Melrose stayed unbeaten at the expense of our MACA Tigers Tuesday (12/19). The Dutchmen climbed to 5-0. Our MACA boys led by three at halftime, 30-27, but lost that advantage in the second half. Our record dropped to 2-3 as we fell in the 51-48 final at home.
The Willmar paper keeps referring to us with the initials "MCA." They have done this for a long time. The initials should be "MACA" of course. When I'm scanning the subheads in the sports section, I have to look twice to notice "MCA" because I'm really not looking for it. Apparently the Willmar people feel they are more wise in their judgment, so they write "Morris/Chokio-Alberta." There is a right way and a wrong way to do everything.
I don't know if it will happen in my lifetime, but maybe we'll go back to plain old "Morris High School" again. It would simplify things. Those old small town identity issues aren't what they used to be. Today we all just answer to distant corporations anyway.
The Tuesday loss came in spite of four Tigers scoring in double figures. Jackson Loge, a player now being hyped by the Morris newspaper, scored 13 points. He was joined in the double figures circle by Cam Arndt (12), Tate Nelson (11) and Jaret Johnson (10). One other player scored: Kyle Staebler (2). The stat report in the Willmar paper has "NA" for three-point shooting. Why is this info not available?
Arndt snared eight rebounds to lead in that category. Loge and Johnson each had five rebounds. Arndt dished out four assists and Johnson had three. Nelson stole the ball twice.
Three Melrose players stood out in scoring: Reegan Nelson (16), Traeton Keaveny (15) and Damon Van Beck (10). Preston Keaveny scored five points and Tim Arnhalt had three. And hey, there's an Olberding in the scoring list! That makes me feel sentimental. Nicholas Olberding scored two points in his team's win. A past superstar for Melrose was Mark Olberding who went on to a pro career. He was spectacular. He's my age.
Wait a minute: the three-point shooting stats for Melrose are reported! The game was played in Morris. I assume the Morris coaching staff was responsible for calling in? What's up? Traeton Keaveny made three 3's for the winning cause. Van Beck made two long-rangers, and Arnhalt and Preston Keaveny each made one. Nelson led the Dutchmen in rebounds with seven, while Van Beck and Preston Keaveny each had five. It was Preston leading in assists with five. Nelson stole the ball four times.
Tigers 57, Lac qui Parle 31
A rare Saturday game had the Tigers matched against Lac qui Parle at LQPV, out in the middle of wilderness or so it seems. After the Lac qui Parle and Minnewaska schools got built, in a time when small town emotions could be so extreme on these things, the legislature (according to legend) proclaimed "no more cornfield high schools." But we have LQPV and 'Waska as a legacy.
The Tigers downed the Eagles of Lac qui Parle Valley pretty handily, 57-31. Both teams are around .500 in the early-season. Our defense applied the clamps firmly in the second half. The Eagles were held to nine points!
We do have three-point shooting data from this game. Jaret Johnson made two 3-pointers while these Tigers each made one: Tyler Reimers, Jackson Loge, Tate Nelson and Connor Koebernick. Camden Arndt didn't make any 3's but he was team-high in scoring with 15 points. Johnson was right behind with 14 points and Jackson Loge had 10. The rest of the list: Koebernick (8), Reimers (3), Nelson (3), Kevin Asfeld (2) and Kyle Staebler (2).
Setting the pace in rebounds were Arndt (8), Johnson (6) and Loge (5). Arndt had six assists and Koebernick had four. Nelson and Koebernick each had three steals.
Lac qui Parle had no one in double figures scoring. Austin Bonn and Ross Olson each scored eight points, and Braiden Kittelson had six. These four Eagles each scored two: Caden Bjornjeld, Isaac Gades, Thomas Daniels and Maverick Conn. Evan Benson added a point to the mix.
Addendum: I'll again share the old tale of how "Valley" got put in the Lac qui Parle Valley name. It was all political, owing to those old small town sensitivities. "Lac qui Parle" had been the name of the area's wrestling program and it was headquartered in Madison. So when the new school was proposed, there was a concern that calling it "Lac qui Parle" might hint that Madison was special! How quaint. So the name of the new entity got tweaked and we had this "Valley" created. I was doing newspaper writing during that period of hyper small town sensitivity, and it was not pleasant. It was foolish. "The tail wagged the dog" in connection to Starbuck getting so much push in creating Minnewaska, a school that could not be built one foot closer to Glenwood than to Starbuck, and people were ready to get our their rulers. Today, I don't think Starbuck people ponder these matters at all.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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