Student athletes leap into 2011, win

Boys basketball: Tigers 62, BOLD 49
The scoring burden was spread among the Tigers as the squad debuted for 2011 with a winning style.
Tuesday, Jan. 4, saw the post-holidays phase get ushered in. Playing at the home gym, coach Mark Torgerson's Morris Chokio Alberta squad downed BOLD 62-49. It was their sixth triumph of the season.
Fans will remember that BOLD was a nemesis for M-CA in football.
The basketball success on Tuesday had many Tigers scoring key points. Tyler Roske with his 12 points and Alex Erickson with eleven led the effort.
Eric Riley and Mac Kampmeier each put in eight points. Cody Cannon scored seven followed by Dan Tiernan and Cole Riley each with six, and Riley Ahrndt put in four.
Tiernan succeeded twice from beyond the three-point stripe. Erickson had the other three-pointer, a department in which the team numbers were a lukewarm three-for-15. In total field goals, the Tigers made 23 of 53 attempts. The freethrow stats were 13-for-21.
BOLD basically stayed with the Tigers through the first half and trailed by just four points at the break (23-19).
The determined M-CA defense may have had a wear-down effect on the Warriors. M-CA put some distance on the scoreboard in the second half, outscoring their conference opponent 39-30.
(I use the M-CA initials because I see that some of the area media are dropping the "Area" part of the title.)
Effective as the Tiger defense was, it couldn't carve out an upper hand in rebounds. Here the BOLD stat was 33 compared to the Tigers' 26. The Tiger defense resulted in BOLD shooting below 40 percent in field goals.
The M-CA boys satisfied their home fans with a shooting eye that could continue to spell wins.
BOLD's Kyle Athmann, one of those familiar names from football, led his team in scoring Tuesday with 16 points. BOLD came out of Tuesday with a 3-4 season record.

Girls basketball: Tigers 59, WHN 54
The girls hoops story was upbeat Tuesday as the Tigers climbed over .500 by beating Wheaton-Herman-Norcross.
The Morris Chokio Alberta girls plunged into the post-holidays phase with this triumph by a margin of five points. Erin Schieler was at the fore with her scoring prowess. Erin poured in 22 points as coach Dale Henrich's squad prevailed 59-54.
Henrich coaxed his squad to a particularly impressive second half. The Tigers were down by three points at halftime but made adjustments to outscore the Warriors 40-32 in the second half.
Three-point shooting was an ingredient in the M-CA success. Katie Holzheimer made three three-pointers as part of finishing the night with 14 points. Sarah Kuhn made the other Tiger three-pointer, a department where the team numbers were four-for-13.
In total field goals the numbers were 20-for-58.
Erica Domnick joined Schieler and Holzheimer in double figures scoring, putting in ten. Right behind was Beth Holland with her nine points.
Kuhn's three-pointer gave her three, and Holly Amundson scored one.
Three Tigers each attacked the boards for six rebounds: Holland, Kuhn and Domnick. Two Tigers each picked up four assists: Holzheimer and Holland. And, two Tigers set the pace in steals, each with three: Holzheimer and Holland.
Tracy Boehmlehner was WHN's top scorer with 16 points.
Viva Morris Chokio Alberta boys and girls basketball for 2011! Keep checking your calendar on the refrigerator. Or better yet, visit the Pheasant Country Sports website for schedule details.

Boys hockey: Storm 9, Redwood Valley 1
The Storm streaked onto the ice in most impressive fashion for the new year, downing the Redwood Valley Cardinals 9-1 on the Benson ice Tuesday.
Read Gary Hansen's thorough review of this action by clicking on the link below, which is to a page on the new-look MBA Storm website:

http://www.mbastorm.com/news_article/show/74102?referrer_id=217802-morris-benson-area-storm-hockey-news

Girls hockey: Storm 5, Park Rapids 1
The big Tuesday slate of sports had the MBA hockey girls downing Park Rapids 5-1. The Storm basically picked up from where they left off from 2010, as winning has been their habit. Their record coming out of Tuesday was 8-2.
Dani Schultz put the Storm on their way with a goal at 6:45 of the first period. Sara Rajewsky and Kelly Mahoney assisted. Schultz and Rajewsky worked together for the Storm's second goal as well. Schultz assisted and Rajewsky put the puck in the net.
The lead became 3-0 when Schultz scored with assists from Rajewsky and Sam Falk.
The score became 4-0 in the second period when Schultz and Rajewsky showed their chemistry again. Rajewsky assisted and Schultz scored (at :29).
Sam Falk wrapped up the Storm scoring for the night with her goal at 13:05 of the third, assisted by the Schultz and Rajewsky combo.
Park Rapids scored its only goal in the third period.
Brooke Falk worked in goal on this winning night and stopped 33 of the 34 shots flung at her. Bailey Moore was the Park Rapids goaltender.
Viva Morris Benson hockey for 2011! Stay abreast of these teams by visiting the new-look MBA Storm website. Would it be possible for Tiger basketball to establish its own site like this? Or other sports too? Why not?
-Brian Williams - morris mn Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com