2026 was not to be a repeat of 2025 for Alexandria boys basketball. The '25 story ended with the Cardinals as state champion. Well, the 2026 edition did mighty super too. They made state. But victory at the state level proved elusive for the Cardinals.
The just-concluded season ought to be filed away as significant and historic in Alex sports annals, even with the 0-2 showing in state. The state is cream of the crop all the way around.
You probably know that the Witts have their imprint all over Alex hoops. In fact, Morris connections are pretty noticeable all the way around. The Witts are quite high-profile led by two of the top players Mason and Talan. They are grandsons of our former long-time football coach in Morris, Jerry Witt.
Jerry was an athletic asset all the way around. He got established in Motown sports when he was a Cougar with UMM. He's married to Holly. And what a legacy they are watching with their grandchildren. State champs in 2025. State qualifier in '26. What would Alex do without its Morris connections? Probably should not ask that, is purely speculation.
The day will come when Alex will take the floor without the Witts. We can assume that Mason and Talan will have impact somewhere at the collegiate level. They are probably looking higher than UMM. UMM plays Division III.
A top star with last year's Alex team, Chase Thompson, is established at the highest level of collegiate ball now, playing for none other than Clemson, the Tigers.
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| The "Cardinals!" |
Alexandria concluded its season with a loss to Wayzata. It's the well-known and high-class suburb of the Twin Cities. At this point it occurs to me to remind you all that Alex entered the 4A classification for this past season. AAAA is the largest schools. We can presume that many of these schools are going to be powerful. But we cannot generalize that way.
Wayzata came at the Cards with firepower, yes the "real deal." The score was 89-60, alas, as Alex got outdone by the boys from the rich suburb! Alex was seeded No. 6 for state, Wayzata No. 2. Game site was St. Paul's Gangelhoff Center. Wayzata has the "Trojans" nickname.
The Cardinals can look back on a highlight-filled 21-9 season. Their state tournament appearance was their fifth in a six-year span.
Let me remind you here that Mason and Talan Witt are not brothers, they are cousins. Jerry and Holly are parents of three sons who had great impact in our MAHS athletics: Zachary, Forrest and Taylor.
Jerry had my father Ralph as a music teacher at UMM! Jerry recalled with a smile the class where he was required to prepare an elementary music lesson! He must have done fine.
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| Chase Thompson |
Let's take a look at how Chase Thompson is doing in the big-time collegiate hoops wars. I had to look up where Clemson is located. Clemson University is in fact located in Clemson, South Carolina. Can we assume that Chase made the cultural adjustment to South Carolina of the full-fledged "South?" This was the first state to secede in the U.S. Civil War. Lindsey Graham is a U.S. senator from there. Shows up a lot on Sunday morning TV.
The culture has contrasts from here but I would assume Mr. Thompson has made friends and gotten along fine. Still, I might have preferred that he stayed in Minnesota. I wonder if the Gophers pursued him. Oh, here's a neat headline I see in the "news" portion of the Clemson hoops website: "Chase Thompson's breakout performance provides spark in win."
So in his first year, Mr. Thompson must be getting some accolades already. I sure got the impression last year that he was one of the "talented ones." So his name is already crossing the lips of the "Tigers" faithful. That's Clemson Tigers of course. The logo is an orange paw print.
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| Clemson "Tigers" |
Thompson in his post-game comments credited the team's depth for much of the positiveness. "It can be anybody at the right time." He played 19 minutes in the win over the "Demon Deacons." He shot 57.1 percent.
Root for the Gophs
Looks like the U of M women's team will play UCLA today (Friday) in the "Sweet 16" of the NCAAs. It is a super accomplishment to reach the Sweet 16. Today I'm afraid the Gophers under "coach Dawn" will have an uphill battle. I refer to her as "coach Dawn" because I have trouble with her last name!
The Iowa women are done. I have followed Iowa closely because of Caitlin Clark and her transformative impact on the sport. Iowa remains a charming team. The Hawkeyes got stopped by Virginia in the NCAAs this year.
Addendum: I acknowledged some of the Morris connections with Alexandria in a previous post I wrote on "Morris of Course." That included Blake Scholl, son of Heather (nee) Lucken who played for MAHS Tigers. Jerry Witt and I have since communicated with emails. Nice cheery response from him and he expanded on the "Morris connections" to Alex. I'm pleased to quote from his March 15 communication:
Good morning, Brian! We always enjoy reading your articles. Thanks for sharing them with us. I’ll pass them on to Zach, Forrest and Taylor so they can enjoy them as well. Just came in from blowing snow from yesterday‘s blizzard. Are you guys buried down there as well in snow? 
On another note, Alexandria has one more Morris connection on our team. A boy named Miles Grey, who is a senior, is the son of Dan Grey and Tracy Lesmeister from Morris. Dan is the son of Wes Grey who worked at the UMM research station. Wes was my gardening expert who helped me out often. Dan played point guard for us during one of my first years at Morris as an assistant coach for Bob Mulder.
Below is another photo that features nicely Chase Thompson of the Clemson Tigers of South Carolina:
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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