anderson hit four consecutive shots that included two 3-pointers to go up 49-31. Despite the best efforts of the Crusaders, the Mavericks continued to add to the lead to go up 53-37. The Crusaders were only able to add 3 more points before the final buzzer, locking in the Mavericks 53-40 victory.