"You'll never get ahead if you don't take care of what you have." - Doris Waddell, RIP

The late Ralph E. Williams with "Heidi" - morris mn

The late Ralph E. Williams with "Heidi" - morris mn
Click on the image to read Williams family reflections w/ emphasis on UMM.

Monday, March 13, 2017

Again they climb: Tigers beat New London-Spicer

Tigers 68, NL-Spicer 62
The MACA boys are on the move upward. They have become most comfortable in tight, hard-fought games. It is their stock in trade to come out victorious in a game that looked as though it could go either way.
Our No. 1 Tigers faced No. 3 New London-Spicer Saturday at Southwest State U, Marshall. It was the Section 3AA North final. The terminology at this stage always confuses me a little. The sub-section championship game can be seen as the section semis. The four-class system of basketball can add to the confusion.
When I was young it was oh so simple. One class. You played for the "sub-district" championship and trophy, as sort of a consolation because you knew at some point you'd come up against a big school buzz saw. We went through a transformation to where everything is painstakingly egalitarian now. It's wonderful but it can be confusing to follow. It has also become more difficult for high school hoops to get a truly mass audience. But on the whole, the new way seems better, right?
You have to go all the way to the "jump" of the West Central Tribune article, by Curt Hogg, to find the score of the MACA vs. New London-Spicer game. I remember when someone once complained to the Star Tribune ombudsman about this happening in the Twin Cities paper. The ombudsman responded to the complaint by saying "amen and hallelujah." Let's just know the score. I thought maybe the photo caption would have the score. But no.
Let's turn to the jump on page B3. I waded through several paragraphs and then just decided to look at the boxscore: MACA 68, NL-Spicer 62. Amen and hallelujah. We are now 16-12 on the season. We're now in the section final which will pit us against Jackson County Central, those boys from down south. We'll play at 5 p.m. Thursday in Marshall. The winner goes on to state.
The Tigers sometimes find themselves on a roller coaster in a back-and-forth game. On Saturday we built an advantage of ten points only to lose it. The Wildcats went up 51-50 with about seven minutes left. But we caught fire to reel off eight straight points. So we're up 58-51. Camden Arndt supplied special excitement with a breakaway one-handed dunk. At this point we seemed in the driver's seat. Our fan turnout certainly asserted such judgment.
"Tenacity" was the trait that coach Mark Torgerson attached to his team. He feels the background of very close games has instilled a resilient quality. Think back to how we almost lost to YME! Basketball can be a nerve-wracking game, as we'll be reminded again in the NCAA tournament. Who can forecast this stuff? YME was seeded No. 8. On Thursday we needed a '3' in the final seconds of regulation to tie and to stay alive vs. ACGC. Jacob Zosel made that memorable shot.
Jaret Johnson, the sophomore forward, scored our first six points vs. New London-Spicer. He did his work from inside and outside. Later, his jumper put us up 56-51 with about six minutes left. The halftime score was 35-28 with the orange and black up.
Brandon Adelman helped the Wildcats bounce back for a time. He put in six points during a 17-6 run by NL-Spicer. A Hunter Sjoberg layup put the Wildcats up 45-43. The Tigers found the tools to re-assert themselves. Let's repeat the final score: 68-62. Amen and hallelujah.
"You persevere and you go on," coach Torgerson said to the media. "You don't apologize for winning games, and (you) just keep going."
Johnson topped our scoring list with 20 points. Right behind was Arndt with 19. Tim Travis and Jacob Zosel each put in eight points, and Lukus Manska had seven. Tate Nelson had four points and Connor Koebernick 2. Johnson made two 3-pointers while Arndt and Manska each made one.
Arndt
with his eight rebounds led there. Zosel dished out nine assists. Nelson and Arndt each had three steals.
For New London-Spicer, Adelman had big impact with his 24 points. Mitchell Halvorson was No. 2 on the list with 16 points. The rest of the list: Hunter Sjoberg 8, Jackson Ness 7, Brandyn Harlow 4 and Ander Arnold 3. Halvorson connected on two 3-pointers while Adelman and Arnold each made one. Ness was the Wildcats' top rebounder with eight. Arnold had six rebounds and Sjoberg had five. Adelman had six assists and Halvorson five. Sjoberg and Ness each had three steals.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

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