Tigers and Storm put aside winter's chills

Girls basketball: Tigers 58, Minnewaska Area 36M-CA hoops was a focus of enjoyment Tuesday night as the Upper Midwest fell into the deep freeze of mid-winter conditions. We had the consolation of knowing that other parts of the country had it worse than us. Still, we are all hunkered down under conditions that make us want to hibernate.
Prep sports helps us escape that feeling. So does winning!
The Morris Chokio Alberta girls hoops team made the short trip to Minnewaska Area Tuesday and came away the winner. Coach Dale Henrich's Tigers notched their sixth win of the season at the expense of the Lakers.
Beth Holland was in the groove offensively and poured in 16 points. Erica Domnick added 13 as the Tigers worked to a satisfying 58-36 win. The Tigers were up 24-19 at halftime.
They had a satisfying night in three-point shooting, making four of ten attempts. Those long-rangers were made by Holland and Katie Holzheimer, each with two. In total field goals the Tigers made 21 of 50 shots.
Domnick topped the rebound list with her eleven. Erin Schieler snared seven and Sarah Kuhn six.
Holland complemented her team-best point total with four assists. Schieler and Holland each had three steals.
Holzheimer had a point total of eight while Kuhn had seven and Schieler six. Also scoring were Hannah Sayles with four points, and Shadow Olson and Kelsey Loew each with two.
Minnewaska Area was hurt by ice cold three-point shooting.
The Lakers' top scorer was Kaylee Jacobs with eleven points. The Lakers have had a bumpy road this season.

Boys basketball: Minnewaska Area 68, Tigers 59The M-CA boys had the advantage of playing Minnewaska Area at the home gym Tuesday but they couldn't parlay this into victory. It was the Lakers coming away with a 68-59 win, finding momentum after a stalemated halftime situation (a 25-all score).
This quality 'Waska team, with but one loss in conference, outscored the Tigers 43-34 in the second half.
Coach Mark Torgerson's Tigers stayed over .500 despite the setback. The Tigers entered mid-week with a 10-6 overall record and 5-4 in league.
The home Morris Chokio Alberta fans felt some suspense toward the end, especially when Eric Riley made a three-point shot to shave the deficit to three points. The clock showed two minutes remaining.
The Lakers showed clutch poise at the freethrow line to maintain the advantage. The Lakers used freethrows all night to keep an edge; their stats for the game were 17 for 25.
Eric Riley's three-pointer generated excitement but alas, it was the team's only three-point make of the evening. They had five attempts.
In total field goals the Tigers made 22 of 49 attempts. The freethrow numbers were a solid 14 of 22.
Cole Riley went up to grab nine rebounds. Eric Riley contributed five assists and Tyler Roske had seven steals.
Let's review the scoring where four Tigers broke into double figures: Cole Riley (16 points), Eric Riley (14), Mac Kampmeier (11) and Roske (11). Cody Cannon put in five points and Brody Bahr had two.
The Lakers were led in scoring by Brady Johnsrud with 25 points and Shane Bosek with 20.

Girls basketball: BOLD 52, Tigers 50Suspense was high in the closing seconds of the Morris Chokio Alberta girls basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 29, in Olivia. This was anybody's ballgame with under a minute left to play.
Olivia is part of the BOLD combo - the Warriors.
The score was tied with Warrior Brittany Nissen at the freethrow line with a very clutch opportunity. Brittany capitalized. This Warrior made a pair of freethrows that turned out to be the margin of victory for her team. The home BOLD fans went home happy having seen this 52-50 win by their team.
The bus ride home for coach Dale Henrich's Tigers wasn't as enjoyable as it might have been. The Tigers had been dealt a WCC-South conference loss. A win would have kept the Tigers a hair's breadth from .500 in conference and overall. They entered this week at 3-6 in league and 5-9 overall.
BOLD, by winning, stayed a hair's breadth behind Benson in the conference race.
BOLD was up at halftime 34-28 but the Tigers clawed away to get the score knotted twice in the second half. Even after Nissen's freethrows in the closing stage, the Tigers had their chances, but their shooting eye failed them.
BOLD won despite a cool 35 percent shooting performance from the field.
Erin Schieler was a key contributor for Morris Chokio Alberta with her 20 points and 12 rebounds.
The Tigers made two three-point shots, both by the same individual: Katie Holzheimer. The squad was 18 of 65 in total field goals. In freethrows they were dead on at 50 percent, at 12 for 24.
Holzheimer finished the night with eight points and Beth Holland with seven. Sayles posted five points followed by Sarah Kuhn and Erica Domnick each with four. Kelsey Loew and Holly Amundson each put in one point.
There were no double figures scorers in the balanced BOLD attack. Nine points each were scored by Warriors Molly Herdina and Brittany Dahlk.

Boys basketball: Benson 66, Tigers 55
The M-CA boys found victory elusive on Friday, Jan. 28, when they tangled with conference rival Benson at home. This seemed to be a winnable game because the Braves were a team hovering around .500. But the Braves put the needed ingredients together to defeat the Tigers 66-55.
Sam Peterson was a big ingredient as this Brave put in 29 points. Cody Jaeger was another key contributor for the winner with 20.
The complexion of this game changed after halftime. The halfway mark saw the above-.500 Tigers leading and in a pretty promising way, 32-26. But that initial momentum stalled. Peterson showed his hot hand and the second half brought a reversal. Benson outscored the Tigers 40-23 in the second half.
Looking at the game's numbers, you can't help but wince when looking at the three-point shooting category. Here the Tigers seemed to go to the well too often. It wouldn't have mattered had they made more shots, but my goodness, they made just two of 20 shots from three-point land. For the record, the players with those makes were Brody Bahr and Tyler Roske.
The Riley boys, Eric and Cole, each pulled down seven rebounds to lead the team in that category. And Cole's 20 points put him atop the scoring list for coach Mark Torgerson's squad. Eric was the other double figures Tiger with 12.
Continuing with the scoring list we have Roske (7), Dan Tiernan (4), Mac Kampmeier (4), Bahr (3), Riley Arndt (3) and Cody Cannon (2).
Eric Riley dished out four assists. Eric Riley and Tiernan set the pace in steals, each with three.
The Tigers made 20 of 61 total field goal tries. But the department that spoke volumes was three-pointers. The freethrow numbers were 13 of 18.
The Morris Chokio Alberta boys came out of the night at 10-5 in overall won-lost and 5-3 in the WCC-South.
Viva Morris Area Chokio Alberta boys and girls basketball for 2011!

Girls basketball: Benson 72, Tigers 60
The M-CA girls faced conference leader Benson on Thursday, Jan. 27, and couldn't find the upset formula. Coach Dale Henrich's Tigers came out on the short end in this WCC-South game, 72-60. The action was at Benson.
The high-flying Braves came out of the night at 8-1 in conference play and 13-2 overall. The Tigers are shy of .500.
At halftime the upset prospects looked decent for Morris Chokio Alberta as the scoreboard showed a two-point M-CA lead, 32-30. But the Tigers weren't prepared for what turned into the Emma Peterson show in the second half.
Peterson put on a clinic with her three-point shooting. She nailed five of those long-rangers in the second half as part of scoring 22 points in that half. Her hot hand led the Braves to a 42-28 scoring advantage over the stunned Tigers in the half.
Surprisingly, Peterson did not end the night team-high in scoring. That honor went to Emily Auch whose point total was 25, plus she collected 14 rebounds. Peterson scored 24 total points.
Erin Schieler and Erica Domnick paced the visiting Tigers in scoring as they put in 22 and 19 points respectively. Katie Holzheimer and Hannah Sayles each made a three-point shot.
The Tigers made 21 of 59 field goal attempts, while in freethrows their numbers were a quite fine 16 for 20.
Domnick led in rebounds with 14 followed by Schieler with 13. Sayles dished out five assists. Sayles and Beth Holland each stole the ball three times.
Sayles finished with seven points on the night and Holzheimer had six. Two points each were scored by Holland, Kelsey Loew and Sarah Kuhn.

Girls hockey: Storm 5, Luverne 0
The MBA Storm girls took care of business again on Saturday, Jan. 29, skating past Luverne in a home puck contest played at our Lee Community Center. The Storm saw their overall season record soar up to 18-3. They took care of business Saturday in a 5-0 final.
An uneventful first period was followed by a flurry of Storm scoring in the second. MBA outscored Luverne 4-0 in the second period and 1-0 in the third.
The potent combo of Dani Schultz and Sara Rajewsky made another strong statement with their play.
Here's how the second period scoring went: Schultz scored with a Rajewsky assist at 2:59, Schultz struck again with a goal that had another Rajewsky assist at 6:42, Rajewsky scored assisted by Schultz at 7:54, and Rajewsky got the puck in the net with a Schultz assist at 14:56.
Kelly Mahoney scored the Storm's final goal at 4:44 of the third period, assisted by Schultz and Rajewsky.
Brooke Falk put on the goalie equipment again and performed superbly again, getting eleven saves on this afternoon. The shutout was Brooke's 22nd of her stellar career in goal.

Boys hockey: Storm 8, Luverne 5The MBA Storm varsity boys treated their home fans at Lee Center to an 8-5 win over the red-clad Luverne squad on Saturday, Jan. 29.
Click on the link below to read Gary Hansen's summary from the Storm's website:
http://www.mbastorm.com/news_article/show/76934?referrer_id=224055

Wrestling: MAHACA 55, Breckenridge 21The MAHACA Tigers came on strong to defeat Breckenridge in Tuesday, Jan. 25, wrestling action on the road. Travis Ostby got things started at the 103-pound weight slot, pinning Jack Hiedeman in 1:59.
When the night's bouts were completed, the Tigers were the 55-21 victor over the green-clad Cowboys.
Evan Nelson was stopped at the 112-pound class: a major decision loss, 19-9. Dillan Johnson came on strong to win by fall over Travis Miranowski in 1:54.
Myles Smith and Seth Nelson were forfeit winners at 125 and 130 pounds, then Tony Domnick at 135 won by a major over Trayton Hought, 15-1. Jerid Berning paid some dues at 140, losing by technical fall, 16-0, to Jesse Differding.
Tiger Jordan Thooft decisioned Josh Peterson 5-3. Tim Ostby kept the Tigers rolling forward, pinning Zach Willprecht in :48. Connor Metzger won by forfeit at 160 pounds.
Cowboy Cole Praus had his arm raised via forfeit at 171. Ryan Beyer of the Tigers lost by fall to Stephan Erlandson in 3:57. Tyler Moser at 215 got Alex Banken's shoulders pinned to the mat in 5:09.
Big Zach Gibson wasn't challenged at 285 pounds so this was a forfeit triumph, allowing the triumphant Tigers to pull away further.
Viva Morris Area Hancock Chokio Alberta on the wrestling mat for 2011!
Anticipation is building for the post-season in all the Tiger and Storm sports.
-Brian Williams- morris mn Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com