Kendra Wevley lifts MACA over Litchfield

Tigers 63, Litchfield 61
The post-season is underway in prep hoops. The excitement level can surely get higher. The suspense factor was higher than many MACA GBB fans were expecting, no doubt, on Saturday. The Tigers launched into Section 3AA-North play. Fans might not have expected a real close game. That's because back on November 26, the Tigers beat Litchfield 69-43. It was at our home court.
The home court was the site again Saturday when the Dragons came to town. Litch showed much greater competitiveness this time. Or, was our play slackening some? Fans can speculate. Litchfield deserved credit for making a strong run at the Tigers. But it wasn't enough. The Dragons weren't breathing quite enough fire. (Hard to avoid that imagery.)
Coach Dale Henrich's Tigers fended off the challenge and downed Litchfield by a mere two points, 63-61, to advance. Go Tigers! A hero at the end was Kendra Wevley. Kendra surely put a smile on coach Henrich's face when she made a jump shot with negligible time remaining. Just prior to that, Katleyn Cruze made a shot for Litch that tied the score. Time finally ran out on the Dragons. So it's MACA now on the way to the sub-section semis.
MACA fans had to worry early-on in Saturday's contest: Litch shot out in front 9-2. But the orange and black answered with an 11-2 run.
The first half wound down with the teams seeming dead-even. They got tied at 24-all. Emma Bowman hit an important 3-point shot, important not just to give us a three-point lead, it must have boosted optimism. But this sure wasn't going to be a repeat of the Nov. 26 game. The halftime score was 27-24.
The Tigers were buoyed in the most dramatic way possible, with three-pointers, as second half play unfolded. We got a lead pushed up to eleven points. But we sure weren't going to pull away. Litch wasn't going to make this easy. The Dragons found the range from 3-point range just like the Tigers had. At the fore for the visitor was Lily Osterberg. Lily had four 3's total in the game and led her team with 17 points. Her teammate Sydney McCann scored 15 followed by Cruze with 13 (along with 12 boards).
Litch closes out the season with an 11-16 record.
The MACA scoring list was topped by Bowman: 16 points. Meredith Carrington had impact with her 14. LaRae Kram came through with eight. The always-dependable Mallory Anderson scored seven but also grabbed 17 rebounds.
Our record now: 17-9. So we're getting ready to face Eden Valley-Watkins in the semis. Hey, the game site is none other than Minnewaska! How about that?
The game is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27.
 
Tigers 71, Montevideo 52
The MACA boys are closing out their regular season. The Tigers may have problems with Hancock, the neighboring "small town," but against other teams we're quite capable, like Montevideo. On Friday our Tigers made the trip to Thunder Hawk (formerly Mohawk) country of Monte. Any sting from the recent loss to Hancock seemed pretty well erased by night's end. We handled those T-Hawks in the 71-52 final. Now, let's go back to the drawing board re. Hancock.
The Tigers built a 36-24 advantage by halftime on Friday. The second half was similar with a 35-28 Tiger scoring advantage. Don't forget to check our "Maxpreps" page for stat updates.
My, the stats show Jackson Loge to be quite the dominating presence. He truly was the go-to guy. He poured in 39 points as he made 12 of 20 field goal tries. The sophomore sensation was followed in scoring by Brandon Jergenson, another sophomore, with 13 points. Brandon was a sharp six of eight in shooting. It drops off after that. We see Thomas Tiernan with four points and then: Durgin Decker (3), Jaden Maanum (3), Riley Reimers (2), Toby Gonnerman (2), Cade Fehr (2), Brock Peterson (2) and Cameron Koebernick (1).
As a team we shot 26 of 48, 54 percent, in total field goals. Our 3-point shooting wasn't much of a factor: we had two makes which were by Decker and Maanum. We were two of eight as a team. Loge availed himself of freethrow opportunities where his numbers were 15-for-19. He was dominant. Jergenson and Koebernick each made one freethrow and our team stats were 17/24, 71 percent.
Loge made his presence felt on the boards where he snared ten rebounds. No one else had an appreciable number, and our team numbers were three offensive and 18 defensive for 21 total. Loge had our only offensive rebounds.
Maanum had three assists while several mates were close behind. Our assist total was 15. In steals we recorded 12 led by Maanum and Tiernan each with three. Loge had our only blocked shot. The West Central Tribune described Loge as "virtually unguardable" in this game.
We close out the regular season on Monday at Sisseton SD.
How much stock should be put in the Monte game outcome? The Thunder Hawks were still winless at night's end, at 0-24. Ouch! So maybe we can't put the Hancock game behind us after all. The MACA record as I write this: 14-10. Interest is building with the post-season getting near.
Monte's scoring Friday was led by Sam Olson with 12 points. Bradyn Schultz put in ten and Andrew VanBinsbergen nine. Then we see Kaden Boike (8), Cade Weber (8), Tyler McKee (3) and Colby Buseman (2). Weber made two 3's followed by these T-Hawks each with one: Olson, Schultz and McKee. The rebound leader was VanBinsbergen with five. Boike had two assists. Olson had three steals, and Buseman blocked three shots.
 
Excellence on wrestling mat
Section wrestling is an event bathed in excitement - I well remember. At stake are those coveted state berths. And in the aftermath of the 2020 event, we can report with pride that three MAHACA Tigers are in for state.
Let's exude pride regarding Ethan Lebrija, Dalton Rose and Davin Rose. Lebrija and Dalton Rose were champions at their weights, and Davin was second. MAHACA had nine earn place finishes. In fourth place was Colten Wohlers. Fifth place achievers were Dylan Rose, Dain Schroeder, Noah Amundson and Dillon Nelson. Sixth was achieved by Tristan Raths.
I again urge everyone to check the KMRS-KKOK website daily for news and sports. It's go-to.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com