Policies all have their reasons I'm sure. We hire school administrators to show wisdom, just like there's a zero tolerance thing about any sort of threat. Safety is surely essential. Yet I wonder if back in my day of being in school, something disturbing scribbled on a chalkboard (whiteboard today) might just be erased. I guess as of today (Monday), we still don't know of a resolution of the recent major incident, an incident calling for some pretty substantial action to be taken.
In the meantime, basketball continues! That's an understatement: our boys and girls teams played doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday. The Tigers won throughout. And in the Saturday boys phase, sophomore Jackson Loge thrilled by reaching his 1000th point career milestone. Just a sophomore! That's really incredible.
We congratulate the talented young man who comes from elite basketball lineage. I'm not quite old enough to have seen his grandfather play but I sure remember father Kevin. Today Jackson Loge is a cog with the MACA Tigers who are bound to be a team to watch for the climactic March phase.
Jackson scored 32 points Saturday in his team's 75-74 win over the Lac qui Parle Eagles at Lac qui Parle. He vaulted over the 1000-point mark. Back when the "we don't do that here" quote was uttered, the player who was intriguing me was Paul Libbon. I merely asked if we might see that young man get a varsity opportunity. The retort was "we don't do that here."
I'm sure coaches had to worry about parents wondering why players so young were getting out there to play, forcing older players to spend more bench time. That wouldn't surprise me. But it appears to have been a losing plea in the long run. Is that good? I'm inclined to say yes. One argument I heard against the old system was that it made the older players feel too comfortable. Those guys might then get a little lethargic, to lack motivation. I remember some of my fan friends talking this way after a disappointing loss.
Today's Tigers are on a run with three straight wins. And we're over .500 to 6-5. We overcame a superb LQPV player in Austin Bonn. Bonn was rather spectacular Saturday as he scored 36 points. His team tasted defeat for just the second time this season. LQPV sits at 8-2.
Loge made 12 of his 20 field goal attempts. He was joined in double figures by two of his mates: Thomas Tiernan (eleven points, four of six in shooting) and Cade Fehr (ten points, four of five). Tiernan is a sophomore and Fehr a senior. Jaden Maanum and Brandon Jergenson each scored eight points, and Toby Gonnerman put in six. Jergenson and Gonnerman are sophomores and Maanum a senior.
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| Jackson Loge (image from "hudl") |
Our freethrow numbers were 15-for-26 for 58 percent. Loge made eight of his 14 attempts and Gonnerman was six of eight. Of course Loge was a factor in rebounds where he set the pace with 15. Five of his boards were offensive and ten defensive. Cameron Koebernick led in assists with five and Loge had four. Jergenson and Loge each had a blocked shot.
We led the Eagles at halftime 39-37 and held our own through the second half. LQPV had a 37-36 edge in the second half.
Girls: Tigers 86, Lac qui Parle 55
There was no suspense in this game, in contrast to the boys affair. Surely we took charge. We used three-pointers in a big way: eleven of these bombs in our 86-55 triumph over the host Eagles. The orange and black shot 52 percent from the field.
Emma Bowman hit five 3-pointers as did MacKenna Kehoe, so surely it was a fun night for Janet Kehoe to cheer again! She's an old co-worker and friend. It was Bowman with the team-best scoring total of 23. Kehoe was up there too with 19. Malory Anderson had impact within the offense with 13 points, plus she collected six rebounds. Meredith Carrington and LaRae Kram achieved double figures with matching totals of ten points. Tom Carrington cracked a smile I'm sure.
The Tigers came out of this demanding phase of the schedule with a 6-7 record. LQPV's numbers: 8-5.
Final note: I remember back in the early '80s, I was so impressed with how our boys 'B' team looked, their athleticism and potential. And, I got that impression because some of these kids obviously were suited to be varsity candidates. A problem with the system then, was that these players' development was held up. You might say they atrophied some by being held at below varsity.
I tried to be optimistic and shared a remark with a fan, a parent who happened also to be a UMM teacher: "It'll be fun seeing these guys in two years." His immediate retort, rendered with some bitterness: "I don't want to see them."
Not the most upbeat of times. By the end of the 1980s, some issues had to be taken care of in Morris extracurricular.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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