Talk about dramatic! The Tigers slipped past Paynesville in the
opening round of Section 6AA play, lifted at the end by clutch freethrow
shooting. It was an unusual situation because Katie Holzheimer would
get three shots from the line. That's because she was fouled while
attempting a three-pointer (her forte on the court).
A made three-pointer would have brought victory to the Tigers, by
one. The foul made the situation a little more complicated. Holzheimer
would now have to make three separate shots. She would have to be cool
and composed at the line. She was performing in front of a friendly home
crowd.
Up goes the first attempt. It's good! Up goes the second. Bullseye!
One more make and MACA would own the lead at one. Eureka! The ball goes
through the twine and MACA is up 55-54. That was the final score.
The game was played on the last day of February. So, that means?
We're into "March Madness." We're also anticipating the spring season
with its reprieve from the oppressive winter conditions.
Morris Area Chokio Alberta and Paynesville are South Division
teams. The Tigers looked to be in a good position at halftime, up 33-28
in this quarter-final affair. Paynesville outdid the Tigers 26-22 in the
second half. Holzheimer bailed out the Tigers by re-injecting some of
that "mo" into the Tigers' cause. Fans won't soon forget it. MACA came
out of the night with 17 wins on the season, ready for semis play.
The Tigers surged early against the green-clad Bulldogs. They
fought to hold their own the rest of the game, really. The five-point
lead at halftime really didn't look secure. The Tigers scrambled to try
to find a formula that would right their ship. The teams played very
evenly over the last eight minutes. The lead bounced back and forth. It
was up to Holzheimer, the Tigers' long-range shooting whiz, to be the
hero at the end. Paynesville did have a last-gasp shot attempt but it
was no-go.
In overcoming Paynesville, MACA had to overcome a hot-shooting
individual name of Brooke Wuertz. Wuertz connected on five 3-pointers in
the first half alone! She would hit no more, but she was game-high in
scoring with her 20 points. Kayla Schaefer scored 16 points for the
Bulldogs.
Holzheimer scored 14 points but she only had one 3-pointer.
MaKenzie Smith had two 3-pointers and Beth Holland had one. The team
numbers in 3's were four of 13. In total field goals: 19 of 56. MACA
needed its excellent 13-for-16 freethrow numbers.
Smith and Beth Holland each scored 16 points to top the MACA list.
Holzheimer with her 14 points was next on the list. Nicole Strobel
scored four, Abbie Olson and Kaitlin Vogel two each, and Becca Holland
one. Smith was tops in rebounds with seven followed by Strobel and Olson
each with four, and four Tigers each with three rebounds: Beth Holland,
Becca Holland, Holzheimer and Moira McNally.
Becca Holland was sharp with her passing and finished with five
assists. Smith, Holzheimer and Strobel each dished out two assists.
Strobel led in steals with three followed by Becca Holland with two.
Paynesville finished its season with a 13-11 record.
Boys hoops: NL-Spicer 69, Tigers 59
A long-range shot by Joey Dreier seemed like a dagger for the MACA
boys as they tried to turn back Dreier and his New London-Spicer mates
Tuesday (2/26), here. This dagger happened in the closing seconds of
regulation time. The Wildcats seemed on the ropes. They needed three
points to tie the score and force overtime. Dreier took aim at the
basket with five seconds left. Could the Tigers hang on? Alas they
couldn't.
Dreier was a clutch performer and his shot proved true. Infused
with new life, NL-Spicer carried that feeling of momentum into overtime
nicely. The overtime in fact belonged to the visiting Wildcats. The
final score was 69-59 as the orange and black faithful had to go home
feeling somewhat deflated.
This game would never have seen overtime had MACA succeeded with
freethrows better in the late stages. Meanwhile the Wildcats were
shooting freethrows like it was their home floor. For the game the 'Cats
made 20 of 23 tries from the line. That speaks volumes.
The Tigers seemed to fade as this game wore on. The first half was
upbeat indeed for the orange and black. Coach Mark Torgerson's squad
owned a 28-19 lead at halftime. But the 'Cats took on luster in the
second half to carve out a 38-29 advantage. Then came the forgettable
overtime for MACA. Ouch. The Tigers nevertheless came out of the night
with a 17-7 record - most encouraging with post-season awaiting.
The Tigers led by four points with 18 seconds left in regulation. A
little nudge from freethrow shooting, and this game would have gone in
the win column for MACA. It wasn't to be, and Dreier salvaged the
Wildcats' fortunes which then improved even more for overtime (with a
12-2 scoring advantage). Dreier had 18 points for the game, plus he
collected eleven rebounds. Aaron Ruter put in 19 points (and picked up
five assists) to lead the visitor.
Ruter wasn't game-high with his points. That distinction went to an
MACA Tiger, Austin Dierks, whose total was 24 points. His ten rebounds
gave him double-double distinction. Chandler Erickson put in 12 points
while Lincoln Berget had eight and Nic Vipond six. Then we have John
Tiernan with four, Tyler Henrichs and Logan Manska each with two, and
Jake Torgerson with one.
"Ouch" again: The Tigers were zip of eleven in three-point shots!
In total field goals their numbers were 23 of 57. In freethrows: 13 of
22. Dierks was tops in rebounds with ten followed by Tiernan with seven
and Erickson with six. Erickson picked up seven assists to lead there,
while Vipond had three. Dierks stole the ball three times.
Girls basketball: Sauk Centre 61, Tigers 29
The regular season ended with kind of a thud for the MACA girls.
It's only a minor blemish in terms of effect on won-lost mark. But the
score disparity was discouraging. The Tigers took on an obviously
high-quality Sauk Centre team on Saturday, Feb. 23. The Streeters were
sailing atop the West Central-North Conference. They kept on sailing,
handing our GBB Tigers a 61-29 loss.
So the regular season ended for coach Dale Henrich's crew with a
record of 16-9 (12-4 league). Those are the upbeat won-lost numbers the
team carried into post-season on Thursday. The loss to Sauk Centre was on the road.
Katie Holzheimer continued her strides on the all-time
three-pointer list for MACA. Already the career leader, Holzheimer added
three more 3's to her total. Those were the only long-range makes by
MACA in this game. The Tigers were three of eleven in 3's, nine of 46 in
total field goals and eight of 15 in freethrows.
Holzheimer led the Tigers' scoring with 12 points. Beth Holland
scored nine followed by Nicole Strobel with three, Moira McNally and
Kaitlin Vogel each with two, and MaKenzie Smith with one. Smith and
Holzheimer each pulled down five rebounds. Rebekah Aanerud came through
with two assists, and Holzheimer led in steals with three.
Sauk Centre came out of this game with enviable won-lost numbers of 23-2 overall and 14-0 in league.
Sauk Centre came out of this game with enviable won-lost numbers of 23-2 overall and 14-0 in league.
The Tigers got buried 38-18 in the first half.
The Streeters made five 3-pointers led by Elizabeth Ellens with
two. Ellens was joined in double figures scoring by Macy Weller and Jena
Klaphake.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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