West Central Area made waves in football with its appearance in Prep Bowl. Congrats on that, but on Friday the Knights were outclassed by the host MACA Tigers on the hardcourt. The orange and black boys really owned the day as they turned back the Knights 72-44. It was a doubleheader day that also showcased the girls teams of MACA and WCA.
I enjoyed writing about the Knights as they climbed in football. I always enjoy writing about prep sports. The year 2022 will mark the 50th anniversary of my start writing about the Tigers in the media. How about that? Can anyone else come close to matching that longevity? It all started when I wrote about Tiger football led by Willard Wevley and Dan Long. I answered to Arnold Thompson at the Sun Tribune. I could not have envisioned the world wide web then.
Here I sit today harnessing the web, so I can report that MACA really took control by building a 29-point halftime lead. Our sharp execution was also to the tune of inducing 24 turnovers. If this is to be Mark Torgerson's final season at the coaching helm, he is going out with a flourish. The talent on the roster says a lot about that.
Jackson Loge scored his 2000th career point Friday. Not long ago he ascended to the No. 1 perch on the MACA career scoring list. He scored 17 points but he was second-best on this night to sharpshooter Thomas Tiernan. Tiernan had a point total of 19.
WCA may have had a humbling day Friday, but surely they excel on many nights: record now of 4-1. Nice to have a "neighbor" doing so well. Barrett is a nice little burg. WCA's top scorers were Ryder Staples and Nas Dotts each with ten points, and Cole Anderson with nine.
The Tigers are sitting pretty with a 6-0 record. Will the holidays provide much of a break? C'mon, slow down a little.
Tiernan made 7 of 13 field goal tries. Loge was 6 of 12. Cole Wente was the third Tiger in double figures, ten points on 4 of 6 shooting. Also scoring: Tyler Berlinger 8, Durgin Decker 7, Brandon Jergenson 5, Sam Kleinwolterink 5 and Kyle Fehr 1. Our team field goal shooting was 26 of 49, 53 percent.
Tiernan nailed five of nine 3-point shots. These Tigers each made one long-ranger: Decker, Wente, Jergenson and Kleinwolterink. Our team numbers in 3's: nine of 16.
Loge put up seven freethrow shots and made five. Berlinger was a perfect four of four. Wente and Fehr each made one freethrow. The team numbers were 11 of 18, 61 percent.
Rebounds: we had 28 total, six offensive. Loge snared ten so he dominated in this department. Wente was the top assist producer with five. In steals we see Jergenson and Tiernan each with four. Loge and Kleinwolterink each blocked a shot. We turned the ball over 15 times. We're riding high with the No 4 state ranking.
Girls: West Central Area 65, Tigers 40
The script got flipped for Friday's girls game, as fans saw the Knights establish a clear advantage. Lexi Bright had a lot to do with that as she scored 29 points. The Tigers had the kind of turnover problem that the Knights had in the boys game. Our girls squad committed 23. Compounding that stat was our lackluster 27 percent in shooting.
Orange and black fans were kept quiet much of the time as we fell behind 34-20 by halftime. Then we got buried with an 18-4 run by the Knights to open the second half. Ouch.
Bright collected nine rebounds. Claire Stark contributed ten points for the victor. Macy Grosz came off the bench to score five. Addison Staples pulled down seven boards.
We're on the threshold of the holidays with our W/L at 3-4. WCA sits at 3-2.
Our Maddy Grove put in 14 points, plus she got eleven boards. Cate Kehoe supplied ten points. Kaylee Harstad was in position for ten rebounds.
Santa is on his way, remember!
Some reflections
I don't mean to seem dramatic reflecting on the 50-year timespan that spans my writing. It was not continuous, I mean there were two interruptions, the first one planned, the second not so much. First I attended college. I felt I had to get away from Morris. That wasn't necessary, or maybe it was, considering I might not have been able to cut it at our UMM.
I should not have cared because now, I really wish I hadn't attended college at all. Maybe it just seemed like a necessary rite of passage. My generation was like that. It is a shame we tended to look down on young people who did not seek a post-high school degree. Many in my generation chose "tech school." It seemed fine and logical, because what could be better than to prepare for "work," to do something hands-on?
Well, the passing years have instilled some wisdom, and I now think that "learning on the job" is to be recommended. Just have reading, writing and arithmetic down pat, and you are ready for so much, almost anything. I'm told that the trucking course in "tech school" just involves "learning how to fill out forms." I'm sure that responsibility could be learned and polished just fine if you just "get behind the wheel," eh? But now we hear of "self-driving trucks." If that takes over, what will happen with all the country music songs that romanticize trucking?
I spent time at St. Cloud for college, driving often between there and Morris in my 1967 Oldsmobile Toronado. Eventually I returned to the Morris newspaper where my experience was often bumpy, often due to circumstances out of my control. I wish I had never filled out "timesheets." I wince. Would have been better just to resume working piecemeal. But that's water under the bridge.
My second hiatus from being a scribe for MAHS was when I left the newspaper. Now, that was certainly an unpleasant thing when it happened - the paper had been taken over by bean counters from Fargo. Any joy that was there evaporated. At the end I felt I was answering to the Cyclops character from Homer's "the Odyssey." Life is too short for that. I literally pleaded with Sue Dieter one day, wondering why we couldn't just "enjoy life." I was truly a silly fool for asking such a question.
I asked Jim Morrison one day: "Did the Forum buy the Morris newspaper just for some tax purpose?" He was unsure but it sounded plausible. Fargo ownership sure didn't work out. I was so utterly burned out, I didn't do any writing at all for over three years. That speaks volumes.
Finally Del Sarlette convinced me it would be easy to start a blog with Google's "Blogger" system, and he was right. Easy and free. The whole digital world eases your tasks for you, rather the opposite of analog. So I have remained most active on behalf of MACA Tiger sports.
No longer do I have an obligation to answer to the non-Morris sports constituencies.
I did always enjoy Chokio-Alberta. I enjoyed covering Hancock for the Hancock paper. Covering all the area teams for the Morris paper was unwieldy and often impractical.
The Morris school district fell into a deep funk in the 1980s with problems that festered. The morass reached a crescendo in about 1988. What a rough ride that was. Teachers promoting boycotts of businesses? I'll bet that would never be countenanced today, not for one second.
In spite of the many shoals I encountered, I produced voluminous stuff on Tiger athletics. I really wish I could have continued longer. But the bartender finally issued "last call." Which reminds me, I'll miss getting my complimentary Tom and Jerry at the Met Lounge on Christmas Eve Day. I always thought the tradition was for the working people of ol' Motown, and I am no longer in that category.
But life goes on. "Add dreams of glory," as author/ballplayer Jim Bouton would add to his thoughts, putting things in perspective. I have joked that "Add Dreams of Glory" would be the title of my biography.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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