So it's almost St. Patrick's Day? Really? My younger self once ran the 5K race in St. Paul for St. Patrick's Day. Had shorts on is all.
My nice little waffle has me set up to resume writing. My recent hiatus was due to a health bump in the road. I had emergency surgery at SCMC. The nurse later told me I was in surgery for four hours. Dr. Sam gets the big pat on the back. Problem was bowel obstruction. I really didn't miss that much MACA basketball. Happy to get back in the swing.
Well, certainly a letdown for the MACA boys fans at the end. That's the way it goes in sports sometimes. For every group of fans that experiences a letdown, there's a group that feels exhilarated. So congratulations to New London-Spicer. My goodness, the Tigers had defeated NL-Spicer during the regular season. Let's consult "Minnesota Scores." We learn that MACA beat NL-Spicer 77-64 at Tiger Center on Jan. 23.
So, it's understood why we were seeded higher than the Wildcats for Section 3AA-North play. Not only were the Tigers seeded higher, we were in fact seeded No. 1! Well, that bubble got popped. Did the NL-Spicer coach learn from his earlier defeat and map out some adjustments in tactics? Were the Tigers resting on their laurels?
Whatever the explanation, the Tigers were disappointing in their March 8 game at the place known as "the big Red Gym," Willmar. It was a North semi-final game. The orange and black failed to score 20 points in each of the two halves. We were defeated 49-35.
The West Central Trib cited "stingy defensive play" by the victor. That, and dominance of the glass. The NL-Spicer victory was their ninth in a span of 12 games. This highly-focused group outrebounded the orange and black 37-18. Aedan Andresen and Grant Paffrath each nabbed ten boards.
NL-Spicer was up 23-16 at halftime. They enjoyed a nine-point run leading into halftime. They led throughout the second half.
Our Charlie Hanson made two 3-pointers. The super freshman Riley Asmus was team-high in scoring, eleven points. Hanson's 3's accounted for his six total points. Tyler Berlinger also scored six points. Drew Huebner scored five, Owen Anderson three, and Drew Storck and Jack Tollefson two each.
Kyle Fehr led in rebounds with six. Asmus and Berlinger each had an assist. Asmus and Berlinger each had two steals. Huebner and Storck each blocked a shot.
Now let's credit the victors who had Grant Paffrath leading the way with 24 points. Brycen Christensen was second-high with 13. Aeden Andresen put in nine and Mason Delzer three. Christensen and Paffrath each made a '3'. Andresen and Paffrath led in rebounds, each with ten. Christensen was the pacesetter in steals with four. Paul Meier blocked two shots.
The Wildcats were seeded No. 5.
Our Tigers supplied lots of excitement through this past season as reflected in the W/L of 20-7.
MAHACA wrestling
The state tournament is a huge deal in prep wrestling. Sometimes I almost got intimidated by all the hype back when I wrote for the Morris newspaper. These are just high school student-athletes, so sometimes I think we need to cool it a little. Anyway, the MAHACA crew had impact in the 2023 version of the big event. We vied in Class 2A.
Three of the orange and black athletes broke through to place. Davin Rose topped the list with his third place heroics at 138 pounds. Grayson Gibson was No. 6 among 120-pounders, and Caden Rose was sixth also at 152. Brock Marty and Hunter Gibson came up shy of placing. Congrats all.
Aren't we supposed to have spring right after the state wrestling tournament? I'll insert one more plug here for my favorite high school wrestling movie. It is truly the hands-down best. It is called "Win Win." Call up some scenes from YouTube. You'll love it.
The five Tigers who reached state (facebook image)
Addendum: MAHS band director Wanda Dagen gave me a call while I was in the hospital. It meant a lot to me, gave me some extra strength I feel.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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