[Hockey’s over now . . . gotta ride roundball into the spring sports season.  This was our Cards over the Willmar Cards on Monday night.  It moved us to a 13 – 2 conference record with one to go – hosting St. Cloud Apollo on Friday night.  Should we win that (and we should) we would tie for the conference title with Sartell.]

[Driving into the high school that night – after what’s seemed like weeks of sub-zero temperatures – it was somewhat balmy with hurricane winds and starting to get the eerie glow of later sunsets.]

[Jump!  Our Brooke Heggie against Willmar’s 6’4″ center.]

[And then Brooke feeding from the point.]

[The game began with matching 3’s from our matching sophomore guards, Kendall Kohler (3) (here) and Macy Hatlestad (11).]

[Kendall and Kiyana Miller (21) on exterior defense.]

[Kendall has always been fire and energy, which is great, but would often lead her into foul trouble.  But as the season has progressed, she still gets her steals, but has become more fundamentally sound on defense . . .]

[Her mom would require no less.]

[Macy on defense . . . ]

[And as the principal ball handler.]

[The ball appears to be searching for an off court exit?]

[Brooke back setting the offense from the top.  Our Cards went on a high octane offense early, jumped out to a 21 – 7, and coasted in the rest of the way.]

[Cheyenne Hendrickson (55) had a solid, all around game.  I still kinda marvel at what a good player she has become in her senior year – good rebounder, passer, defender, and has even developed a good 3-point shot.]

[Cheyenne and Macy going back on D.]

[Macy with fellow sophomore, Kayla Feldhake (43).  All our bigs – Brooke, Chey, and Kayla had a bit of foul trouble this game, so they were frequently rotating in and out.]

[Kendall with good D again.  Wendy in the background with stay with her, stay with her, stay with her, don’t foul, don’t foul, don’t foul.]

[No where to go, No. 1.]

[A hockey defense . . . don’t let them cross the center line!  😉   ]

[Emma Ziegler (1) joins Brooke in the running forward, looking backward defensive strategy.]

[Every once in a while you luck out.  Here I “captured” Macy doing a dry land practice of a figure skating double axle (or triple toe loop) while retreating on defense.  🙂   ]

[Brooke and Kendall execute a trap.  A trap is legal with proper licensing.]

[No. 3 was their point guard and best player who scored her 1,000th point on this night. She’s more of a slasher than a shooter, as she went to the line a lot but usually missed her first and made her second.]

[Their center does execute a height advantage.  I’m not sure what year she is, but if she got the ball in the low post (most often from an offensive rebound) she was pretty much unstoppable.]

[Kendall is pretty much automatic from the line.  She did miss one in this game, which elicited gasps from the crowd.]

[Run back, run back!]

[Macy tries her hand (and feet) defending No. 1.]

[At the half, the pace had slowed and for us . . . too many fouls were being called.]

[The 2nd half, Macy inbounding to Emma.]

[If you listen closely . . . ]

[You can hear Kohler shouting defensive instructions from the bench!  😉   ]

[Macy walks it up (well, that’s pretty obvious).]

[Brooke has the chagrined look of someone who finally got a call . . . ]

[And went to the line accordingly.]

[Kendall’s handling the ball out front . . . ]

[Which means this is the stretch in the 2nd half when Macy was sitting with 4 fouls.]

[I believe either this one . . . ]

[Or this one was her one miss.]

[We win!  Macy, Brooke, and Kendall all in double figures as usual to lead the scoring.  See you Friday for senior night!]

It turns out, the girls varsity was the only team to escape the tear in the zeitgeist on Monday and Tuesday.  When I arrived at the game halfway through the JV game, the regular crowd (already “shuffled in”) were aghast at what was happening in the game.  Our 20 – 3 JV Cards had poured in a total of 8, yes 8, points in the first half. Apparently we were having a tough time throwing the ball in the ocean.  While things improved in the 2nd half, not enough to get a win.  On Tuesday, the red hot Gopher women’s team, particularly in the 2nd half, couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean either and suffered a 20+ point loss to Nebraska.  Then, also on Tuesday . . .

[This was the halftime score of our Cardinal boys game against Little Falls in the opening round of the section tournament.  And it took a bit of a rush late to get it this close.  The Cards (the No. 2 seed) couldn’t throw the ball in the proverbial ocean either, while the Flyers (the No. 7 seed?) just couldn’t miss.  At one point in the 2nd half, the lead ballooned to 27 points – the crowd was mostly just stunned.  To the team’s credit, however, they never quit.  They continued to press and work hard the whole game, started making some shots, and closed it to 11 at the end.  The season-long problem of free throw shooting prevented closing the gap enough to worry the Flyers.  But it was a pretty good season after losing 4 starting seniors off last year’s state tournament team.  There’s talent coming up, particularly on the freshmen team I’m told.]

[Dave Hartmann, Activities Director, was announced as retiring after 22 years.  He was responsible for more 50 extra-curricular programs, and the Cardinals won 140 conference titles, 94 section titles, and 12 state titles during his tenure.  Congratulations, Dave . . . and see you around the water cooler.]

[Chad Duwenhoegger, principal; Mark Ripley, The Competition]

[Forrest Witt, head coach; Wayne Elton, my high school principal, in the stylish Rick Santorum sweater vest, on the left]    ]

[Kris Setterstrom (3), senior guard]

[Joe Gorghuber (5), senior forward]

[Ben Corson (13), senior guard]

[Travis Krueger (25) senior guard]

[Jaran Roste (31), sophomore guard]

[The only time the game was tied.]

The following is offered free of charge as a public service:  I’m in my late 60’s now, but just a couple of years ago on my daily morning foray to the Y I would not begin my alleged workout session until I had made 10 free throws in a row – and I hadn’t really ‘touched’ a ball in 40 years.  I could usually do it within 15 minutes.  Pretty soon, 10 in a row was too easy, so I upped the target to 20 free throws in a row.  It took a little while, but pretty soon even 20 was becoming routine.  So, I upped it to 30 in a row.  Over the course of two months, at 20 minutes a morning, 6 days a week, I was routinely making 30 plus free throws in a row.  Now I know it’s not the same as making them in a game situation, and when you’re tired, but all you players on the boys’ and girls’ teams are better athletes than I ever was.  I’m challenging both teams to at least shoot 70% from the line next year (75% would be better) – you’ll win a few extra games each year if you do.  Just concentrate, follow through down the line, and go get a Blizzard when you’re done.

p.s.  Jami’s teaching a Comm Ed class at The Nest:  So, last night was the 4th day in a row I’d been at the high school.  I’m thinking about leasing a room.

It’s never just a game when you’re winning.  ~  George Carlin

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