Sophomore makes presence felt in loss

Benson 49, Tigers 40

Eric Staebler, sophomore center for the Tigers, had his moments Friday night in the game against Benson. Staebler put in 15 points and snared 19 rebounds, but the MACA cause got dragged down by sub-par shooting.

The scoreboard outcome was a 49-40 loss for coach Mark Torgerson's Tigers. 

Is this shaping up as a re-building year? MACA has found the going rough vs. all three foes to date.

A long winter lies ahead. But MACA will have to try to find a little more firepower. A shooting percentage of 28 isn't going to cut it. That's what the orange and black cause posted against Benson. The made/attempts figures were 13 of 45. The three-point shooting story was one of woe: one of eight. Staebler connected on the only make. He was the rebound leader with his 19.

In freethrow shooting the Tigers made 13 of 18. They were whistled for 21 fouls.

Staebler with his 15 points was followed by Noah Grove and his eleven. There's a dropoff after that. Bryce Jergenson and Jordan Arbach each scored three points, and Riley Biesterfeld, Jacob Zosel, Andrew Goulet and Nic Solvie each scored two.

The Benson scoring attack had Aaron Ahrndt, junior guard, in a prime role. Ahrndt made three of his team's four 3-pointers. Zach Maurer made the other.

Ahrndt and Jacob Goff shared team-best scoring honors, each with 15 points. Maurer put in 13 points. Goff was the top Brave rebounder with nine.

Maurer and Christian Larson each dished out four assists. The Maurer/Larson duo was tops in steals too, each with four.

The Braves shot 18 of 47 in total field goals, and were nine of 23 at the freethrow line.

The Tigers trailed by just one point at halftime, 21-20, so that's heartening for MACA fans. Oh my, the Tigers are 0-3. The loss to Benson was at the home gym.
  

Montevideo 80, Tigers 36

Tuesday night, Dec. 3, was grim for the Morris Area Chokio Alberta boys basketball team. Jordan Thompson had a lot to do with that. Jordan plays for the Montevideo Thunder Hawks.

This game was the conference opener for coach Mark Torgerson's Tigers. It was the second game overall, and neither resulted in victory for the orange and black. "Grim" is the descriptive term, as the scoreboard gap for each game was wide.

On Tuesday the Tigers fell in the 80-36 final.

Monte came out of the night at 2-0 and 1-0 in conference.

The scoreboard gap was wide by halftime. Thompson and his T-Hawk mates led 46-19 at the halfway mark. They delighted their home gym fans.

How potent was Jordan Thompson? He was lethal from three-point range, making eight of these shots on the night. His point total for the night was 26.

Thompson wasn't the only Thunder Hawk looking comfortable from beyond the 3-point stripe. As a team the T-Hawks were 13 of 23. Adam Killbarda and Troy Diggins each made two long-rangers, and Jimmy Haff had one.

In total field goals the T-Hawks were 30 of 51, and in freethrows seven of ten.

Spencer Hildahl led Monte in rebounds with five. Diggins topped the assist list with seven. Dazhown Coleman had seven steals.

On to the MACA data: The 3-point shooting numbers were a cool three-for-13. Not so in freethrows where the Tigers made all but one of their eight attempts.

Noah Grove made two of the 3's, and Eric Staebler had the other. CJ Nagel led in rebounds with six. Grove and Staebler each had two assists.

Grove's 15 points put him atop the scoring list. Staebler joined him in double figures with his ten. Nagel finished with six, Bryce Jergenson four and Ian Howden one.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com