MACA boys hit dry spell, dropping three of four

Minnewaska Area 57, Tigers 43

The MACA boys have fallen into a bit of a slump and aim to make the adjustments to rebound.

It's hard to find the winning formula when you're up against the likes of an "in the zone" Austin Giese. Giese and his Minnewaska Area mates treated their fans in Laker country to a win Thursday at the expense of our Tigers.

Giese poured in 18 points in the first half. The MACA point total in the first half was 19.
Giese would finish the night with 29 points, the high for both teams.

The Tigers trailed 35-19 at halftime and ended up losing 57-43. They entered the weekend still comfortably over .500 at 13-8. But they dropped three of their last four games. Let's hope it's out of their system.

Minnewaska Area has hardly been a world-beater this season. But when someone like Giese gets hot, well. . .

The Lakers owned 7-13 W/L numbers coming out of the night.

The Tigers made five of 22 tries from three-point range. Chandler Erickson and Logan Manska each made two of the long-rangers, and Jacob Torgerson had the other. In total field goals the Tigers were 14 of 50. In freethrows: 10 of 15.

Erickson collected the most rebounds: 7. Manska and Brody Bahr were the assist leaders with four and three respectively. Riley Arndt and Austin Dierks each had three steals.

Dierks was the top scoring Tiger with 14 points and none of his mates cracked double figures. Manska scored nine. Continuing with the list we have Erickson (8), Torgerson (5), Bahr (4) and Arndt (3).

Minnewaska's Giese made four 3-pointers in building his impressive point total. Yes, "in the zone. . ."

Andrew Ostrander and Jaydeen Beecher each made a "3" also for the Lakers.

Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 52, Tigers 48

The Tigers' recent funk included a 52-48 loss to the ACGC Falcons on Friday, Feb. 10.

ACGC is a quality unit with a record comfortably above .500, and the Falcons had the home court on their side.

Coach Mark Torgerson's Tigers with their still-fine record couldn't keep pace with the Falcons and Dylan Hoerchler. Hoerchler scored 18 points to help lead ACGC to its 12th win of the season.

Hoerchler connected three times from three-point range. He also added four assists to the winning mix.

Falcon Jacob Belgum scored 16 points and stole the ball four times.

The Tigers entered the night second in the WCC-South. But their first half offense was not what you'd expect of a team with that credential.

Was it a case of the ACGC defense being especially resolved? Whatever the explanation, the Tigers' anemic first half offense produced just 14 points. The Falcons scored 25 in the first half.

The Tigers revved up their engines for the second half and outscored ACGC 34-27. But the first half hole was too deep.

MACA faltered in three-point shooting, posting three of 18 numbers here. Logan Manska had two of the makes and Riley Arndt had the other.

Austin Dierks snared ten rebounds and Arndt had five. Brody Bahr dished out three assists. The steal leaders were Bahr and Chandler Erickson each with three.

Let's roll up our sleeves for the scoring list: Arndt 14, Dierks 11, Manska 10, Bahr 4, Erickson 4, Jacob Torgerson 2, Lincoln Berget 2 and Tyler Henrichs 1.

Tigers 60, Breckenridge 51

The bright spot in the Tigers' recent play was the February 14 game against the Cowboys of Breckenridge.

When I was a kid, the Cowboys were a dynasty at the old "district" level. We learned to dislike the color green. Breckenridge could be a nemesis for our orange and black crew. That was a long time ago.

On February 14 the Cowboys looked quite normal - you could joke their 6-shooters were empty, heh heh - as they succumbed to the Tigers in the 60-51 final.

The Tigers charged out to a 27-20 lead at halftime. The Tigers in fact led the whole way. They're striving to re-discover that formula now.

Austin Dierks was a cog in that formula as he achieved a double-double. This rangy Tiger put in 22 points and grabbed eleven rebounds.

Logan Manska was a cog as this Tiger made all three of the team's 3-pointers. But the team numbers in 3's were three of 14. In total field goals the squad made 21 of 49 attempts. The Tigers made 15 of 28 freethrow tries.

Chandler Erickson and Jacob Torgerson led in assists, each with four. Brody Bahr stole the ball three times.

Here's the scoring list from the Tigers' 13th win of the season: Dierks 22, Manska 15, Riley Arndt 6, Bahr 6, Erickson 4, Lincoln Berget 4, Torgerson 2 and Tom Holland 1.

Nate Lorenz scored 13 points for Breckenridge which came out of the night at 8-11.
Morris Area Chokio Alberta boys basketball will visit YME on Tuesday, 2/21. Then comes a home assignment vs. Montevideo, ranked #9 in MN 2AA, on Friday, 2/24.

Wrestling: home invite memorable

I have coverage on my companion website ("Morris of course") of the Tigers' performance in their home wrestling invitational. The Tigers placed third among eight teams. They had four individual champions.
I invite you to read the review by clicking on the permalink below:

http://www.morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2012/02/wrestling-tigers-third-among-8-in-home.html

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