BOLD gaining notice in girls basketball

The BOLD school district may have issues with finances - there's a criminal investigation afoot - but any dour mood created by that is offset by extracurricular success. The Warriors of girls basketball were phenomenal in their win over Montevideo. 

This was the kind of game where the loser might be bitter afterward. However, I'm not sure if coaches or fans still make an issue of (alleged) "running up the score." It's a difficult concept to grasp. It is not prima facie unethical to go out there, give 100 percent and employ the skills instilled in practice. And then to win by a whopper margin. Well is it? 

People may disagree on that. I suspect that the sensitivity re. this is not as great as it once was. But it's just my sense. It has been 20 years since I was involved in the community press. Prep sports undergoes an evolution just as all our institutions do. 

Let's look at the score for when those BOLD Warriors defeated Montevideo on Friday. Holy cow, it was 114-21! 

I knew BOLD was good because they had beaten Minnewaska Area. I wasn't wholly surprised. But I was surprised to an extent. A BOLD vs. Minnewaska re-match would certainly be met with anticipation. I wish Morris could reach that level. The Tigers were defeated by Osakis 50-29 Friday at home. 

 

Delicacy with words 

The West Central Tribune had a headline that proclaimed that BOLD "blasted" Monte. Heh heh, you have to be a little careful with your headline after a game like this. Jim Morrison laughed about this once. He noticed a newspaper headline where the writer was on the verge of being sadistic! Amusing, yes, but be careful. 

I remember getting some nasty feedback when I wrote an article where I said the winning team won in a "laugher." Oh, and I got a concerned comment from a superior once after using the term "snakebit." A team has been snakebit if it lost several close games. In other words, bad luck or fortune. I'm not sure I mollified the editor. 

We had certain Morris teams struggle in the 1980s. As a "scribe" you had to be careful about falling into a pattern of making things seem glum. I mean, the truth hurts. One of the coaches with whom I had rapport advised me that when things looked glum, "give credit to the opponents." Don't be down on Morris, just "give credit to the opponents." 

Eventually I figured that the preferred solution would be to get certain programs going a little better. And then I got in trouble for that too. 

So let's give credit here to the BOLD Warriors! Good luck to them on getting the school finances straightened out. That's a dull subject. Unless of course you're one of those paying taxes into the place. A surging basketball team brings nothing but joy, n'est-ce pas? 

Now I'm in my wheelhouse, writing about a winning basketball team! The home fans at Bird Island enjoyed the action. I suppose none of you remember the famous bumper sticker of years ago: "Where the hell is Bird Island?" 1970s nostalgia. 

 

("Elks Hoop Shoot" image)

A "laugher," yes

BOLD led Monte 72-13 at halftime! 

Four players finished in double figures scoring for BOLD. The list starts with Lilly Henriksen pouring in 38 points. Then we see Ema Flann with 22, Kya Elfering 14 and Erika Martinson  11. Here's the rest of the scoring parade: Elin Elfering 7, Mya Kingery 6, Kenley Elfering 6, Lila Beckler 5, Abby King 5 and Piper O'Neill 1. 

Six different Warriors succceded from 3-point range led by Martinson with three. Flann, Henriksen and Kingery each made two, and Beckler and Elfering each made one from beyond the arc. 

Flann led in rebounds with six. Zoey Lippert grabbed four rebounds as did Kya Elfering. Flann and Henriksen had eight and six assists respectively. Henriksen showed an aggressive caliber of play to get eleven steals. Flann and Martinson each had five steals. King blocked two shots. 

BOLD fans will have a most content Christmas holiday time! I wouldn't want to be the person who committed funny stuff with the school $. What a tangled web we weave. An AI overview:

 

The BOLD (Bird Island-Olivia-Lake Lillian) School District in Minnesota faced a significant financial crisis, revealing a ~$700,000 budget shortfall in early 2025 due to transportation/payroll overruns and unpaid vendor bills, leading to a police investigation and forensic audit into former business manager Amy Schmidt, who resigned amid allegations of personal use of district funds (like lap desks) and financial mismanagement, with the district implementing new financial controls and seeking to fix the issues. 

 

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