Sports intense as our February thaw arrives

Girls basketball: ACGC 47, Tigers 45
It was anybody's ballgame with under a minute left to play, when the Morris Chokio Alberta girls battled the Falcons of ACGC Thursday night at home. This WCC-South hoops contest was actually close all the way through.
The Falcons had a two-point edge at halftime, 27-25. The suspense level grew through the second half. The scoreboard revealed a 45-all tie with 20 seconds left to play. Overtime? It seemed a possibility.
But ACGC was able to get the basket that broke the deadlock. The decisive basket came on a layup, coast-to-coast style, and the final horn sounded with the Falcons winning 47-45.
The outcome took some of the luster from the outstanding statistical accomplishment of Tiger Erica Domnick. Erica's 14 points and 16 rebounds nearly helped elevate M-CA to victory.
Beth Holland put in nine points and she contributed six assists as well. Erin Schieler scored seven points, Katie Holzheimer five, Shadow Olson and Hannah Sayles four each, and Sarah Kuhn two.
Holzheimer had the only successful three-point shot for M-CA. Sayles was tops in steals with three.
In total field goals, coach Dale Henrich's Tigers made 16 of 42 attempts. The freethrow stats were 12 of 18.
Katie Knisley led the Falcons in scoring with 18 points.
The Tigers came out of the night at 7-11 in overall won-lost and 5-8 in conference.

Boys basketball: Tigers 69, Lac qui Parle Valley 51
The M-CA boys upped their win total to 12 with a Tuesday, Feb. 8, home victory over Lac qui Parle Valley. The Riley boys were on with their shooting as Eric put in 20 points and Cole totalled 18.
Eric complemented his frequent scoring with seven assists.
Also scoring in double figures was Riley Arndt who put in ten points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
Reliable shooting was the story of the night for the orange and black unit. Coach Mark Torgerson's squad looked most comfortable in their home gym as they beat the Eagles 69-51.
Coach Torgerson looked on approvingly as his team made 25 of 42 shots from the field (60 percent, good for an A-plus grade) and were good on four of ten from three-point range. Cole Riley made three of the three-pointers and Dan Tiernan had the other.
Morris Chokio Alberta showed a pinpoint eye in freethrows too, as here the stats were 15 of 18. (Let's trot out another A-plus grade.)
The Tigers were showing command at halftime as they led the Eagles 34-21. They went on to outscore the Eagles 35-30 in the second half.
Tiernan finished the night with eight points and Cody Cannon with seven. Three Tigers added to the mix with two points each: Tyler Roske, Mac Kampmeier and Austin Dierks.
Arndt with his nine rebounds was followed by Cole Riley with seven and Eric Riley and Kampmeier each with five. Eric topped the assist list with seven.
Cole Riley and Tiernan each dished out four assists.
Jacob Redepenning was the top Eagle scorer with 19 points.

Girls basketball: Lac qui Parle 58, Tigers 38
The M-CA girls didn't fare as well as the boys in playing LQPV on Tuesday. While the boys were busy winning at the home gym, the girls were on the road and got stopped in a 58-38 final.
Jen Kack was a top performer for the Eagles as she scored 16 points and snared ten rebounds. The Eagles' success kept them over .500 as they closed out the night at 10-8 and with glittering 9-3 conference W/L numbers.
Kacey Struxness impressed for the Eagles with 12 points and ten assists.
Coach Dale Henrich's Tigers entered mid-week with a 7-10 overall record and 5-7 numbers in conference.
Hannah Sayles was the top scoring Tiger Tuesday with 12 points. Hannah boosted her total with two successful three-point shots. She was the only Tiger connecting from three-point range. She also contributed two assists.
Beth Holland scored nine points, Erica Domnick five and Erin Schieler four. Four Tigers scored two points each: Kelsey Loew, Holly Amundson, Sarah Kuhn and Natalie Johnston. Schieler and Domnick each collected five rebounds.
Holland set the pace in steals with four.
The Tigers made 14 of 50 field goal attempts and eight of 13 in freethrows.
Morris Area Chokio Alberta boys and girls basketball are striving to sharpen as the post-season nears. Fans anticipate excitement.

Wrestling: MAHACA fifth in "Big Ole"
The MAHACA wrestlers had a middle of the pack showing in Alexandria's Big Ole Invite. It's an annual trip the Tigers make at this late stage of the winter.
Today's (Friday) mild temperature brings to mind the word "late," which we hope sticks! The winter of 2010-11 has been like a marathon test - a quite snowy one.
The wrestling Tigers had a fifth place showing among the eight teams that vied in the Big Ole on Saturday, Feb. 5.
Frazee ended up atop the standings while KMS took runner-up.
Tim Ostby and Zach Gibson both went 2-0 for MAHACA to take No. 1 at their respective weights. Ostby, the 152-pounder, had a fall for one of his wins. It was ditto for 285-pounder Gibson who pinned one of his foes en route to No. 1.
Evan Nelson at 112 pounds went 3-1 with all three of his wins coming by fall, but this Tiger settled for third place. Ryan Beyer at 189 pounds won one bout, dropped two and also finished third.
Myles Smith worked to a fourth place finish at 125 pounds, going 2-2 along the way. Dillon Johnson finished fifth at 119 pounds, going 1-2. Jordan Thooft at 145 pounds won two bouts and dropped two, a showing good for fifth.
These Tigers also saw action in the 2011 Big Ole: Travis Ostby (0-2 at 103 pounds), Seth Nelson (0-2 at 130), Tony Domnick (1-3 at 135), Connor Metzger (0-2 at 160) and Joel Harrison (0-2 at 215).
It was a rough day for the host Alexandria Cardinal team, which placed eighth and last. Those Cardinals had to take consolation in being good hosts.
Yours truly made at least one trip to Alex for the Big Ole through the years, in my "dead tree" media career. It was always a fun atmosphere.
It's nice to combine this duty with a stroll through one of Alex's "big stores."
I remember that one year on my way home, I photographed a Stevens County 4-H sledding party at Runestone Park.
Great memories!

Boys hockey: Storm 5, Prairie Centre 4
The MBA Storm varsity boys defeated the Prairie Centre North Stars 5-4 Thursday at Lee Community Center. Click on the link below to read Gary Hansen's summary from the Storm's website.
http://www.mbastorm.com/news_article/show/78315?referrer_id=217802-morris-benson-area-storm-hockey-news

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