MACA will have the advantage of home court for the start of 3AA-North play this Saturday. We own the No. 3 seed and will play the No. 6 team, Litchfield.
The regular season ended swimmingly for coach Dale Henrich's Tigers. Following a 32-all stalemate in the first half, the orange and black impressed the rest of the way. We outscored the BOLD Warriors 43-34 in the second half. We got our 16th win with a score of 75-66 at the Olivia court. BOLD was no pushover - their record now is 17-9.
The Warriors have the No. 4 seed for 2A-North. They are matched against Sleepy Eye for the start of playoffs.
The Tigers limited BOLD to just one 3-pointer in the Tuesday action. The '3' was made by Ashley Trongard. Meanwhile we had five successes in 3's with Emma Bowman leading the way: three makes. Bowman topped the MACA scoring list with 23 points.
Meredith Carrington and MacKenna Kehoe each made one 3-pointer. Malory Anderson was second-high in scoring with 14 points. No. 3 on the list is Kendra Wevley: eleven. Carrington followed with nine, LaRae Kram with eight and Kylie Swanson with seven. Kehoe's three points came on her long-range shot.
The BOLD scoring attack was led by Makayla Snow with 23 points. Three other Warriors scored in double figures: Brenna Weis with 12, Leslie Snow with ten and Trongard with ten. The rest of the list has Mari Ryberg with six points, Lanie Mages with four and Abby Meyers with one. Makayla Snow's nine rebounds put her atop that list, while Trongard collected eight. Trongard and Makayla Snow led in assists with five and four respectively. Trongard and Ryberg each had three steals. Makayla Snow and Trongard each blocked two shots.
The Tigers needed some time to build up a head of steam. They tapped the "transition game" to find more success. After having lapses with a zone on 'D', the Tigers maneuvered into a "man" scheme and that helped. A pat on the back to coach Henrich. The West Central Tribune observed that the "man" approach left the Warriors "discombobulated." So I guess that's a real word. Don't think I've ever used it.
We picked up steam sufficiently to get the score tied by halftime. Bowman really facilitated the offense. BOLD may have been set back by a knee injury experienced by Weis. Weis scored 12 points in the first half before having to sit out the second.
OK, some details about what's coming up for MACA: Game-time is 7 p.m. Saturday at the local gym. How will we fare vs. Litch? Well we played them in the regular season, November 26, and we prevailed 69-43. The Saturday winner will play the winner of No. 2 Eden Valley-Watkins and No. 7 Paynesville. The Section 3AA-North semis are set for Thursday, Feb. 27.
Our MBA Storm could not overcome their seventh-seeded position versus the No. 2 seed, Alexandria, in Tuesday puck action. The skaters vied at Runestone Community Center.
Alexandria skated smoothly on their home ice to achieve the 7-1 win over the Storm. Nevertheless the Storm fans can reflect on lots of success: 20 wins over the course of the season, against six losses. The Cardinals of Alexandria move on to play Little Falls, the third seed, this coming Saturday in St. Cloud. It's a Section 6A semi-finals contest. Little Falls climbed with a 6-0 win over Sartell.
The Storm got into a hole in the first period. Joe Westlund scored the first of four Alex goals while MBA was scoreless. Westlund took advantage of assists by Derek Pesta and Andrew Revering. Caleb Strong scored the second Alex goal at 4:34. Westlund assisted. Pesta put the puck in the net to make the score 3-0 as assists came from Joe Bigger and Strong. It was Jacob Partington scoring Alex's fourth goal which was an unassisted job at 11:06.
The MBA fans could cheer as Brady Loge scored what would prove to be our lone goal. It had a Reece Kuseske assist.
Alex's Pesta and Bigger worked together for the goal and assist, respectively, at 4:47. Shane Birkeland scored for Alex with assists from two of his mates: Partington and Brenna Lattimer. The Cardinals showed a final flourish with a third period goal. It was by Lattimer with assists from Strong and Pesta.
Chase Engebretson was our goalie and he had 36 saves. Landyn James wore the goalie equipment for the Cards and he had 16.
The Lakers performed like a well-tuned machine Tuesday against the BBE Jaguars. It was a machine with several effective parts. Yes, balance characterized this 81-47 win by the Lakers. The decisive success at BBE produced win No. 16 against six losses. BBE was left at 10-13.
Back in my newspaper days, I remember twice being in a traveling party for Tiger hoops and we showed up in the wrong town of the BBE combo. I don't recall ever getting to a game late. Good times, they were, when Rick Lucken was still with us. Rest in peace, Rick. He left us too soon due to circumstances having to do with commuting for his job.
The Minnewaska scoring list is very long, so lots of happy parents who could see their sons score. 'Waska outscored BBE 47-21 in the first half and 34-26 in the second. Five Lakers scored in double figures led by Aaron VerSteeg with 16 points. Right behind him was Sam Hested with 15. Brady Hoffman put in 13 points, and Peyton Johnsrud and Grant Jensen ten each.
Here's the rest of the list: Drew Nelson (5), Jaden Stewart (4), Aiden Tank (3), Luke Barkeim (2), Connor Johnsrud (2) and Mitchel Gruber (1). Hested connected twice from 3-point range while Jensen, Nelson and VerSteeg each made one '3'.
The Jaguars had two players each score ten points: Kaden Pieper and Will VanBeck. Jackson Peter followed with nine, then we see Ryan Schwinghammer with six, Brady Birch and Luke Dingmann each with five, and Adal Gomez with two. Pieper and VanBeck each made two 3-pointers. Peter and Birch each made one. Peter topped rebounds with four. Don't confuse him with Pieper - I almost did - and in assists it was Pieper with four.
Pieper was one of five Jaguars each with one steal. Joining him were Peter, VanBeck, Birch and Schwinghammer. Schwinghammer blocked two shots. The Lakers play Friday at ACGC.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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