Now it's the MACA girls' turn to travel to YME (Granite Falls). YME is a hotspot as a neutral court site for Section 3AA-North hoops action. The boys played there last Tuesday and had their season end.
Tonight (Monday, Feb. 29) has the girls slated to face sub-section rival New London-Spicer. The Tigers and Wildcats are engaged in the North semi-finals. I needn't remind you that New London-Spicer is historically a strong post-season team in GBB.
This past Friday saw the Tigers play at YME when that court was not neutral. We played the Sting of Yellow Medicine East. Showing a rugged defense, coach Dale Henrich's squad had matters in hand, up 27-15 at halftime. The teams played even in the second half, each scoring 27 points, so the 12-point margin held up at the end. The Tigers advanced on the strength of this 54-42 win. We climbed over .500 in our overall season fortunes, to 13-12.
I assume the Wildcats will be a formidable foe tonight (Monday). It's our second-round game. The boys fell to Minnewaska in their second-round game. The boys played a miserable first half.
Re. our GBB win: Moira McNally and Correy Hickman gave lots of fuel for the Tigers' offense, each scoring 14 points. Becca Holland put in nine points, then we have Ashley Solvie (7), Jenna Howden (4), Riley Decker (3) and Nicole Solvie (3). Holland and Decker made the Tigers' three-pointers.
Paige Steffen led an anemic YME offense with her eleven points. Here's the rest of the Sting's scoring list: Jordan Hinz (10), Makayla Dyrdahl (8), Anna McCosh (6), Kate Mortenson (3), Sam Anderson (2) and Kenzie Dyrdahl (2). Hinz put in two 3-pointers while Mortenson made one. McCosh and Steffen each went up to grab nine rebounds. Mortenson and Steffen each each had two assists. Hinz had five steals and Madison Hagert had three.
Will MACA fans make a happy return trip from YME tonight? We'll see. Let's try to blunt NL-Spicer as a post-season force.
Click on the link below to read my current post on "Morris of Course" entitled "H.S. post-season games not what they once were."
http://morrisofcourse.
The good news is that the girls won a very interesting game, hanging on to defeat the Thunder Hawks of Monte. Let's emphasize "hang on." The Tigers cooled to score 20 points in the second half compared to their output of 42 in the first. Monte played a more even game but they were done in by being outscored by ten in the first half. The Tigers won 62-61.
We got past a foe that had a superior won-lost mark. That's an encouraging sign, now that we're into the post-season.
Correy Hickman was a clutch performer helping keep MACA in position to win. Correy calmly made two freethrows with 12 seconds left to play. Monte had a last-gasp offensive opportunity but came up short.
Becca Holland spurred the MACA offense with three 3-pointers, garnering some most essential points. Riley Decker and Correy Hickman each made one '3'.
It was Ashley Solvie topping the scoring list with her 19 points. Four total Tigers broke into double figures. Holland had a point total of 13. Hickman's total was eleven while Nicole Solvie scored ten. Decker added six points to the mix. Jenna Howden scored two and Moira McNally had one.
Ashley Solvie collected nine rebounds while McNally had six. Holland produced four assists while Hickman had three. Holland and Hickman each had three steals.
Abby Olson was Monte's top scorer with 20 points. Ashley McKee put in eleven points for the T-Hawks. Lexi Quigley and Reidinger - first name not available - each scored eight. Molly Reeves and Niki Erickson each added five points to the Monte mix. Schmitz - first name not available - scored four points. Erickson made a three-point shot. Olson and McKee each grabbed seven rebounds while Erickson had six. Olson led Montevideo with six assists and Olson paced them in steals with four.
Becca Holland was sharp as usual in her long-range shooting, putting in three 3's, building her personal point total of 17. Hickman and Riley Decker each made two 3's. Ashley Solvie scored nine points. Then we have Decker (7), Nicole Solvie (6) and Moira McNally (4). Holland led in rebounds with six followed by Hickman with five. Hickman's nine assists led that category, while Holland and Decker each had three assists. Hickman stole the ball eight times, and Decker performed three steals.
The struggling Benson offense was led by Addie Forbord with eight points. Victoria Pagel put in four points. Two each came from Kaitlyn Knutson, Presley Gonnerman and Grace Lee. The Braves had no three-point shot makes. Amundson - first name not available - had four rebounds as did Danielle Himley. Lee and Dana Rud each had one assist. Himley and Lee each had a steal.
Benson is paying some dues this season: they had no wins as of this Friday game. Sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down.
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