A team that still has "Witts" about them!

Mason Witt ("Voice of Alexandria" image)

Alexandria is up with the "big dogs" now. By that I mean they're in with the state's largest schools in Minnesota's four-class system. 

We're really in prime basketball season now. Many teams have been forced to step aside like our Tigers here in Morris. An undefeated regular season was not enough to get our orange and black to the big show of state. You might say "many are called, few are chosen." 

The MACA boys and girls are done and now they're fans like the rest of us. The boys were stopped by Jackson County Central on Thursday. A stunning outcome for the MACA fan faithful to accept, to be sure. Adding insult to injury, the fans had to make the long trip back from Marshall after the 8 p.m. contest. This with the taste of having lost so fresh. 

Alexandria was the state champion last year in the AAA world. Those schools are relatively big. It must say something about the booming development of Alex that the prepsters are in AAAA. And they are doing quite fine competitively speaking. 

 

Morris ties 

There's a big reason for Morris area fans to show an interest in Alexandria. The "Witt" name remains prominent over there in Cardinal country. Don't y'all remember Jerry Witt as coach of our football team? And his sons as such athletically gifted kids? How can we forget the names Zachary, Forrest and Taylor from years gone by? I remember them as little kids too. 

My, today there's a new generation of Witts turning heads in sports! And yes my hair has turned white. But I'm still doing sportswriting just like I did when the Witts were in Morris. You've heard the lyrics "rock 'n roll is here to stay, it will never die?" You can substitute my name for "rock 'n roll." I think Jerry would laugh about this thought. Jerry played with the UMM football team during that program's 1970s heyday. 

Last year I wrote quite a bit about the Alexandria Cardinals in post-season. I wrote about both the boys and girls. The girls team had Morris connections too. 

 

Touching all bases 

I have been advised that when I write about the athletic genes in the Witt family, I should not overlook the genes provided by Jerry's wife Holly! Actually I never did know her birth/maiden name. Well no problem, fair request. 

Alexandria "Cardinals"

Here's what's going on right now: The Alex boys are in the state tournament thanks to their win at the home gym over Elk River. Yes, not a neutral location. Alex had the top seed, Elk River was No. 3. The Thursday action ended with the Cardinal red triumphant, score of 64-58. So the Cards took the 8-4A title. 

I'm old enough to remember covering some games at the "old" Alex High School. I remember going there to cover the Chokio-Alberta boys. Today C-A has joined in with Morris Area. I think the partnership started when Jerry was still football coach. 

We could have used the C-A boys all through the years. Getting the partnership cemented was a long and pretty arduous process with fits and starts. I remember when C-A tried to set up their own junior varsity basketball schedule when they were not entitled to do that! Oh, and I even remember the short-term pairing of C-A with Clinton-Graceville. The "CACG Thunder." Yes, that registers. 

We have now gotten past small town politics. I got too close to that at times, alas. Could be pretty ugly. I think the state should have moved in and taken charge more often, frankly. Remember how Dawson-Boyd came close to joining the new Lac qui Parle venture? And then they bowed out and ended up being thankful for that? 

Today I am of the view that the MACA programs should just be changed to "Morris" for everyone's convenience. No one should be offended by that. Do you think anyone cares anymore if Cyrus has "town identity?" No. It's a small community that is quiet and safe, just the way people want it. I'm old enough that I covered graduations at Cyrus High School along with some "Panthers" sports events. Oh yes I did. 

There was a period of time when Cyrus was competitive with Morris in basketball! Oh yes it was. And I scratched my head quite a bit. 

 

Distant but striking memory 

I remember publishing a photo of one of the Cyrus Solvie boys with a banner recognizing a career scoring milestone. He was joined in the photo by cheerleaders, everyone all happy, and I thought: "This photo represents a set of wholesome traditional values that the Morris school does not really like." And I assure you, my judgment on this was totally on the nose. 

Eventually we got more accountability for the Morris school. A struggle had to happen first. We had to overcome the avant garde "academic" crowd of Morris. The positive forces eventually won. And who would be against that? Well, mostly a group of teachers/employees within the system that were self-interested and entitled-feeling. They had bought into the avant garde stuff when it was in vogue in the 1970s. The crazy 1970s. 

 

Mason Witt's hot hand 

Mason Witt and Talan Witt play for the Alexandria Cardinals. Not brothers, rather they're cousins. Mason hit a deep 3-pointer to start Alex's scoring on Thursday. This was the first of four straight 3's that he hit. Talan made a layup as part of a 10-2 run by the Cards. 

Elk River kept the game close. Alexandria was triumphant in the end.  More headlines coming for the Alex boys now. Their luster remains bright in the Class AAAA firmament. Our MACA boys are AA. 

A check of the Alex roster shows the name "Scholl" as in Blake Scholl, another Morris connection. Blake is the son of Heather (nee) Lucken and grandson of Bev Kieffer who was known as Bev Lucken when in Morris. Bev was on the school board. She had to deal with some of the unpleasantness as Morris got certain things straightened out. We're talking approximately the year 1988. Our high school principal took over as chief sportswriter for the Morris newspaper. If that sounds strange to you, well it was strange. The school needed a real PR person. And I've never been a PR person. I am a Watergate era writer. 

 

Mason Witt is a captain of the Cards. He became the school's all-time leading scorer midway through this season. Is the "Witt" name German? Those people are competitive by nature as we saw in World War Two.

 

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