M-CA cagers go on road with mixed results

Boys basketball: Tigers 65, YME 43
Friday was a night of celebration at Granite Falls as a member of the boys hoops Sting, Taylor Olson, reached a big career milestone. This was a consolation for YME because this team came up short on the scoreboard. They came up short vs. the visiting Morris Chokio Alberta Tigers. Cole Riley poured in 25 points for coach Mark Torgerson's Tigers as the orange and black crew won 65-43.
It was the 16th win for M-CA against six losses. In conference play the squad came out of the night at 11-4.
The Sting's Olson reached 1,000 career points early in the second half. Congratulations are due this talented player. The basket that brought Olson to the milestone also kept Yellow Medicine East close on the scoreboard. It trimmed the M-CA lead to three.
The Sting trailed by eight at halftime (30-22).
There was a brief ceremony to honor Olson. The hearty applause was followed by an intense resumption of the action, and the Cole Riley-led Tigers surged. They outscored the Sting 35-21 in the second half.
Cole complemented his 25 points for the game with nine rebounds. The other double figures scorer for M-CA was Cody Cannon with ten points.
YME's Olson didn't make all that much noise in scoring on this night. The Morris Chokio Alberta defense tightened on him and he scored but nine points. Dylan Lindstrom was YME's top scorer with 13 points.
It has been a rough season for the Sting as their win total coming out of Friday was just five (and three in conference).
The Tigers made 31 of 56 field goal attempts and connected on two of nine three-point tries. The two long-range makes were by Dan Tiernan and Alex Erickson.
Cole Riley and Mac Kampmeier were the rebound leaders with nine and seven, respectively. Erickson led in assists with four and in steals with two. The Tigers survived an off night in freethrow shooting: one of eight.
Cole Riley with his 25 points and Cody Cannon with his ten were followed on the scoring list by Kampmeier, Tiernan and Riley Arndt each with six. Erickson and Tyler Roske each put in four points, and Jacob Torgerson and Austin Dierks each scored two.

Girls basketball: ACGC 59, Tigers 46
Chastity Pautzke was a force for the opposing team as the M-CA girls came out on the short end in Thursday WCC-South hoops play. Pautzke treated fans at her home gym to 17 points as her ACGC Falcons defeated our Morris Chokio Alberta Tigers 59-46.
The Falcons wrapped up the WCC-South slate in third place. Pautzke had six steals to go with her substantial offensive output. Teammate Chelsea Jans put in 14 points.
Coach Dale Henrich's Tigers faded to 8-15 in overall won-lost but they'll have a chance to find new life in the post-season. Yes, that unique time of year is almost upon us.
It can be a headache getting all the terminology straight for the post-season. Jot down a note that the Tigers are in Section 6AA-West. "West" denotes the sub-section. It makes sense if you follow it for a while. The sub-section championship games are in effect the section semi-finals.
The Morris Chokio Alberta girls are seeded in the middle of the pack. They'll be an oh-so-slight underdog in round #1 of the playoffs. It's really a negligible difference vs. the higher seed.
The Tigers are seeded fifth and will play fourth-seeded Osakis at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 3, at Osakis. Coach Henrich will seek to coax his Tigers into the West semis. Benson owns the top seed and Staples-Motley is No. 2.
Erin Schieler led the Tigers in scoring in the ACGC game. Erin put in eleven points and had the same number of rebounds, leading in that department too. Beth Holland scored nine points, Shadow Olson seven and Erica Domnick six. Continuing with the scoring list we have Katie Holzheimer (4), Sarah Kuhn (3), Liz Helberg (2), Holly Amundson (2) and Kelsey Loew (2).
A bright spot on the night was three Tigers each making a three-point shot: Olson, Kuhn and Holland.
Schieler's eleven rebounds were followed by Kuhn's six. Schieler dished out three assists.
ACGC led 29-22 at halftime.
The Tigers made 19 of 47 field goal attempts and were three of five (quite proficient) in those long-rangers.
Viva Morris Area Chokio Alberta basketball for 2011! March Madness nears.
- Brian Williams - morris mn Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com