ADAMS — Four straight frustrating losses had the Southland boys basketball team feeling a little down, but everything went right in the first half for the Rebels in a 61-22 win over LeRoy/Ostrander in the first round of the Rebel Invite Thursday.

Southland (1-4 overall) used early full court pressure to overwhelm the Cardinals (1-3 overall) and it led 21-2 with 12 minutes left in the first half before dropping back into a halfcourt defense.

“I’m ecstatic (to get the first win),” said Southland forward Mike Goergen, who finished with 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals in limited playing time. “We just wanted to get out and fast break really early and push the ball up-tempo. We’re a little undersized and that’s what we’re good at. it’s fun to play in the open court and everyone played hard.”

Southland forced 21 first half turnovers and it ran the lay-up drill for much of the first frame as it took a 48-7 lead to the break. In the second half, things slowed down as the Rebel reserves took over.

“I was very pleased with our intensity and our consistency,” Southland head coach Jon Thalberg said. “In the first half we played good hard defense, moved the ball well on offense and got easy shots.”

Thalberg hopes the win can help give his squad some confidence as it prepares to host Blooming Prairie (1-3 overall) in the tourney title game, which will take place after the consolation game between L/O and the Spring Grove Friday in Adams.

“The kids have been frustrated because things haven’t gone our way,” he said. “This shows us that when you do the little things it makes a difference and we’ve got a long way to go yet, but this is a great stepping stone.”

The Cardinals were led by Mark Miller, who had six points and six rebounds, but they couldn’t get too many shots off as they had 32 turnovers and were out-rebounded 40-33.

“We did a terrible job taking care of the basketball,” L/O head coach Jason Jude said. “It’s pretty hard to win a basketball game when you turn the ball over that many times, but they’re a really good team and you get better when you play really good teams.”

L/O                 7   15 — 22

Southland 48 13 — 61

Southland scoring: Mike Goergen, 14; Nick Schmitz, 9; Alan May, 8; Sam Klaehn, 6; Logan Vlasaty, 5; Decker Bendtsen, 4; Brock Bendtsen, 4; Sam Noterman, 4; Lee DeHoogh, 2; Marcus Johnson, 2; Camden Hurd, 2; Chris Wolff, 1; free throws: 50 percent (5-for-10); rebounds: 40 (Vlasaty, 7); turnovers: 18

L/O scoring: Mark Miller, 6; Dom Lazzara, 5; Jordan Osmundson, 4; Mitch Scaglione, 2; Nate Bunne, 1; free throws: 22 percent (2-for-9); rebounds: 33 (Miller, 6); turnovers: 32