ABOVE: Martin County West's Lucas Larson drives past a Crusaders defender Saturday during a Tomahawk Valley Conference, Valley division game in Trimont.

TRIMONT – The Martin County West Mavericks secured the lead and never let it go in their 59-43 win over the Mankato Loyola Crusaders Saturday evening in a Tomahawk-Valley, Valley Division boys basketball game

“We were expecting them to pound it into the big guy number 21 [Christian Barker] there,” said MCW head coach Phillip Rotunda. “I know Kane [Sharp] had him and did, I think, a really good job of just limiting his buckets there because they ended up going small because it wasn’t working with the big. And we were just able to go move around with our offensive flow there. So Kane did an awesome job of just taking that game plan out from the get-go”

With Jacob Wilmes being contained by the Loyola defense, the Mavericks had to adjust their game plan and find ways to get the offense rolling.

“We knew that any time he [Wilmes] gets the ball, they’re going to collapse to make someone else beat them,” said Rotunda. “That’s where Kane had those good first few minutes of just finding the spot to be able to go and get a bucket, finding of those ways there. So he did, that’s the good give-and-take when you have someone’s doubling. Don’t stand and watch and hope that he makes the shot, go do something about it. And Kane’s done a really good job of that like the last few games.”

The first half opened as a defensive battle between the two teams as they tried to get a feel for each other. It was MCW’s Kale Larson who opened the scoring after he drew a foul and drained one of his free throws. The Crusaders were able to take the lead after converting on a 3-point play, but that would be half of the points that they were able to put up through the first nine minutes of the game. Despite the Crusaders trying to shut down the scoring production of Wilmes, the Mavericks were able to work the ball around and generate scoring elsewhere that put them up 18-6. As the half progressed Kale Larson and Sharp continued to sink their shots, adding to the MCW lead as it went up 29-21 at the half.

The battle continued into the second half, where every shot in the paint was vigorously contested. The Crusaders went on a 7-0 run, cutting into the Mavericks’ lead and pulling within 1, 33-32. The Mavericks continued to find ways to keep the Crusaders at bay regaining a 5-point lead up 37-32. The Crusaders found success shooting from the outside and again were able to get close, but not take the lead, cutting the advantage to 38-37. At this point, the scoring of Kale Larson and Lucas Larson became enough of a factor for the Mavericks that it freed up Wilmes to generate points in the paint as MCW went up 50-39. The Mavericks added 9 points to the Crusaders 4 to close out the 59-43 victory.

The Mavericks, now 7-15 overall and 5-7 in conference play, head to Cedar Mountain for a 7:15 p.m. game on Friday.