ADAMS — The Southland boys basketball team found a way to keep up the energy in a 61-31 victory over Grand Meadow Thursday night.

The Rebels (1-2 overall) took advantage of a shorthanded Superlarks squad by rotating five players in and five players out once every five minutes.

The result was a strong defensive effort that forced 41 GM turnovers on the night.

The rotation was not a planned attack by Southland head coach Jon Thalberg.

“I just thought of it as I was standing there about two minutes into the first half,” Thalberg said. “It worked out pretty well actually. As of right now that’s not how I’m gonna do it, but maybe we’ll try it again down the road.”

Southland’s Alan May and Sam Noterman took turns as the team’s primary play-makers. May started the game and had 10 points, eight steals, and three assists, Noterman came off the bench and had 12 points, seven steals, four rebounds, and two assists.

“We just wanted to come out and play pressure defense in their face and the team played great,” Alan May said. “That rotation made it a lot easier to stay fresh and keep it as an up-tempo game.”

The Rebels led 10-4 when they made their first rotation, and Noterman led the reserves on a 6-0 run that eventually saw Southland take a 20-4 lead.

“I just give it my all, all the time,” Noterman, a sophomore, said. “You could tell they were a little tired.”

Thalberg said the sophomore duo was crucial to breaking the game open.

“Sam and Alan both did a great job of getting steals and converting them to baskets,” he said. “That’s something we stress a lot is to take advantage of fast break opportunities.”

The Superlarks (0-4 overall) were missing three key reserves, but their head coach Chad Burmester said the game was good experience for his younger players.

“It’s a huge experience for us. Our thing is, we’ll take them on and we think we can compete with them for a half or work on some things,” he said. “It’ll only make us better in the long run. Our young guys will get that experience of playing bigger and faster guys.”

GM 12 19 — 31

Southland 28 33 — 61

Southland scoring: Sam Noterman, 12; Alan May, 10; Jamie Hanson, 8; Eric Vogel, 6; Cameron Barnes, 5; Chris May, 4; Mitch Nagele, 4; Henry Mullenbach, 4; Zach Heimer, 3; Eric Monson, 3; Clint Bergene, 2; free throws: 38 percent (5-for-13); rebounds: 39 (Vogel, 7); turnovers: 22

GM scoring: Andrew Hardecopf, 12; Killian Smith, 7; Mike Gehling, 6; Ethan Yost, 3; Bryce Benson, 2; Jayson Chavez, 1; free throws: 30 percent (3-for-10); rebounds: 38 (Hardecopf, 8); turnovers: 41