Southwest Christian head boys’ basketball coach Jamie Pap had a wry grin on his face following the Eagles’, 61-54, season-opening victory over the Luverne Cardinals Thursday night in Luverne. His team managed to come away with the win, but he knew it wasn’t going to be pretty.
“It was good to get that first game out of the way; it didn’t go as smooth as I wanted, but for the first game, I have to keep my expectations realistic,” Pap said after the tilt. “If we would have hit a few more free throws and kept our turnovers, the silly unforced turnovers, down it would have been a different game. It went OK.”
A physical Luverne club didn’t help matters, and the Cardinals kept the Eagles off balance with a defensive effort typical of Southwest Conference teams. The Eagles (1-0) struggled to get into an offensive rhythm. At the charity stripe, which the Eagles saw plenty of over the first 18 minutes, SWC struggled as well. The Eagles were in the bonus quite early, but failed to capitalize and trailed the Cardinals by one at intermission, 27-26.
“I told the kids they needed to focus on defense more at halftime,” Pap said. “If you focus more on defense, the offense will happen in transition all by itself. In transition, if it’s there, you take it. If not, be patient and work the ball around.”
The Eagles followed Pap’s instructions well in the second half and quickly forged an 11-point advantage.
Eagle guard Derek Tinklenberg (16 points, four assists, four steals) was the catalyst in the Eagles’ 16-6 run to open the second half. The senior point, knocked down four shots – three pull-up jumpers and a layup – sandwiched around an inside bucket by sophomore post Zach Huisken (19 points, nine rebounds) on a nice feed from senior Corey Vis. Andrew Top ((five points) and Travis Vander Woude followed with a deuce each before Spencer Mesman (11 points) completed a 4-point play to give the Eagles a 44-33 lead with 11 minutes, 38 seconds remaining in the contest.
“We needed to settle down and do what we’ve been taught,” Tinklenberg said. “Those guys were physical, and we did miss some free throws.
“We swung the ball around and set better screens in the second half. We ran the offense with patience rather than trying to rush it. Overall, I’m fairly happy with our performance, especially for our first game. It’s always good to get a ‘W.’”
Zach Huisken knocked down another close-range shot off a dish from Cody Huskien to make it a 46-33 game, and the Eagles appeared as though they’d run away with the contest. A feisty Luverne team, however, proved its mettle by keeping active and fighting for every loose ball. While the Cardinals could only get to within seven points (at the final whistle), they never gave up.
“I told the kids, ‘we need one good possession, and we’ll put them away,’” Pap said. “We just couldn’t quite get it, and they hung around, but we got the win, which is the main thing.”
Tinklenberg and Mesman hit back-to-back shots to open the game for the Eagles, while the Cardinals looked extremely tight on the offensive end of the floor. It wasn’t until Luverne senior Jon Fodness converted a 3-point play that the hosts settled down.
Following buckets by Tinklenberg and Zach Huisken, Fodness drained a trey for the Cards, and teammates Brett Heronimus and Josh Boomgaarden hit back-to-back jumpers to give Luverne a brief 10-8 advantage. The remainder of the first half saw the Cardinals lead by as many as six points. Boomgaarden and Trever Stoffel kept Luverne on top with long-range precision.
SWC countered with Zach Huisken. The six-foot, nine-inch sophomore scored six of the Eagles’ final 10 points of the half – not bad for a player who almost sat the game out with an ankle injury.
“When we got here tonight, I didn’t think he was going to go at all,” Pap said. “I basically put a cast on his foot, so he could play. He came through for us and played really big for us. His presence in there helped free up some other players. They focused in on him, and that gave Derek some open looks.”
Cody Huisken and Vis finished the game with four points apiece for the Eagles, while Vander Woude had two points to go along with three steals.

SWC 26 35 – 61
Luverne 27 27 – 54

SWC 55, Fulda 42
The Eagles (2-0) again came back from a 1-point halftime deficit to claim victory, this time a Red Rock Conference win over the Fulda Raiders Friday night.
Zach Huisken nearly had a triple-double for the hosts, scoring 11 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking nine shots.
Tinklenberg (five rebounds, two steals) finished with 11 markers, while Mesman had eight points and eight boards.
The Eagles will try to open the season with three consecutive victories when they visit Hills-Beaver Creek on Thursday.

Fulda 26 16 – 42
SWC 25 30 – 55