MACA boys polish off regular season

The Tigers took care of business nicely on Tuesday to close out the regular season. The focus is now on post-season, a whole new season as they say. The Tigers' stock is high. Expectations will be great. 

Unfortunately we cannot follow the girls team now because they lost in post-season. The MACA boys will seek to fly high as their post-season unfolds. The Tuesday story was a 65-49 win at Melrose. The enthused fans of the Tigers saw Jackson Loge excel again. Loge put in 28 points, the team-best figure, on 11 of 20 shooting. Thomas Tiernan had a total of ten on four of seven. 

Then we see Tyler Berlinger with nine points on four of eight in shooting. The other totals: Brandon Jergenson 7, Cole Wente 5, Toby Gonnerman 4 and Sam Kleinwolterink 2. In team field goal shooting our stats were 26-for-54, 48 percent. 

Tiernan made two of his four 3-point tries. These Tigers each made one '3': Wente, Jergenson and Loge. We were five of 18 in 3's, 28 percent. The freethrow story was eight of 15 for 53 percent. Loge stood out with his perfect five-for-five. 

Loge had the team-leading seven rebounds of which one was offensive. Durgin Decker snared five rebounds, two offensive. The Tigers had 19 total rebounds, six offensive. Jergenson had four of our team total 15 assists. Berlinger had five of our team total 15 steals. Superb ball-handling: only four turnovers. Decker had our only shot block. 

We led by ten at halftime, 34-24. 

We'll enter post-season with the superlative W/L numbers of 23-2. Melrose came out of Tuesday 12-13. We're atop the West Central Conference, record of 11-1. We have the top seed for 3AA-North play. 

The first-round game ought to be a breeze, right? That's never the best thinking, naturally. I still remember when we lost to Paynesville at home when we were No. 1, Paynesville was at the bottom. ESPN's Chris Berman said for a long time: "That why they play the game." I don't know if he's still on. I have no TV now, just Internet access. It's working out pretty well. When last I had TV, Berman was doing commercials for "Car Shield." 

The Tigers will host eighth-seeded Minnewaska Area at 7 p.m. on Saturday. 'Waska has a 3-21 record. The Tigers downed the Lakers in the regular season by scores of 65-30 and 61-22. 

The Wildcats of New London-Spicer have the No. 2 seed in our North Division. Owner of a lukewarm 12-10 record, the Wildcats will face off against seventh-seeded ACGC (8-14). The No. 3 is West Central Area (17-4) and they'll play No. 6 Eden Valley-Watkins (14-10). Paynesville (14-10) is No. 4 and will play fifth-seeded Litchfield (10-15). 

The semis date is March 10, action set for Willmar. Then the North finals, on March 12 at Southwest State University, Marshall. Remember the days when so much of this action was at the UMM P.E. Center? I remember when that place would be rocking for post-season hoops. The good old days? Man, crowds filling both sides, decibels high, pep bands really getting going. What an atmosphere. 

I have never been to Marshall for a basketball game. I was at their arena once for a Maynard Ferguson concert, early 1980s. The top seed in the South sub-section is Pipestone with a 19-5 record.

Inexorable advance of time

Each generation goes through passages. A particular generation might think it is unique. And for a time, such a sense might ring true. Each generation comes of age under particular circumstances in the country and the world. But as time goes by, we all develop a commonality. We get old, slow down, deal with some hurdles in the area of health, then pass on to the next life. 

My late mother would say we're headed to a "better place." She was young in the Depression, truly hardscrabble times. Same with my father. They knew the value of a dollar right up to the end. 

My father enjoyed the free coffee at Willie's while it lasted. That system gave way to the Caribou Coffee national brand. But Caribou has its glitches and challenges, if you've noticed of late. Their coffee-making equipment has broken down. Replacement parts require great patience to obtain. This is from the manager. McDonald's often has the same problem with the ice cream equipment. 

My father and our neighbor Les Lindor enjoyed making "runs" to Willie's with the famous orange Willie's coffee mugs, there to dispense the free coffee for themselves. With the equipment problem of late at Caribou, I find myself pining for the orange coffee mug times. 

Becky Felstul-Burnett

So time passes and we say goodbye to Becky Burnett. I was pleased to attend Becky's funeral on Tuesday at First Lutheran Church. Just happens to be my church. Becky had health challenges in the concluding stages of her life. Now she's in "the better place" that my mom talked about. Becky was a 1972 graduate of Morris High School. It wasn't "Morris Area" then. I was Class of '73. Being one grade apart could really separate kids in those days. 

I still had my typing class with Becky - last name Felstul - under teacher Mr. Roberts. Probably the most worthwhile class I ever had. I remember exchanging glances with Becky sometimes as we monitored how we were doing. Oh my, those were the manual typewriter days. Nothing like our current age with the digital magic. Not remotely comparable. 

Becky and I were a year apart in grades but there wasn't much of an age difference. We really were age peers. 

I continued my acquaintance with Becky through the years in two ways primarily. She was a Chokio-Alberta Spartan sports parent! Anyone has to smile when remembering the Spartans. Each year I'd send my new original Christmas song to her and put at the bottom of the email "Remember the Spartans!" 

Sadly my last email to her bounced back to me as her health travails had begun. I have written a song about this type of thing happening at Christmas: "I Write to You." It was the first song where I arranged for pedal steel. I shared about how sometimes we learn at Christmas the bad news about an old acquaintance, an acquaintance not close enough that family would necessarily inform us. So at Christmas, a card or other communication will go unanswered. So we wonder. "I Write to You" and wish you'd respond. Type the song title and my name into the YouTube search box and it'll probably be at the top, hopefully will be. 

I also knew Becky from when she worked at the Morris Co-op. For a long time I visited there weekly to do "newsstand collections" for the Morris Sun Tribune. She could lift your spirits with her hearty laugh. When I reminisced with her once about C-A athletics, she said "you were a part of it Brian." 

Her funeral was very well-planned and carried out nicely. Family members told stories sprinkled with humor. The fellowship hall was pretty full for lunch. I did not see Dick Felstul. A friend of mine who helped serve the lunch said he also did not see Dick, or sibling Bob either. I didn't know Bob, was just familiar with the name. If Dick and Bob were not there, I wonder why. I know Dick lives a fairly close distance from Morris. 

The lunch wound down with plenty of surplus ham buns! I availed myself to grab a couple, thus honoring the memory of Allen Anderson. 

I always think of Becky as "Felstul," but of course she had the married name of Burnett. Becky's mom was a Sunday school teacher of mine. Becky Felstul-Burnett RIP.

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