A surprise to challenge Willmar Cardinals?

Many fans might have been surprised at how strong the MACA girls played Monday night. That's because we were playing the "big school" from the big town of Willmar. This might always be considered a challenge. But consider too how the season has not generally been going well for the Tigers. A won-lost record at present of 5-14. A 1-6 mark vs. section foes, 3-5 in conference and 2-6 on the home court. 

Well, ups and downs happen in sports. In light of the background shared here, we might have expected an uphill struggle vs. the likes of Willmar. Well, I did. But my, the Tigers put on a real good show for their fans at Tiger Center. It was a loss but by a mere one point, 60-59. 

A moral victory. Sometimes coaches don't like talking about moral victories. I'll suggest this was one time it be allowed. Willmar is in Section 8AAA. Bigger schools there, than where MACA makes its home. Don't bother trying to predict game outcomes based on such background. Get a group of five girls or boys out there trying to win, and almost anything can happen! 

Our optimism might have been dampened by having lost the previous game to West Central Area by nearly 30 points. Consider too the recent loss to Hancock by 25 points. Ah, but sandwiched in between those games was the 58-29 win over Melrose. 

Again, don't be too scientific trying to sort all this out. A focused group of players can do a lot. As shown by the Tigers Monday night with just a hair's breadth loss to the Cardinals. We're heading into the closing stretch of the schedule. From my perspective, I think MACA fans could feel heartened by how the Willmar game went. Still there had to be disappointment because of how we were a point shy. 

The stage was set for the tense closing moments when Willmar's Allie Rosendahl made a put-back shot to give her team a lead of one. The time remaining: eight seconds. Our Maddy Grove let fly with a shot. Short! Then came a put-back attempt by Kaylee Harstad. The put-back was after time expired, according to the account shared by Brett Miller of kmrs-kkok. 

Brett called the loss "heartbreaking." Given how the game ended, yes it was. 

Maycee Gustafson was a hero coming off the bench for Willmar. She put in 15 points. Her teammate Zoe Schroeder scored ten. Then we see Brielle Ogdahl and Rosendahl each with eight, followed by Kenedee Salonek with seven, Telilie Lange with six, Lyza Gustafson with five and Deshawna Hodges with three. (I guess that adds up to 62 points not 60 - stats from WC Trib.)

Four different Cardinals made a 3-pointer: Rosendahl, Schroeder, Hodges and Salonek. Willmar's rebound leaders were Ogdahl and Schroeder, each with ten. Schroeder led them in assists with six. Ogdahl was tops in steals with three, and Ogdahl also blocked a shot. 

The West Central Tribune review of the game did not have stat data for our Tigers. I personally wish I could find a decent stat summary for every MACA game. The boys do this by submitting stats to "Maxpreps." I compliment the radio station but their online summaries can be quite brief. Still, they deserve a pat on the back. Does anyone think the Morris paper website deserves a pat on the back? The print paper only comes out once a week. 

Willmar's Monday win ended a four-game loss skein for them. The Tigers and Cardinals have been down a similar won-lost path this season. Wins rather hard to come by. 

Tiger Center was rocking in the second half as MACA surged out to a lead by eleven. Willmar found its own ingredients to surge over the last 3:30, Miller reported. 

Our Maddy Grove had 20 points to lead us. Plus she collected seven rebounds. Kaylee Harstad was a big factor with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Maddie Fehr's contributions included 12 points. 

The win for Willmar was just their fifth against 15 losses. The Cardinals made 21 of 58 shots, 36.2 percent. The Tigers' numbers were 19 of 54, 35.2 percent. Willmar had a slight rebounding advantage, 33-30. We turned the ball over 17 times compared to the Cards' 12. The Tigers led at halftime 27-20. 

The game could be watched on YouTube.

 

Boys: Tigers 77, Redwood Valley 59

Our Tigers of BBB made the trip to Redwood Valley on Monday night. A difficult time for out-of-town travel, given all the ice. The Tigers accomplished their mission, defeating Redwood Valley 77-59. The highlights just keep accumulating for the MACA boys hoops squad this season. 

Drew Huebner took his turn leading the Tigers' scoring. This was with 18 points on pinpoint 9 of 10 shooting. He's a sophomore. Riley Asmus was second banana on this night: 17 points on 7 of 15 shooting. The double figures circle also included Tyler Berlinger and Charlie Hanson each with eleven. 

The rest of the list has Kyle Fehr 7, Owen Anderson 6, Derek Waldbeser 5 and Drew Storck 2. Our team shooting numbers were 34 of 64, 53 percent. It was a night for Charlie Hanson to show his 3-point shooting chops: 3-for-5. Berlinger, Asmus and Fehr each made one '3'. 

Asmus was two of four in freethrow shooting, and Waldbeser one of two. The Tigers grabbed eleven offensive rebounds and 24 defensive for 35 total. Asmus and Huebner each had seven rebounds.

Berlinger led in assists with six. The steals category had Asmus with three. The Tigers had ten turnovers. 

Wow, the Tigers are now 14-6 on the season. Redwood Valley's record is 9-11.

 

Addendum: Thinking of Willmar girls basketball being in AAA, reminds me of when the four-class system was first created. The main push for that was from the schools that ended up in AAA. These schools absolutely did not like being in with the very biggest schools, the powerhouses. So they got their own AAA class, but as time progressed I heard these schools were having a hard time generating enthusiasm and fan turnout for the state tournament. Is this still true? Remember the MACA boys in state last year? Remember the little scandalous thing with the text message? We hope that's buried in past times now. 

 

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