Tigers humbled by Neubert and Streeters

The MACA boys entered Thursday's action having won four straight. That abruptly ended. The wind was taken from the Tigers' sails with a 59-36 defeat vs. Sauk Centre. We were down 29-21 at halftime. 

Riley Asmus cooled from his previous game's heroics. Against Sauk the freshman standout was throttled: two points. The MACA scoring list was topped by Drew Huebner whose point total was 15. Second-high was Tyler Berlinger with seven. 

Here are the others: Charlie Hanson 5, Kyle Fehr 3, Asmus 2, Owen Anderson 2 and Max Lietz 2. Huebner was six of ten in shooting. Our team numbers were 15-for-45. We were hurt by cool three-point shooting: two-for-15. Hanson and Fehr had our two makes. Huebner made three of six from the freethrow line where our team numbers were four of eight. 

Our rebound harvest was 25 with six coming offensively. Huebner led with seven rebounds followed by Berlinger with five. Berlinger had two of our four assists, and he had both our steals. Three Tigers each blocked a shot: Anderson, Daniel Travis and Drew Storck. We had 12 turnovers. 

Jay Neubert supplied the main punch for the Streeters with 33 points. He complemented that with seven rebounds. Teammate Matt Warring had eleven points, seven rebounds. The Streeters showed punch in freethrow shooting, 17 of 24, and in long-range shooting: eight 3-pointers. 

The Streeters came out of the night at 8-1. Our record: 6-5. 

 

Tigers 64, BOLD 41

We sure made it look easy in our previous game which was versus BOLD. Let's re-phrase that: we made it look easy in the second half. Indeed we enjoyed a pleasant reversal from halftime in this game played at Bird Island. The Tigers fought back from a 3-point halftime deficit. The score was 31-28 at halftime. 

Then the Tigers turned on the jets to prevail at the end, 64-41. We not only reversed course, we won in a rout. Our superiority in the second half was with 36-10 numbers. I wonder what the formula was. 

For sure, Riley Asmus had a big role. The freshman scored 25 points on 11-for-22 shooting. He was joined by two other double figures scorers: Tyler Berlinger with 12 and Drew Storck with ten. Here's the rest of the scoring list: Kyle Fehr 6, Drew Huebner 4, Charlie Hanson 3, Jack Tollefson 2 and Owen Anderson 2. 

Our team shooting was 26-for-55, 47 percent. And in 3-pointers: 7-for-21, 33 percent. Asmus found paydirt three times from 3-point land, Fehr twice. And Berlinger and Hanson once each. Berlinger stood out in the freethrow stats as he made five of six. 

Rebounds! Here the team numbers were 29 total, six offensive. Asmus led the way with his ten boards. Storck collected five and Fehr four. Huebner had five of the team total 15 assists. Berlinger showed his aggressive stance to get seven steals. Asmus had three steals and our team total was 16. Berlinger and Asmus each had a blocked shot. The Tigers committed eleven turnovers.

 

Girls: BOLD 67, Tigers 37

Alas, things not looking up in the world of MACA girls hoops. So on Friday the outcome was a 67-37 defeat at the hands of BOLD. Action was at our Tiger Center. 

Maddy Grove supplied some punch for the home team: 14 points, eight rebounds. Brett Miller's kmrs summary shows Kaylee Harstad with ten points and 13 rebounds. Our W/L record is 2-8. 

The orange and black needs to try to get through this fog for better times. I'm thinking "fog" because of our local conditions of late. Is it climate inversion? If so, it is not good for our health. Are you all feeling the winter "blahs?"

 

Girls hockey: Storm 8, Windom 5

Karlie Bruns was spectacular with six goals scored for the MBA girls in their win over Windom. The score  was tied five-all with two periods done at the Windom ice. Bruns quieted the home fans with her third period hat trick. In all she had eight points on the night in this 8-5 Storm win. 

But of course she wasn't the whole story. Kortney Sanasack had a goal and three assists. Allison Michealson put the puck in the net and Charlie Erdahl came through with an assist. Working in net was Ava Breuer who totalled 45 saves. 

The success lifted spirits in an otherwise sub-.500 season: 5-10 W/L numbers. Windom too has struggled some: a 5-8-2 record. Their Madalyn Schumacher struck with two goals. Goalkeeper Lily McNea had 16 saves.

Oscar Brandt RIP

Was sitting at Don's Cafe last night (Friday) when Larry Anderson shared the unfortunate news of Oscar Brandt's passing. Oscar had a personality that stood out and he was a super backer of Morris High School athletics, MAHS and MACA. 

I have a framed photo in our house that shows Oscar and friend Jim McRoberts standing close to the sidelines at the old Coombe Field. Oscar has the American flag clutched under one arm. So he was involved in the pre-game pomp with the flag. It's an interesting photo because we see the cheerleaders in background getting ready to perform. 

Remember the cheerleaders for Tiger athletic contests? Those memories will fade with time. Do any of the MACA opponents still have cheerleaders? Has it totally faded out of the picture? Man, how times change. Cheerleaders were a staple of the experience once. A good thing? Well, well-intentioned from our culture of a previous time. 

That previous culture acknowledged there were "cute" girls who stood out. Such girls fit a mold that was considered the norm by heterosexual men. We try not to think in such terms any more. And I think that is a very good thing. We used to accentuate "being thin" for both girls and boys. What a relief that we can totally accept "plus" sizes now. But there ought to be a limit just for health reasons. 

Remember the old Coombe Field? Comes across as rather primitive in our memories now. Think of what we have now with "Big Cat." The adjustment was pretty substantial for our fans. People and kids gathered at Coombe Field on Friday nights to socialize, perhaps even more than to seriously watch football. Maybe I should strike the word "perhaps." Yes it's true. 

Remember the "senior couches" on the west side? Junior high-age girls would walk "laps" around the field while kibitzing. There was an old running track there. I remember watching varsity track meets there as a kid. 

Oscar Brandt

Oscar was part of a little breakfast group at the old Ardelle's restaurant, known as Kelly's prior to that. Or if you want to go further back, the "Del Monico." I remember the Del Monico name from when the establishment was across the street, part of what became Thrifty White Drug. Remember going down the little "ramp" at Thrifty White? That took you into the old Del Monico space. 

Charming little restaurant, the old Del Monico. Then, the name moved to the east side of Atlantic Avenue. Along came Kelly McCann and then Ardelle whose last name I forget. Remember the chocolate-frosted cookies of that place? It had a meeting room with piano. Eventually the restaurant was phased out for a bank. It's the Riverwood Bank. 

It bothers me that no new establishment really came along to replace the restaurant. It was a convenient main street gathering place. 

So we had a little Saturday morning breakfast group where we'd hash over the recent Tiger athletics among other things. Jim McRoberts was a member of good standing. I remember also Arnie Hennen and Ray Zurn. Oscar was often a late arrival and he'd sneak up behind me and scare me with his rather gruff and authoritative voice. Charming little ritual. 

I also remember Oscar as one of the Elmer's Distributing gang who'd have breakfast at the VFW foodstand during the fair. They'd sit at the picnic tables. They were there for business too. Those were the days when the "real" VFW people (and Auxiliary) did the work. Like Darlene Olen. She and I had a little routine where I'd order eggs over easy and then she'd say "over hard." Maybe you had to be there. 

I can take my eggs any way. I have always heard that restaurants hate it when you order eggs poached. Don Grossman liked to order his eggs poached. 

So Oscar, I speak to you now at the time of your passing and I'll quote my late Mom, to say you're in a better place. I guess Oscar had his health trials toward the end. He lived life to the fullest in his prime, just like on that night as he clutched the American flag, standing just outside the sidelines at Coombe Field with friend Jim McRoberts. Seeing Oscar and Jim standing side-by-side says "Morris" all the way!

Remember these MHS cheerleaders? Photo is from 1970-71. I'll just use first names, l-r: Kathy, Connie, Jane, Robin and Jackie. Jane and Jackie were in my grade. Our basketball coach was Roger Schnaser. Was not considered the best coach but I liked him. He was a product of UMM. He was tall.
 

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