Round 2 will have us matched against Paynesville at Willmar.
There is a sentence buried in today's coverage on the West Central Tribune site that gives the score of the EV-W game. No details available for either team. So that is disappointing. I never give up checking the Maxpreps site where our coaches were once good for posting individual stats. This morning, Saturday, I find that the coaches did post after the regular season finale which was against Benson. That game had a favorable outcome, 85-61.
So I thank the coaches for their effort on that game. I hope it continues. As of 7 a.m. Saturday morning I do not see the stats for the EV-W game. Obviously I do not wish to push the coaches too hard. There was a time when the chances would be very good for finding coverage of the EV-W game. Very often these days, the WC Trib will have individual details for the MACA opponent but not for us. They very often have "stats not available" for MACA. They don't even call us "MACA," they call us "Morris/CA" which is not accurate.
In an ideal world, I could blog with some degree of detail about the EV-W game. But we can't always get our way. I was opposed to the candidacy of Donald Trump in all three elections: 2016, 2020 and 2024. DJT won two of these and he raised absolute holy hell in the one he lost, to the extent that he should have been impeached and rendered unable to run again. I ask: Why does this seem so obvious to me?
He is now intimidating the news media in a way that will impede our access to the necessary facts for knowing what is going on. Minus impeachment or death being experienced by DJT, we are in our current disastrous course for the full four years. Now it looks certain we'll have another blast of inflation. This while DJT just lies and misdirects. And most of the local public acts like they just don't care. They will look at someone like me and fling insults back at me. They'll resent me for even bringing up any concerns related to DJT.
So they will not engage at all - they'll diss me for wanting to discuss it, laugh at me - and then they'll vote for him again. He wants a third term. He wants to take over the Federal Reserve. And aren't we all conditioned to seeing DJT get what he wants? He was found responsible for sexual assault. It does not matter. Nothing matters.
Our Stevens County churches are full of people who just bleed Trump devotion. I happen to attend an exception to that rule, an ELCA church. The ELCA is struggling out here in "red" country. All I can do now is observe. Elon Musk will continue wielding incredible power. The people who line the pews at Good Shepherd Church are fine with it. They are fine with anything connected to DJT and they despise the other party. What is all of this going to lead to?
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| Griffin Epema of Monte |
My, look how New London-Spicer got absolutely dismantled by Montevideo in the boys tourney. The score was 70-29. The Thunder Hawks led 42-10 at halftime. The "Epema" name is huge in Monte hoops. Griffin Epema scored 26 points against the stunned Wildcats. He made five 3-pointers.
And take a look at Minnewaska! The Lakers took charge in their game last night against Litchfield. Just as "Epema" is huge for Monte - boys and girls - "Dahl" is having quite the impact in Laker country. So we saw Tenzin Dahl score the team-best 14 points in the 61-27 win.
Tristan O'Neil was right behind with 13, and Levi Johnson and Kaiden Harvey each put in 11. Other Lakers who scored: Connor Frey 4, Marc Gruber 4, Zachary Palmer 2 and Owen Meulebroeck 2. Johnson was the pinpoint outside shooter with three 3's. Dahl and O'Neil each made one '3'. Dahl and Meulebroeck co-led in rebounds with eight each. Palmer dished out four assists. O'Neil had four steals and two blocked shots.
Was it really an upset when the Minnewaska girls beat New London-Spicer? NL-S has such a longstanding reputation for GBB supremacy. But the 'Waska girls have been coming on mighty strong. 'Waska carried that momentum through the sub-section championship game. So they handled the New London-Spicer Wildcats and are now preparing for the Section 3AA title game to be played at Southwest State.
Wouldn't it be neat if we could get these games at Morris again? At UMM? Memories are fading of when UMM was the site for big-time prep tourney games with fans streaming in. It was an adventure to watch the parking lots empty out after a big game!
I have done quite a bit of writing about the 'Waska girls this season. I have to confess I have not watched a game. But I am surmising that the Lakers play a lot like the old Hancock Owls when a fellow named Dennis Courneya coached there. He really pushed girls basketball up to a level locally that made everyone pay attention. And yes, he did get into trouble at the end of his career. But he taught us all something.
It looks like the Lakers today, like the Owls of old, play in a very fast-paced, intense and pressure-oriented style. I can't help but have mixed feelings about this. I sense that many coaches might not feel comfortable guiding their teams this way. It is definitely not a "pretty" style of basketball. Aesthetically speaking it might be better to watch the teams play in a more controlled and deliberate style, setting up their offense in a half-court manner if that is the proper terminology. Pass the ball around until someone thinks they have an open shot. Look for a driving opportunity maybe.
But the super-intense style is within the rules. One bad aspect of this is that the less-motivated teams - and I guess this would include MACA - can get absolutely destroyed. That's what happened to MACA vs. 'Waska in their first matchup. I think it's possible Minnewaska deliberately let up for the second matchup.
MACA got absolutely destroyed by Mayer Lutheran and Minnewaska, to the extent that I think it led to some players quitting. I got word from a source close to the program that some players did depart. And that is the worst thing that can happen.
Well, it's a long time between now and next season, so we'll have to see what happens, as we always do I with sports. In the meantime, go Lakers!
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
