ONALASKA — It wasn’t the kind of game the Luther High School boys basketball team wanted to play as it kicked off the WIAA Division 4 playoffs.
he Knights were disjointed and had trouble executing many of the things they planned for a regional final against 11th-seeded Spring Valley.
But sixth-seeded Luther found its way and earned a semifinal game at third-seeded Osseo-Fairchild with a 63-49 victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday.
“It felt like we were loose and ready to go before the game,” Luther coach Dan Unke said. “But we had a number of guys playing in a playoff game for the first time, and I think there was some nervousness and jitters.
“Nothing was smooth, and I think we had guys trying really hard to make the right play, sometimes too hard.”
It took the Knights (14-11) time to gain control, but senior Brody Greeno scored a game-high 23 points, and freshman teammate Javon Zenke 16as Luther outscored Spring Valley (7-18) by 16 points after halftime.
“We did a lot better with sharing the ball,” Greeno said of the in-game improvement. “A lot of the first half was trying to take the ball one on four.
“We were more calm, cool and collected in the second half,”
Up next is an Osseo-Fairchild team (21-3) that has won seven games in a row.
The Knights finally took control of the Cardinals with a 20-3 run early in the second half. Greeno scored eight of those points and twice converted on offensive rebounds after missed free throws.
His drive to the basket gave Luther a 44-28 lead in a game it trailed 23-21 at the half.
It was a much different stretch for the Knights than the one that began the game. Spring Valley scored the first nine points, and Luther missed six shots and had three turnovers through the first 3 minutes, 53 seconds.
A timeout led to the Knights scoring 18 of the next 22 points and getting its first lead before Spring Valley regained control and pieced together enough baskets for the halftime lead.
Junior Trent Berg had 11 points and nine rebounds for Luther, which also received a team-high 12 rebounds form senior Max Huelskamp. As the Knights took control of the rebounding picture, the transition game became more effective.
That benefited Zenke, who had 14 of his points in the second half. Greeno also knocked down a couple of 3-pointers and took better advantage of open paths to the basket.
“When we executed offensively, we got a good look every time,” Unke said. “But that offensive execution was hard to find tonight.
“We had passes that were just a little off, a missed screen here, a missed screen there. But when we executed, things were good.”
