Senior Night Spotlight: Trojans survive Luverne 82-77

Feb. 16—WORTHINGTON — Senior night started with a bang and ended in a hometown cheer for the Worthington Trojans starting five of Tucker Brandner, Andrew Mulder, Mak Lia, Kaleb Knothe and Zach Hayenga — all senior players.

"It's been a really good group to coach, they really care about one another. They play well together, they all bring something different to the table, whether it's defensively, or shooting, or just leadership in general," said WHS coach Clint Meyer. "They've battled through a lot of different things through the years; whether it be injuries or illness, and they've persevered. We still have a lot of goals they want to accomplish this year, and they're all still there. Hopefully, they continue to just care for one another like they have and keep moving forward."

The Trojans bested Luverne 82-77 on Thursday night, in a game which saw several changes in momentum. A fast start came from Worthington's variety of offensive threats. Before long, the lead was a comfortable 19-5.

The Cardinals offense awoke midway through the first half, and they methodically and consistently worked through the Trojans defense, and limited the deficit to just three points at one time, and four at the half, 38-34.

The Cardinals also worked two first half fouls against Mulder, who then picked up his third and fourth foul in the opening six minutes of the second half.

"'I'm always staying locked in on the bench even when I get fouls," said Mulder. "I was just staying locked in there, and cheering on my team, that keeps me mentally focused. So that when I do go back in the game I can perform."

Mulder finished with 17 points, which tied for a team high with Hayenga.

Without Mulder, the Trojans, who started the second half on a run to put the lead back to over 10 points, began to trade baskets once again with the Cardinals. The Cardinals targeting the Trojans post worked their way back through hard drives and given 'and one' scoring opportunities.

Scoring just one 'and one' opportunity for the Trojans was junior Jacari Swinea who had 15 points on the game with nearly all his field goal attempts coming through heavy contact.

With just over three minutes left in the game, WHS gave up the lead for the first time all game. Luverne junior guard Carter Sehr put together a wonderful performance with a trio of treys in the second half highlighting a 25 point performance.

Senior post Gavin DeBeer got to the line often and swished five of his seven free throw attempts in a 20-point performance.

The Trojans nevertheless persisted. Getting hot from trey in the second half was senior guard and Northwestern College commit Kaleb Knothe who connected on a trio of treys in the second half and had 14 points on the game. But no points were more opportune than those of Zach Hayenga. Hayenga drained a trey and forced a crucial steal off Sehr in the final minute which sent him to the line for a one-and-one free throw opportunity with 34 seconds to go and a 78-76 lead. Hayenga hit nothing but net twice.

"We were able to double team Sehr and I think it kind of took them out of what they were trying to do inbounding the ball wise and Zach came up with a big steal," said Meyer. "We've been stressing free throws a lot lately in practice and have spent more time you know, getting those up and they stepped up and made some big free throws (tonight)."

On the ensuing Cardinals possession, Mulder pulled down a board from a missed Sehr free throw and was fouled, sending himself to the line for WHS. After making the first, his second bounced around before going out of bounds off the hand of Knothe.

The Cardinals marched quickly up the floor, and Sehr threw up a deep three which was missed and rebounded by Mak Lia, who was then sent to the line to shoot free throws. After Lia made his first shot, Trojans coach Meyer substituted in Brandner for Swinea to finish the final seconds with his five seniors on the court, the same way the game started.

Lia made his first attempt to give himself nine points on the game, and as Lia's second shot attempt bounced off rim and through the hands of the Cardinals' defenders back to him, the remaining clock was dribbled out on a pass to Mulder who celebrated the solid red light and end-of-game buzzer with a post-game two handed slam before joining the high five line with his teammates.

"That's really special for us. I love those guys, (they) are my best friends and have been my best friends throughout elementary school, middle school," said Mulder. "So being able to finish like that on senior night was really special."

The Trojans' (12-10, 6-2 Big South Conference) season has one final game left on its schedule, which was characterized by both coaches and players as a must win spot. A victory over Blue Earth Area Tuesday will clinch WHS a place in the four team Big South Conference tournament. After the conclusion of the tourney, the all-important section playoff games will begin.

"We're playing the next game like it's a playoff game," said Mulder. "It's a must win for us if we want to go to the conference playoffs. We need this one so it's like a playoff game."

Luverne 34 77

Worthington 38 82