Lake Mills senior post Brandon Hermanson was a starter Monday night for the first time this season. Boy, did he make it count.

He scored 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds during his team’s 61-40 home win over Glenville-Emmons. He put up 11 points in the first half alone. Hermanson didn’t know his points-per-game average off the top of his head, but it will certainly go up after this game.

“It’s not much,” Hermanson said. “What I had tonight just kills what I normally get.”

His play throughout the night was a good example of what it means to have size advantage. He stands at 6 feet 3 inches. Hermanson scored a basket and drew a foul early in the game, and he didn’t look back from there. He scored off rebounds, from underneath the hoop and picked up his teammates – by getting more rebounds.

As far as the size advantage, he said it’s something that gives you more momentum. But overall he just felt good with his game, he said.

Lake Mills coach Kyle Menke was also impressed with Hermanson.

“That’s the best game he’s played,” Menke said. “I thought he responded well. He really did a great job on the boards.”

Glenville-Emmons, though it never had a lead, got within one point – twice – of the Bulldogs early in the game. The Wolverines pushed it to 10-9 with about a minute left in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs scored two quick buckets. Then a few minutes later, G-E’s senior guard Derek Olson nailed a three-pointer to narrow the score to 16-15. Again, the Bulldogs hung tough and went on a six-point run, resulting in G-E calling a timeout.

That wasn’t the only shot Olson had from behind the arc. Among his many chances, he cashed in on five total three-pointers. He led the Wolverines in scoring with 19 points.

The shots didn’t fall as well for G-E in the second half. It was halfway through the third quarter before it scored a point, on a free throw, and it nearly took until the end of that quarter before it scored a field goal.

Give credit to Lake Mills, too, for its play in the second half to increase and protect their lead.

“In the second half, I thought we played really good defense,” Menke said.

On the offensive side of the ball, it wasn’t necessarily what you’d call a typical game for the Bulldogs, according to their coach.

“We’ve been pretty perimeter-oriented this year, and tonight we were the opposite of that,” Menke said. “We generally don’t have a size advantage.”

They didn’t need to rely on perimeter shots, though they did get a few of them. The bulk of the scoring came from drives to the basket or right near the hoop.

“We really pushed to get the ball inside,” Hermanson said. “The guys did it. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Monday’s game was rescheduled from Dec. 20. Lake Mills got back to .500 with the win, improving to a 6-6 overall record. It’s at home Tuesday to host North Iowa. G-E travels to Grand Meadow Thursday.

 

Lake Mills 61, Glenville-Emmons 40

LM 31 30 – 61

GE 25 15 – 40

LM stats: Brandon Hermanson 19 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists; Hunter Kingland 8 points; Josh Peters 6 points; Paul Pins 6 points; Mateo Pena 8 points; Granger Kingland 5 points; Codi Thompson 3 points; Taylor Throne 2 points; Trygg Rogers 2 points; Matt Throne 2 points.

GE stats: Derek Olson 19 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals; Christian Voss 9 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal; Gavin Allison 6 points, 3 assists, 1 rebound, 2 steals; Nick Anderson 3 points, 1 assist, 6 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal; Justice Haines 2 points, 1 assist, 2 rebounds, 1 steal; Andrew Everson 1 point, 8 rebounds.