March 7
[Last home game for the seniors . . . ]
[The “A” team – last home game for seniors here too . . . ]
[How ’bout that Maori war chant the hockey team used?]
[It begins with Trey Hoepner (1) on the point of the defense against the Prowlers.]
[Jaran Roste (1) on No. 24. Very early on (though we got off to our usual slow start again (?)), I thought I’d be surprised if we didn’t win by 30 – we had a visible manpower advantage. Next year the Prowlers will drop down a class to AA.]
[Besides they had a long road trip to get here. I believe Alexandria is closer to San Francisco than it is to Thief River Falls.]
[Spencer Hockert launches a ‘3’. He had a slow start early – we need him on his ‘A’ the rest of the way.]
[This was pretty much the Prowler view throughout the game. The first ball handler would be trapped immediately – here by Spencer and Jake Drew (33).]
[To the Prowlers credit, they handled our pressure very well in the 2nd half.]
[A lot of Cardinal points in the first half came from jumping the pass and going the length of the court for lay-ups.]
[Where’s the ball??]
[Jake had 9 points in the game – all in the first half – all on free throws. He was 9 for 12 from the line, which is just fine. He’s a beast on the offensive boards, and he kept getting fouled doing it.]
[The guy in the background holding up the door is the father of two Cardinal athlete alums who are now starring for the Gophers because they can go from point A to point B faster than most folks.]
[Jake and Jaran coming off a trap.]
[Robert Anderson (3) at the foul line.]
[The Cards weren’t doing much . . . ]
[Too many unforced turnovers and cold shooting . . . ]
[And then we got notice of what was to happen the rest of the game. Spencer on a steal took off on a 2-on-1 break with Justin Balcome (43). He fed Justin about the free throw who continued on for a one-handed stuff. The crowd went wild.]
[There’s Jake again.]
[And the Cards on D again.]
[Although not here, the Prowlers kept in touch with good 3-point shooting in the 1st half.]
[Yup, Jake again.]
[In the 2nd half, the Cards started to find their shooting touches. Here’s Jaran at the line.]
[Spencer made a couple of ‘3’s’ from that corner.]
[And “The Boys” were on hand again.]
[I talked to Jaran. I think we’ve got it.]
[But then there’s got to be a little little boy roughhousing.]
[That was Justin’s 2nd stuff! It was somewhere in this half where I stopped being a cub reporter and just watched young Mr. Bascome’s coming-out party. It was his game. He finished with 31 points, 12 rebounds, 4 for 6 on 3’s, and showed he could get out and run with the guards. If he can continue this kind of play through the tournament . . . well?]
[The JV guys did a good job finishing off the game. Cameron Rice (21) here.]
[Bemidji is next in the section semifinals in Moorhead.]
If you are going to take it to the bank, then you better cash it in. ~ Shannon Fish
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