Confidence builder

Four easy wins didn’t tell Coach Dave Busselman enough.
“We needed to see where we were,” he said. Monday night he found out when his Minneota Viking boys stormed a good Lakeview squad, 75-59.
“This game showed us where we are at,” Busselman added.
A side-light, which the coach practically whispered was, “We needed some confidence, too,” he said.
Oh, you’d think they had all the confidence in the world after running up a solid 4-0 record. But like the coach, the players needed to see the fruits of their labors.
“I like the killer attitude,” the coach said about a Viking team that took a 36-26 halftime lead — then put the throttle down and quickly accelerated past the Lakers.
With 9:25 to go they’d already built a 56-38 lead and much of that came as the result of a full-court press that kept the ball out of the hands of the Lakers 6-7 center Jarod Goepferich, who had just four points, but grabbed 12 rebounds with two blocks and a steal.
“I said we needed to win the rebound battle,” said Coach Busselman. It was close, 34-33 with Logan Sussner leading the way with nine rebounds. And he tossed in 18 points to help the cause.
“Maybe Logan didn’t have his best night — but he battled hard down there all night,” said the coach.
Hitting three of eight three-pointers, Thomas Hennen scored 23 points and nabbed six rebounds and a team-leading four steals.
“Thomas was the nucleus all night,” the coach stated.
When brother Jacob got his fourth foul at 11:58 of the second half, it could have been trouble for the Vikings.
“But we managed it,” and Hennen didn’t foul out. Instead, the Minneota freshman scored 18 points, hitting five of eight, two-pointers and 2-3 from three-point range.
“We were solid all-around,” said the Viking coach.
“We have so many weapons — they can’t stop ‘em all.”
For instance, Nolan Boerboom popped in a pair of three-pointers and point guard Jared Josephson got one in the second half.
If there was one cog in the wheel the Vikings couldn’t seem to stop it was the Lakers Tate Varpness. The 6-5 senior  poured in 22 points and had five rebounds.
Outside, the Lakers Jon Wyffels, who almost went to Minneota a couple of years ago, scored 18 points by landing four of eight, three-point attempts and four straight free throws.
What Coach Busselman liked the most was the way his team, “Adjusted. It was a good game for us.”
NOTE: An unusual high school came in the first half when Goepferich was called for “goal-tending” on a shot by Jacob Hennen.
He swatted the ball away but it came as it was headed for the basket.
The Vikings will take a 5-0 record into the Candy Cane Holiday Tournament Friday and Saturday, December 22 and 23 at Okabena. They face Heron Lake-Okabena (1-4) at 8 p.m. on Friday, then play either these same Lakeview Lakers or state-ranked Westbrook-Walnut Grove (3-2) Saturday afternoon.

Minneota 75, Lakeview 59
MINNEOTA (2’s, 3’s, FT, F, TP) Nolan Boerboom 0 2 1-2 4 7; Isaac Hennen 3 0 0-0 2 6; Jacob Hennen 5 2 2-4 4 18; Thomas Hennen 7 3 0-1 2 23; Jared Josephson 0 1 0-0 1 3; Mitchell Rost 0 0 0-0 0 0; Alex Saltzer 0 0 0-0 1 0; Tristan Sorensen 0 0 0-0 0 0; Logan Sussner 7 0 4-6 3 18. Totals 22 8 7-13 17 75.
LAKEVIEW (2’s, 3’s, FT, F, TP) Bryce Arends 0 0 1-2 1 1; Conner Dopp 0 0 2-2 0 2; Nick Fenske 0 0 1-2 0 1; Kallen French 3 0 0-0 5 6; Logan Gile 0 0 0-0 0 0; Jarod Goepferich 2 0 0-2 2 4; Tyler Imes 0 1 0-0 1 3; Aaron Loe 1 0 0-0 0 2; Tate Varpness 7 1 5-10 2 22; Jon Wyffels 1 4 4-4 0 18; Reid Bot 0 0 0-0 2 0. Totals 14 6 13-22 14 59.
Score by Halves
Lakeview             26    33    —    59
Minneota             36    29    —    75
Statistics:
SHOOTING: Minneota (2’s 22 of 46 for 48 percent; 3’s 6 of 24 for 50 percent; overall 30 of 62 for 48 percent); Lakeview (2’s 14 of 39 for 36 percent; 3’s 6 of 24 for 25 percent; overall 20 of 63 for 32 percent).
FREE THROWS: Minneota 7 of 13 for 54 percent; Lakeview 13 of 22 for 59 percent.
REBOUNDS: Minneota 33 (Sussner 9; I. Hennen, T. Hennen 6 each; Boerboom 5; Josephson 4; J. Hennen 3; Rost, Sorensen 1 each); Lakeview 32 (Goepferich 12; Varpness 5; Wyffels, French, Reid Bot 3 each; Vrbicky, Ahrends, Loe 1 each).
TURNOVERS: Minneota 13; Lakeview 19.
STEALS: Minneota 12 (T. Hennen 4; J. Hennen, Sorenson, Sussner 2 each; I. Hennen, Josephson 1 each); Lakeview 5 Loe 3, Goepferich 2).
ASSISTS: Minneota 15 (T. Hennen 5; Boerboom, J. Hennen 3 each; I. Hennen 2; Rost, Sorenson 1 each); Lakeview 6.
BLOCKS: Minneota 0. Lakeview 4 (Goepferich 4).
B SQUAD: Lakeview 51, Minneota 35 (Vikings record: 3-2).