Mitch Weber

SHERBURN — Mitch Weber sank 3s, while Tanner Sinn controlled the paint.

Weber and Sinn each scored 24 points to lead the Martin County West Mavericks to a 70-59 Valley Conference basketball win over the Madelia Blackhawks on Tuesday night in Sherburn.

Weber snapped the nets on six 3s out of eight attempts, while Sinn dropped his 24 points on 11-for-17 shooting and controlled the boards with a game-high 12 rebounds for a double-double.

“We like to have that balanced scoring,” MCW head coach Cliff Anderson said of the combo’s performance. “Mitchell started off really hot when they (Madelia) were in a triangle-and-two defense. He hit some big shots for us. And Tanner was just a bigger guy inside for us and he did a great job finishing tonight. We need that balanced scoring and those two guys did a nice job tonight.”

The teams battled to an early tie at 7 before MCW opened up a lead that it never gave back.

Owen Runkle started the run with a right-wing 3 off one of Weber’s co-team high four assists, then Weber dribbled into a pull-up 3 on the left wing.

Ja’Sean Glover used an Elijah McCabe assist for two of his game-high 26 points to break up the run, but Sinn got it restarted with a spin move to a short jumper in the post for 2.

Weber then assisted Runkle again, this time for a 3 from the right corner, to put the Mavericks ahead 18-9.

Though Glover led the game with his 26 points, he was the main focus for the MCW defense, consistently drawing more than one member of the MCW defense when he entered the post.

“He’s (Glover) a 2,000-point scorer, almost,” Anderson said of the Mavericks’ defensive focus. “If you let him, he’ll get 40 a game. We thought that was the key, double- or triple-team him whenever he got in the post and the kids did a good job of making somebody else beat us.”

The Blackhawk who stepped up was Ethan Arndt, who ended the game with 25 points on 10 of 19 shooting.

The Blackhawks got within 23-14 with nine minutes left in the first half, then MCW went on another run.

Weber assisted Sinn on a cutter through the post, then Zach Anderson drove from the wing for an up-and-under layup to put the Mavericks up 27-14 with seven minutes left.

Tate Leiding assisted Weber for a left-wing 3 a minute later to put the Mavericks up 16, then the MCW defense kept Madelia off the scoreboard until Arndt grabbed a rebound, was fouled and made both free throw attempts with 4:20 left.

The teams swapped points to get to a 36-25 Maverick lead going into halftime. Both teams put up 34-point second halves, leading to the Mavericks’ eventual 11-point victory.

Glover was able to work his way through the MCW defensive focus better in the second half, contributing 17 of his points, with eight coming on steals or fast breaks.

Zach Anderson had a solid overall game for the Mavericks, contributing 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.

The Mavericks shot 26-for-46 overall for 56.5 percent, while swooshing 8 of 14 attempts from beyond the arc. MCW closed out the win with Anderson hitting five of six free throw attempts in the final minute, helping build to a team free-throw performance of 10-for-13.

Madelia shot 25-for-54 overall, for 46 percent, while making 5 out of 28 attempts from 3. The Blackhawks shot 50 percent from the charity stripe, making 4 of 8 attempts.

The win marks MCW’s third consecutive after the Mavericks beat New Ulm on Feb. 9 and Nicollet on Feb. 11.

“I thought we did just enough to win the ballgame,” Cliff Anderson said. “We didn’t handle their defensive pressure as much as I would have liked. Have to give them (Madelia) credit for that. That Glover kid is the real deal, we basically tried to do everything we could to stop him. Our kids still battled and made a lot of good decisions. We’re headed the right direction right now.”

Martin County West (4-6) faces a rivalry rematch against Truman/Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley-East Chain at 7:15 p.m. Friday in Sherburn. The Jaguars beat the Mavericks 39-26 when the teams matched up on Feb. 1.

Madelia (4-6) plays host to Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial at 7:15 p.m. Friday.

MAD 25-34–59

MCW 36-34–70

MCW (70)

Weber 9-12 0-0 24, Sinn 11-17 2-3 24, Anderson 4-9 5-6 13, Runkle 2-5 1-2 7, Bachenberg 0-2 2-2 2, Owens 0-1 0-0 0, Leiding 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-46 10-13 70.

MAD (59)

Glover 12-18 1-4 26, Arndt 10-19 2-2 25, Altenburg 3-11 0-0 7, Grev 0-0 1-2 1, McCabe 0-2 0-0 0, Zamora 0-0 0-0 0, Wihlm 0-4 0-0 0. Totals: 25-54 4-8 59.

3-pointers: MCW 8-14 (Weber 6); MAD 5-28 (Arndt 3). Fouled out: Zamora (MAD). Rebounds: MCW 31 (Sinn 12, Anderson 8); MAD 14 (Glover 7, Arndt 4). Assists: MCW 15 (Anderson & Weber 4 each); MAD 16 (McCabe 7, Altenburg 3). Steals: MCW 7 (Anderson 4); MAD 13 (Glover 6, Zamora 3).

Blue Earth Area 77, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 46 — Cameron Anderson scored 19 points, while Austin Thielfoldt made six shots in nine attempts for 17 points to help lead the Bucs past the Knights in nonconference action Tuesday in Lake Crystal.

Anderson complemented his offenseive performance with seven rebounds and four assists, while Ashton Lloyd contributed 11 points, seven assists and eight rebounds to near triple-double territory.

Braden Gudahl scored 13 points and grabbed seven boards for BEA, while Gavin Storbeck dropped seven points and brought down four caroms.

Zack Wells led the Knights with a 20-point performance on 10-for-19 shooting.

The Bucs made 28 of 57 attempts overall, including 7-for-17 from beyond the arc, and hit 14 free throws on 20 tries.

Blue Earth Area (9-1) travels to St. Peter for a Big South Conference matchup at 7:15 p.m. Friday.

BEA 38-39–77

LCWM 27-19–46

Truman/Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley-East Chain 74, Nicollet 45 — Adam Heckman contributed a double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds, while three other Jaguars reached double-digit points to beat the Raiders in Valley Conference action Tuesday night in Nicollet.

The Jaguars jumped out to a 15-0 start to the game and never let the Raiders recover.

Owen Wolter scored 14 points and dished out seven assists for the Jaguars, while Jakob Fischer had 11 points and four steals.

Cael Jaskulke joined Adam Heckman with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Matt Heckman contributed nine points to the Jaguars’ offensive efforts.

Grant Bruns led the Raiders with nine points on 3-for-3 shooting from beyond the arc, while Shane Stevensen had seven points.

TMLGHEC (7-3) travels to Sherburn for a Valley Conference matchup with Martin County West at 7:15 p.m. Friday.

TMLG 36-38–74

NIC 13-32–45