'Waska could no longer continue its pattern of coming from behind to win. Coming from behind is how those Lakers defeated our MACA Tigers. On Wednesday night in the big bright show of state, the Lakers were dealt defeat by Caledonia, 80-41.
Mention of Caledonia brings to mind the sport of football primarily. Caledonia has won three straight state titles in the fall sport. Now with March Madness accelerating, Caledonia is showing it has what it takes in hoops. Caledonia really turned on the jets in the second half against Minnewaska. The halftime situation still had 'Waska in the game. 'Waska trailed by just eleven, 37-26. But whoa, look what happened in the second half: Caledonia crushed the Lakers 43-15.
Caledonia owns the No. 3 state ranking. They have the pretty generic nickname "Warriors." They can be considered the king in football, and "King" is in fact the last name of top players: Owen, Noah and Eli. The King boys combined their talents for 30 points and 13 steals to help sink the Lakers. Now we'll see if those Warriors will be the "king" in basketball too.
Impactful as the Kings were, it was Marten Morem who supplied the main offensive punch for the victor. Morem made all eight of his field goal attempts and totaled 18 points. Minnewaska didn't have much to answer, but Garrett Jensen broke through to score 13 points and Jackson Johnsrud scored nine. This pair had their share of struggles though as they combined for 8-for-23 shooting numbers.
Even though 'Waska got buried in the second half, they appeared to handle the ball better. They had 28 total turnovers of which just ten were in the second half.
The game was in Class AA and was in the state quarter-finals. It was played at the storied floor of Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus.
At one point early-on, the Lakers had the score tied at eleven-all but just couldn't sustain the competitiveness. 'Waska's shooting touch deserted them.
'Waska appeared to get a break due to unfortunate circumstances befalling Owen King of the Warriors. The problem was the famous elevated floor at Williams Arena. Owen is an SDSU Jackrabbit recruit. Against 'Waska he suffered a fall off that elevated floor. He was taken to the locker room for a time in the first half. He seemed never really in the groove as he could only get three of eleven shots to fall. His point total was a modest eight.
Caledonia tapped its depth on the roster to compensate. The Warriors also summoned a top-notch defense, coming at the Lakers in the form of a half-court trap. The Lakers found their passing options limited. All in all the Caledonia tactics led to an overwhelming advantage for them in the second half. Caledonia carved out a big advantage in fast-break points. Also they were dominating in the paint.
Lakers now in consolation round
Wait! The Lakers are not done. They have a consolation bracket challenge set for tonight (Thursday, 3/22) against a fellow Western Minnesota team, Breckenridge. Tipoff-time is 8 p.m.
The Lakers own a 21-7 record as they ready for the new challenge. Caledonia advances with a 26-4 record.
A great many Caledonia Warriors scored on Wednesday. Two were in double figures: Marten Morem with 18 points and Noah King with 14. Here's the rest of the list: Eli King (8), Andrew Goergen (2), Owen King (8), Riley Gavin (6), Jordan Burg (3), Eric Augedahl (2), Austin Heim (1), Noah Kearney (4), Sam Barthel (9), Riley Augedahl (3) and Walker Spier (2).
Morem and Owen King each made two 3-pointers while Noah King, Jordan Burg and Riley Augedahl each made one. Noah King with his five rebounds led in that category. Noah had seven assists to stand out there. He and Eli King were steal leaders with five and seven, respectively.
Garrett Jensen leads Lakers
Let's look at the Lakers - here we have just the one double figures scorer, Garrett Jensen with his 13 points followed by Jackson Johnsrud with nine. Matt Gruber put in seven points. Three other Lakers scored: Grant Jensen (6), Jack Blevins (4) and Shawn Carsten (2). Johnsrud and Garrett Jensen each made one 3-pointer.
Grant Jensen led in rebounds with six while these three Lakers each had four: Carsten, Gruber and Johnsrud. Garrett Jensen dished out two assists. Johnsrud, Carsten and Joe Piekarski each had one steal.
The Willmar paper sort of screws us over because if you go online today, you'll notice much of the text is blocked out, meaning of course you have to be some sort of paying subscriber. The online world is pretty vast, though, so we can find some fine coverage from the Post-Bulletin. On their site, we read that Caledonia, loaded with many of the same athletes who propelled the Warriors in football, "beat Minnewaska Area up pretty good."
The Post-Bulletin tells us that Caledonia (southeast Minnesota) "used its speed, quickness and got physical as well to thump unseeded Minnewaska."
'Waska coach Phil Johnsrud is quoted saying "(Caledonia) just wore us down. Our kids aren't used to that speed and athleticism. And I thought it was extremely physical."
And Caledonia coach Brad King - yes, another of the Kings - was quoted saying "I think when you get up to the state tournament it turns into a little more of a physical game. We're fine with that. We're a pretty strong team."
Caledonia had just seven turnovers. Let's note that player Eli King looks to be a king for a long time as he's only an eighth-grader. I remember when our Morris school had a policy of not even playing sophomores at varsity (around 1980). Eli had seven steals and eight points with all these stats coming in the first half.
Owen King said his injury from falling from the elevated floor did affect his subsequent play. He described a "cement floor." Ouch. He's a six feet-three guard. He said he landed on his chest first.
Coach King said "I'll put our bench up against anybody. We can go all the way up to ten to the 12th spot." Just look at their scoring list.
Marten Morem is a six feet-six senior forward. His matchup was with the Lakers' Shawn Carsten who stands six feet-eight. Moren overcame Carsten with his 8-for-8 field goal numbers. The Warriors began separating themselves from the Lakers as the second half unfolded, as they went on a 9-4 run. Garrett Jensen of the Lakers noted that his team's loss "wasn't for a lack of effort." He described the Warriors as "crazy athletic."
As the second half developed, the Warriors really blew things open with a 15-0 run over three minutes. The score was 59-30 with 9:56 left. Noah King really set the pace in the overwhelming run. Coach King pulled his starters with over seven minutes left. The final minutes were played in running time. Caledonia is in its fourth state tournament in five years. They'll taken on Brooklyn Park, the No. 2 seed, in the state semis at 8 p.m. Friday at Target Center.
Thanks to the Post-Bulletin. We'll be cheering for the 'Waska Lakers as they strive to re-group for tonight (Thursday). It'll be fun to see Caledonia resume play too. Long live the King(s)?
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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