'Waska girls win going away at Morris, 70-29

Minnewaska Area Laker basketball had a mixed bag at the end of the week, girls up and boys down. The big highlight was the 70-29 win by the girls at Morris, Friday. The host Tigers failed to put up a challenge as 'Waska improved to 4-2 on the season. The Tigers' won-lost faded to 2-5. 

The Tigers sometimes have a hard time coming out of the starting gate. On this night the orange and black was anemic in first half play: nine points. 'Waska assumed command by halftime, up 36-9. MACA fans had to feel deflated at their Tiger Center. 

The Tigers started making baskets in the second half: 20 points in the half. But the Lakers scored 34. Certainly a night for the Lakers to shine. And, a night for Sydney Dahl to make an impression with 16 points. Sydney connected twice from 3-point range. Addyson Kath and Avery Fier each scored 12 points. The fourth double figures scorer was Megan Thorfinnson with eleven. The list continues with Lauryn Ankeny 8, Olivia Danielson 6, Jayda Kolstoe 3 and Alia Randt 2. 

Laker Lauryn Ankeny

Kath and Danielson complemented Dahl in the long-range shooting category - these two Lakers each made a '3'. Randt and Thorfinnson each had four rebounds. Kath with her three assists led there. In steals it was Ankeny with six, Thorfinnson with four and Randt with three. Ankeny blocked two shots. Ankeny had 12 steals in the game against BOLD, a new school standard.

The West Central Tribune report had "stats not available" for MACA. Always hate to see that. 

The 'Waska GBB success is gaining state notice: we see the Lakers ranked No. 16 in Class AA. This is according to the December 13 announcement from Minnesota Basketball News. New London-Spicer is at No. 7. NL-Spicer has such a long history of premier GBB play.

Boys: MACA 70, Minnewaska 34

Minnewaska Area hoops experienced the other side of the coin, a one-sided loss, Thursday in boys play. The Lakers were up against a high-flying MACA team at Morris. "Crushed" was the word used by the WC Trib, for the manner in which the Lakers were defeated. The score was 70-34. 

It was win No. 5 for the orange and black. Just one loss. And the Tigers kept charging ahead on Friday night at Target Center in the Twin Cities. There they prevailed 56-48 over Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial. 

The 'Waska Lakers are seeking their first win of the season. They trailed the Tigers 35-18 at halftime. The second half was much the same: a 35-21 advantage for the Tigers. 

The WC Trib has "stats not available" for MACA. But we do see the rundown on numbers for 'Waska. Levi Johnson and Connor Frey scored 11 and 10 points respectively. Marc Gruber put in five points, then we see four Lakers each with two: Dylan Alexander, Jacob Mrnak, Zachary Guggisberg and Carter Meyer. The Lakers were decent in 3-point shooting as here we see Johnson with three makes, Frey with two and Gruber with one. 

Ryalnd Martin and Alexander each had five rebounds. Johnson was the top assist-producer with five. In steals it was Guggisberg, Harvey and Frey each with one. Luke Danielson blocked a shot. 

The info about MACA on the kmrs-kkok site is sparse, unfortunately. We do see three names: Charlie Hanson and Tyler Friesen each with 15 points, and Drew Huebner with 13 points and nine rebounds. After reading about those three, the coverage of course proceeds to "up next." I don't care about "up next," I'd like to see a few more highlights from the win over 'Waska. But that's the way it is these days. Brett Miller is no longer at the station. 

An even more futile task here is to comment on the Morris newspaper website. There is some very grudging progress there. No longer does UMM sports seem to monopolize the site. So we're seeing some rather extensive reviews of MACA contests but with one major weakness: it is not timely. Anything there as of today (Saturday) about the Litchfield games, boys and girls? I don't see it. And those games were on Tuesday. C'mon Sam Peterson, you're getting paid to do this, whereas I am not. I will wager that Sam is not writing anything today (Saturday) for weekend consumption by the fans. I know it's hard work, man. Today is probably a "day off." Tomorrow?

It is like PULLING TEETH to try to get the Morris paper to do more. Why does that have to be? But the paper sure does complain about the U.S. Postal Service. Timely coverage of the Tigers should be online, reliably, somewhere. This is the year 2023, pilgrims

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com