The N.C.A.A. tournament has its March Madness. All manner of upset and crazy can and have occurred as college teams vie to be National Champion. For instance, a 16-seed can beat a 1-seed for the first time ever, as happened the first Friday of the tourney, when U.M.B.C. (that’s University of Maryland-Baltimore County) shocked the world and especially Virginia. Just a day … [Read more...]
8th Annual Girls Basketball All-County Team
A season ago, the FCJ girls basketball All-County team featured seven seniors. Eight girls from the Class of 2017 were one time b-ball All-Conference selections. This year’s squad has only three seniors and five pure All-Conference picks. Underclassmen rule. Two potential all-time leading scorer juniors head the cast. … [Read more...]
2nd Team
Paige Donlinger (5’3” junior G, FC): The Falcons’ speediest player, Donlinger, just 5’3”, led FC in scoring (9.4 per), rebounding (5.8 per), and assists (1.7 per). Added a team second-best 2.1 steals. Averaged 11.1 PPG the last 16 games (7.0 PPG the first 12). Had six games of 10-plus FT-attempts (78 of 158 total). An All-TRC selection. Kenidi McCabe (5’4” freshman G, … [Read more...]
Honorable Mentions
Belle Berg (5’8” junior G, Chatfield): The Gophers most versatile player was second on the team in scoring (9.1 per), rebounding (4.9 per), and assists (1.7 per). Hit a game-winner versus La Crescent. An All-TRC HM pick. Lindsey Welch (5’10” senior F, Kingsland): By one point (see Ellie Buchholtz), was Kingsland’s third leading scorer (8.6 per). Added a solid 5.3 RPG while … [Read more...]
Two Worlds Collide
The game could’ve had a theme song, Survivor’s “Burning Heart.” The iconic drum beat from said track theoretically could’ve thumped four days, the length of time each squad prepped for the other. Boys basketball teams from Rushford-Peterson and Kingsland began the year with lofty hopes, particularly come play-off time. And though this year’s Trojans and Knights may not be … [Read more...]
Trojans Make It Clear to BP; It’s Not Football
In the first Tuesday 1A quarterfinal at Mayo Civic Arena, top-seed R-P (20-7) took on 9-seed Blooming Prairie (13-11). The last time the schools met, the Blossoms downed the Trojans in a football semifinal. BP’s student section remembered, chanting to the like. But March isn’t football season. March is basketball season. R-P very seldom loses their opening game in … [Read more...]
Hot Knights Shoot Past B.A.
In the second 1A quarterfinal, 5-seed Kingsland (16-11) took on 4-seed Faribault-Bethlehem Academy (15-11). The Knights have a knack for putting on big performances at Mayo Civic Auditorium. For one half, they were very much on, without range limitations. Wyatt Pruter bombed away, hitting four first half triples (14 pts). Zach Bubany led the offense, scoring seven points, … [Read more...]
Retro-Trojans to Section Title Game
And thus, for a spot in the Section 1A final, for a “sub-section” champion or second place trophy, 1-seed R-P (21-7) and 5-seed Kingsland (17-11) battled. The Knights entered in a rare spot. They beat the Trojans back in December 56-47, their first win over R-P since 2012 (eight meetings). As is the case as the stakes get higher in big games, strategy became key. In an … [Read more...]
All-TRC Wrestling
Ten total Chatfield, LARP, and FCLMC wrestlers have made the 2017-2018 All-TRC list. The Gophers lead the way with five All-Conference grapplers. Senior state runner-up Jake Mandt (145, 38-1) makes the list for a fifth time. He was undefeated in conference matches (9-0) for a third straight year. Freshman state third place finisher Seth Goetzinger (106, 34-8) is a repeat … [Read more...]
