LA CROSSE — A double-digit lead had evaporated, but the situation provided another challenge for the Holmen High School boys basketball team.
The Vikings have been busy and struggled with multiple aspects of their MVC loss at Central on Thursday, partly because it was their third game in four days.
Two days later, Holmen was spending Saturday morning battling a Rochester Lourdes team that was desperate for a win and building confidence down the stretch at the La Crosse Center.
Al lead that was pushing the teens several minutes before was down to one possession before junior Alex Berget slashed through the lane, hung there and released a shot that dropped through the hoop for a five-point lead with 2 minutes, 34 seconds left.
That and some free throws by sophomore Jayden Bartels and senior Keenan Eisermann made the Vikings 74-65 winners at the Midwest Players Classic.
“You always just want to win by as many points as you can, but with some of the goals we have with this team, you also want to win some games like this,” Holmen coach Ryan Meyer said. “This was a perfect opportunity for us to go through that, and now we have to go look at some of the things we did well to get the win.”
Holmen rebounded from the loss to the RiverHawks by attacking the basket, finding scoring balance again and responding when they fell behind. The Eagles led 29-28 at the half, but the Vikings (10-3) used a strong start in the second half to build their lead.
Eisermann had 19 points, five assists and five rebounds, and senior Kaiden Wilber bounced back from a quiet night of three points against Central to score 15. Wilber scored twice early, including a 3-pointer, to get his game off to a fast start.
“He’s really important in what we do,” Meyer said of Wilber, who averages a team-high 15.1 points per game and has scored at least 20 on four occasions. “We ask a lot of him in our pressure defense, so to get him going is huge for us. It probably gives us a bit of that adrenaline rush we need to finish off a week like this.”
Eisermann having a hand in just about everything is also something that has become the norm for Holmen.
“Keenan’s just an all-around player,” Meyer said. He’s quiet, so sometimes you have to get it out of him.
“He’s the guy you want with the ball in his hands, getting us directed in our offense and taking care of the ball.”
The Vikings have won six of seven games as they prepare to get back to MVC play at Tomah (5-6, 0-3) on Tuesday. The Timberwolves can score points in bunches with sophomore Quinn Gerke (24.2 ppg), who has scored at least 30 three times this season.
While the Vikings have built a lot of their success on 3-point shooting, they did a good job inside the 3-point line against the Eagles. They made 64 percent (16 of 25) of those shots and had 15 assists, and eight players had at least one.
Berget added 11 points and Bartels nine. Jeren Rink added eight and grabbed five rebounds.
