i love morris: Witt-coached Cardinals fourth in MN

Monday, March 25, 2024

Witt-coached Cardinals fourth in MN

Coach Forrest Witt (kxra image)

Once again the Alexandria boys basketball team has brought home elite-level hardware at season's end. Alex has a habit of taking their fans on an excitement-filled ride for the post-season. The season gets quite long. Everyone associated with the Cardinals loves it. For the third time in a span of four years, Alex collected top-level state hardware.

Yes it was bittersweet at the end. That's the way it is when you finish fourth in state! So many programs around the state would love to finish at such a level. Finishing fourth has one little problem: it means you lost your last two games. The air comes out of the bubble in the semi-final game. In that game you're still in the running for No. 1 which is the goal that most players say is the only thing they care about. Is that really true? Or, is it more of a learned behavior that they speak that way?

So the air comes out of the bubble and then to add "insult to injury," so to speak, you play your next game at a second-tier facility. Most likely it won't be Williams Arena. The Alex boys with coach Forrest Witt took the court at Gangelhoff Center in St, Paul. The name bugs me: sure it's coincidence but this name is the same as for the central figure in a long-ago academic cheating scandal at the U of M. Let's see, Jan Gangelhoff. Can't help but share a little trivia now and then.

Alex plays in AAA which means it's a pretty big school. We should not assume that all AAA teams are awesome with competitiveness. They are not. We often see one-sided scores in state games involving these schools. The best of them are surely elite. And the Alexandria Cardinals are No. 4 in the 2024 tournament.

Here's a toast to the fourth place in state Alex boys and Morris native Forrest Witt, their coach. I'm sure a certain father of the coach is exuding considerable pride. That would be Jerry, long-time football coach here in Motown. Forrest is one of the three Witt boys who played quarterback for the Tiger football team, going back to when our home field was Coombe field.

I remember Taylor being involved in a game at Big Cat where both teams scored over 40 points. Donnie Eich had a fun little reflection on that wild affair, calling it a "sandlot" type of game. I do believe Morris won. Coombe Field fades into the recesses of our memory. (I'm old enough to have had Bill Coombe as a teacher.)

DeLaSalle 58, Cardinals 53

Alexandria was defeated by the Islanders of DeLaSalle in the state third place game. The score was 58-53. Alex could taste potential victory through the first half, to be sure. Alex led the whole half, was up by five at the halftime buzzer 25-20.

The game became very tight as the second half unfolded. With six minutes remaining, the score was tied 41-41. And it was the Islanders who found the "mo" the rest of the way. They outscored Alex 17-12. They got up by seven within the last minute.

Hmmm, "DeLaSalle," sounds like a private school. We always hear voices about how private schools have an edge. When I was a kid, the public schools were all together and then we heard about the Minnesota "independent state basketball tournament." Funny thing is, the independent thing got negligible attention compared to the public school affair - it was like an afterthought. Eventually I think the private schools lobbied to get out of their obscure situation. Don't ever bet against Catholics!

The game-high scorer was Ray James Jr. of DeLaSalle with 16 points. Alexandria was led by Chase Thompson, junior forward, 13 points.

Two losses at the end remove just a wee bit of luster for Alex, as take a look at their final won-lost of 25-7. They've been in the state's top four in three of the last four seasons.

Four seniors depart from this year's roster: Grayson Grove, Bralyn Steffensmeier, Dawson Roderick and Evan Moore. Grove is headed to the U of M.

A real family affair

Sometimes my info sources for blogging are limited. That's an understatement, unfortunately, when it comes to Morris Area Chokio Alberta basketball. As for Alex, just now am I getting the background of two young Witts being on the Alex Cardinals roster. I could have written about this before. I see that Mason Witt is a sophomore point guard. And, that Talan Witt is a sophomore point guard too.

Both sophomores? Must be twins! I read the rest of the roster from "Maxpreps" just to see if there's a third! Looks like two. Lots more excitement lying ahead for the Witts and Alex Cardinals basketball.

Oh my! There's a "Scholl" on this roster too! I wrote last week about Chloe Scholl and her third-in-state Cardinal girls. Now I see Blake Scholl on the boys roster. Certainly he's the son of the former Heather Lucken, Morris native.

Maybe next year I'll try to post regularly on Alex basketball. And maybe even to drive over to Alex a time or two. I'll contend with the "roundabout" if I use the Glenwood route. My car is getting old but it seems to be humming fine now. I can't buy a new car because at any time, I could fail the vision test at the DMV. Someday I'll be relying on public transportation.