WLA beats Mayville in defensive battle

Winnebago Lutheran faced adversity head-on Thursday night. 

Despite missing senior Marcus Christensen, a key defender for the Vikings, who was out because of illness; the team displayed lots of grit to take home a huge 53-38 Flyway win over Mayville. 

Coach Mason DeNoyer credited his squad’s ability to overcome unexpected adversity. 

“Kids had to step up," DeNoyer said. "Then, three starters: Gannon Schwartz, Andy [Simon] and Max [Hansmann] all had three fouls in the first half. But they just stuck together, battled through adversity, and gutted it out.”

WLA (6-5 overall, 4-2 in Flyway) wasn’t the only one who gutted through it though, for Mayville hung around the entire game. 

WLA pulled ahead early and was able to maintain a 7-point lead for most of the game, but Mayville pulled within 5 around the eight-minute mark. 

They did so with a 2-3 zone that allowed for a couple of turnovers and little success, on top of a couple of big buckets from guard duo junior Talan Meyer and senior Joren Schlender.

DeNoyer was forced to put Schwartz back in. 

The junior guard helped lead WLA on a 14-6 run to close the game. He played a majority role in cracking Mayville’s zone. He found the 6-foot-4 Hansmann for plenty of easy buckets down the stretch.

Schwartz finished with a game-high 16, even though he missed a large portion of both halves.

“I told the kid that I was proud of him,” DeNoyer said. “He’s a competitor to the max.” 

Similar to Schwartz in the closing minutes, WLA’s defense was a brick wall in conference play once again.

“It was a focal point,” DeNoyer said. “We’re [going to] keep getting better and better, and especially during the dog days of January and early February, where the season feels like it’s going on forever, these kids are bringing it every day at practice, and I’m proud of them”