Van Ryswyk nets 1,000 career points in overtime victory against Immanuel Lutheran

With a season-high 39 points and 20 rebounds, Derek Van Ryswyk passed a scoring milestone and led the Glenville-Emmons boys’ basketball team to its first win of the season.

Van Ryswyk, a junior forward, scored his 1,000th career point on a free throw with about eight minutes remaining in the second half, and the Wolverines overcame a 12-point halftime deficit to force overtime and beat Immanuel Lutheran 91-86 Monday at Mankato.

“It’s definitely something I’ve been working toward,” Van Ryswyk said. “It means a lot.”

Last year, Van Ryswyk set a Glenville-Emmons school record by hitting 109 3-pointers. He showed a more balanced attack against the Trojans, said Wolverines coach Jared Matson.

“Derek did a great job tonight of finding different ways to score,” he said. “He was crashing the boards on offense, driving to the basket and getting to the free throw line. When he can score in other ways besides 3-point shooting, he becomes a really difficult matchup for opposing teams.”

In addition to scoring from beyond the arc, Matson said Van Ryswyk made an impact from the free-throw line.

“It was fitting (that he hit 1,000 points on a free throw) because we’ve been telling him he needs to work on getting to the charity stripe more often,” Matson said. “He was 10 of 10 for free throws tonight.”

Last season, Van Ryswyk was a First Team All-Area selection and one of only two players from the Tribune’s seven-team coverage area to average a double-double with 20.9 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.

Glenville-Emmons (1-4, 0-2 Southeast) outscored Immanuel Lutheran (0-3, 0-0 no conference) 49-37 in the second half and 10-5 in overtime.

Van Ryswyk was one of four Wolverines who scored in double figures: Seth Chapek had 25; Carter Dahlum, 16; and Danny Charron, 11.

“(The second half) was pretty crazy, but we got to the line a lot, and Seth Chapek came up huge,” Van Ryswyk said.

Matson said Van Ryswyk’s unselfish play has been inspiring.

“It’s been fun to watch Derek develop and grow as a player and leader in our program,” he said. “Even after scoring 39 and getting his 1,000th, his first words in the locker room were, ‘Great team win.’”

The Wolverines hadn’t scored 80 or more points in regulation since Feb. 13, 2012. They hadn’t scored 90 points or more since tallying 106 against Elmore Academy on Feb. 13, 2006.

Next, the Wolverines will play at 7:15 p.m. today at Schaeffer Academy (1-5, 1-2 Southeast) in Rochester. The Lions beat Lanesboro 66-58 on Nov. 30 but lost all five of their other games by 14 points or more.