So it's mid-January and us Minnesotans do what we always do: survive and persist. I have seen worse winters in terms of quantity of snow. But a lot of people seem upset with the accumulation. Maybe the problem is that we just have not seen enough sun. A chief thing helping us get through winter's harshness is high school sports. A friend of mine says we'll always need our rural high schools because we need their sports teams.
There are far fewer schools than there used to be. The Cyrus "Panthers" competed through much of my Morris newspaper career. Remember the "Cyrus-Hancock" combo for sports? I think a lot of people have forgotten. Remember when the Cyrus district, as it was getting phased out, attempted to merge with Hancock? That decision culminated the work of the "Cyrus task force," a group that according to CW got more power than was intended.
Recalling all that reminds of when such incredibly strong emotions swirled around rural school adjustments in the face of declining numbers. Sharing, pairing, consolidation etc. Would Dawson join LQPV when the latter was launched? Evidently it came close. Dawson retained its autonomy and looks good today for that.
At present we can maybe hope for stability and consistency with our school systems, rather than disruptions. A faction in Hancock fought like absolute hell against the Cyrus-Hancock merger. From my perch at the paper, I was troubled by the very air of conflict - I did not speak out on this as much as I could have.
The Morris newspaper had employees who were emotionally invested in school issues. Amazingly, our staff was monopolized by school parents who were oriented to the small schools around Morris. I considered this stranger than fiction. Jim Morrison never took this as seriously as I felt he should have.
I remember the legend of how a state legislator's car was vandalized when he simply attended a meeting about proposed school consolidation. I remember where that allegedly happened but will not report further specifics here. Our state leaders should have had systems for discouraging this.
Vandalism is harder to pull off today because of surveillance cameras all over. Also, maybe we're more civilized. I'm nearly 68 years old and can remember different times. I was often privately troubled - very troubled actually - by the extent of parent/fan emotions in connection to high school sports.
I would suggest that "town identity" has really faded as a motivator. I think that's partly because of our large systems of today, for example the regional, national or even multi-national banks. Town identity means nothing in that context. The main street banks of yesteryear were quite the contrast. Ah, the "mom and pop" businesses.
Those times had their charms maybe? I would say to a quite limited extent.
We combat the mid-January "blahs" by following the MACA Tigers and MBA Storm.
Our boys basketball team picked up steam as the game continued, Tuesday at Tiger Center. That's how Brett Miller sized things up. The momentum resulted in our sixth victory in a seven-game span, score of 56-53. The opponent was Eden Valley-Watkins. Miller characterized the win as hard-fought.
The Tigers arrive at mid-week with an 8-5 record. EV-W owns 5-4 numbers. Thanks to the MACA coaching staff for posting individual stats on "Maxpreps." I wish they had done this for the win over Litchfield too. But I'll take what's available, thanks.
So we see that the Tigers trailed at halftime, 32-25. We had an advantage of ten the rest or the way, 31-21.
Riley Asmus and Tyler Berlinger were a 1-2 punch in scoring: 14 and 13 points respectively. Kyle Fehr put in nine points. The two Drews - Huebner and Storck - scored six each. Then we see Charlie Hanson with four and Owen Anderson and Jack Tollefson each with two. Our team shooting numbers were 23 for 59, 39 percent.
Three Tigers each nailed a 3-pointer: Berlinger, Asmus and Fehr. We were a cool 3 of 12 in 3's. Our freethrow numbers were 7 of 13, 54 percent. Asmus had three of the freethrow makes while Berlinger and Hanson had the other two.
Rebounds! Fehr led with six followed by Anderson and Asmus each with five. Our team total was 30 of which eight were offensive. Berlinger and Anderson each had two of our seven assists. The aggressive Berlinger topped the steals list with five. Asmus and Huebner each blocked a shot. We had six turnovers.
MBA hockey is doing its part helping us deal with the dragging days of winter. As I'm writing this it's another day where the sun hasn't come out. But our mood is brightened seeing the Storm hockey players excel. The boys story is a 4-0 win over Willmar. Looks like we beat the "big town!"
Our winning formula saw a very sharp goaltender in Chris Danielson. Chris stopped all 18 shots that came at him. Zach Wrobleski brought cheers at the Benson Civic Center with his two goals. Tucker Blume scored a goal and added an assist. Charlie Goff came on strong for a power play goal. Kye Suess produced two assists. The Storm came out of the night at 6-7.
Our girls hockey team peppered the opposing net with 66 shots. The Storm defeated Prairie Centre 2-1 at our Lee Center. Our goal-scorers were Phoebe Overlie and Karlie Bruns. Ava Breuer worked in net and had 23 saves. Assists came from Hadley Koehler, Charlie Erdahl and Kortney Sanasack. Our won-lost record is 6-10.
In wrestling our MAHACA squad did not fare so well against KMS in the Benson Quadrangular. Defeat was experienced 42-29. Our highlights included wins by fall by Jarret Payne, Andrew Marty, Hunter Gibson and Brody Marty. Caden Rose had a tech fall win. Davin Rose got a major decision.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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