Riley Asmus tops our scoring in final game

Thanks to the MACA boys basketball coaching staff for getting game stats posted on "Maxpreps" for the final game. The end came at Marshall MN, home of Southwest State University and its "R-A Facility." I never had occasion to go there in my background of covering the Tigers for the newspaper. Most of my career was spent in the days before SSU became the site for the climactic section stuff. 

I do remember going there once for a concert: the great trumpet player Maynard Ferguson. 

SSU seems rather far away for MACA fans to handle conveniently. Certainly they were challenged for what turned out to be our final game of the season. The Tigers had the privilege of playing for the Section 3AA championship. Privilege for sure, but it's rather a downer when you lose at that level. That's because you were one win away from getting bragging rights for "making state." It has to be a disappointment. 

But how should we really judge such things? Be totally pleased with the climb all the way to the section title game? I guess that's the ideal attitude. Let's put that forward. 

But I certainly would not want to drive all the way back to Morris with the taste of defeat in my mouth. But hey, I'm sure my Maynard Ferguson concert had a standard evening starting time. I was so much younger then, certainly made up for it. BTW it was a great concert. 

I can segue here on the subject of music. Disappointment certainly surrounds the fact that an MACA basketball member had to miss the New Orleans trip due to the basketball game. That's what happens when you are multi-talented. Charlie Hanson is this individual. He's a trumpet player as was yours truly. In basketball he can have great impact, often with his long-range shooting eye. 

The Tigers played for the Section 3AA championship on the same day that Wanda Dagen's MAHS band took off for new Orleans. I am looking forward to getting a report on the trip. Remember that the band's annual "ice cream concert" is coming up in May. Be sure to put it on your calendar. A small free-will offering is requested. Charlie and the other talented MAHS band members will perform in the cafeteria area. Everyone then heads into the concert hall for the main concert. 

Skip YouTube on that one and just show up! 

 

20 wins for hoopsters

MACA basketball surely gave us great memories over 2023-24. Take a look at our won-lost: 20-10. In section: 8-5. Conference: 9-5. At home at Tiger Center: 7-5. But surely it was a bitter pill at the end. I don't know if a large number of Morris fans made the trip for the fairly late starting time of 8 p.m. If it was a lot, great. Obviously the pep band could not appear. I'm not sure if the band would have played anyway.

 

A multi-sport standout, Riley. (image from "X")

Huskies 67, Tigers 52

At the level of the section championship game, you're bound to meet a high-caliber foe. So that was Jackson County Central, the Huskies. And the Huskies emerged on top of MACA in the 67-52 final. The Tigers faded late. JCC is in for state. 

The Tigers made 19 of 57 field goal attempts, 33 percent. Riley Asmus was our top scorer with 16 points on 5 of 13 shooting. Alex Asmus was second-high with his output of 12, on 5 of 11 shooting. Our third double figures scorer was Drew Huebner: 11 points, 5 of 11 shooting. 

Four other Tigers contributed points: Hanson 7, Owen Anderson 3, Jack Kehoe 2 and Tyler Friesen 1. 

In 3's the Tigers shot 6 of 19. Two Tigers each succeeded twice from beyond the 3-point stripe: Riley and Alex. Owen and Charlie each added one '3' to the mix. 

Riley Asmus was perfect in freethrows at four-for-four. Charlie made both of his freethrow shots. Tyler and Drew each made one. As a team we were 8 of 13, 62 percent. 

Riley and Alex each collected six rebounds to co-lead there. Four of Riley's boards were offensive. Alex's boards were all defensive. Owen grabbed five rebounds, one offensive. Charlie had four rebounds, Huebner and Kehoe two each, and Friesen one. We had 26 rebounds total, seven offensive. 

Riley Asmus had two of our six assists. One each came from Friesen, Huebner, Hanson and Kehoe. Riley Asmus had three of our eight steals. Anderson and Hanson each picked up two steals, and Alex Asmus one. Friesen and Huebner each blocked a shot. The Tigers had six turnovers.

 

Caitlin Clark

Basketball still in focus

Truly we are in peak time for overall interest in basketball. And what a time it is for the collegiate women. Here of course the shining jewel is Caitlin Clark. Iowa is not in the spotlight much for sports. The state must be quite enthralled with what Caitlin and her Iowa Hawkeye mates (like Kate Martin) are accomplishing now. 

"Eyes on the back of her head." That's what a DeToy's Restaurant server told me re. Caitlin recently. Indeed Caitlin has savvy for passing as well as shooting. The DeToy's server incidentally was Kaylee Harstad of the MACA girls team. It's too bad the MACA girls lost right out of the starting gate in the post-season. I feel convinced they had more talent than that. 

The GBB Tigers lost to Paynesville. The season had its oddities. The Tigers lost badly to Minnewaska, Minnewaska then lost to Paynesville and then MACA beat Paynesville. As the great broadcaster Chris Berman says, "that's why they play the game." In other words, forget comparative scores! 

MACA basketball is done so we can follow the Iowa Hawkeyes in the NCAA tournament. It will be hard for the Hawkeyes to finish No. 1. Would be great to see the great Ms. Clark make one or two shots "from the logo!" We are expecting so much of her now. 

What will fame do for her as time goes on? Hope she can keep her focus and proper sense of priorities. Sometimes we in America will build someone up as a hero and then we sort of enjoy starting to "deconstruct" them. Maybe it's because we're anxious to realize they're human like the rest of us. I am reminded here of the movie "Zelig" starring Woody Allen. 

I hope Ms. Clark has the right boyfriend and the right future husband. Hope she never gets distracted by drugs. Money? Do not let it take over, Caitlin.

 

Derelict

It is 1 p.m. on Tuesday and I see no coverage of the MACA boys' section championship game appearance on the Stevens County Times site. The game was five days ago. Appearing in the section championship game is a big deal. I would hope that at least a short item could be posted on the SCT site within 24 hours after the game. Or ideally the next morning. 

It should be a joy for the paper people to do this. They should do it out of community enthusiasm. Am I asking too much? Am I suggesting standards that are too high? I welcome any feedback. 

If I had to answer for such a sluggish performance, I'd be a target for nasty comments. What if I had misspelled Grayson Gibson's name in a headline? Or, the UMM chancellor's name in a headline? Just think, what if? 

But it would be a no-brainer for me to get poised at the keyboard to do some pretty prompt coverage of a basketball team in the section finals. And I say this as an old-timer who delivered coverage in the pre-Internet days. 

You probably know that the SCT loads up its website with UMM sports. And of course the full-meal-deal with UMM sports coverage is on UMM's very own excellent site. The Tigers do not have a comparable resource. They deserve better from local media. And the radio station's website has been down. Brett Miller is gone from the station anyway, and that has left a quite large void. 

Now, maybe we could just insist the radio station get a replacement person to do what Brett did. That strike you as logical? Or is Morris just too apathetic?

 

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