February 22
Between trips to St. Paul for the girls’ state hockey tournament . . .
[We came into the game tied with Willmar for 1st place in the conference. Earlier in the season we beat Willmar at their place ending the 15-0 undefeated start to their season. But first, a dramatic ending to the JV game . . . ]
[Geezers at the game not quite knowing what to do with their mouths during a photo op.]
[Anyway, our Cards made a game winning free throw with .3 seconds left in the game.]
[Go Baby Cards!]
[Go Baby Cards! (Oh, did I say that already?)]
[Then the varsity came out for warm-ups . . . ]
[Cardinal captains meet the Cardinal captains . . . ]
[Cardinal captains meet the Cardinal captains. (Oh, did I say that already?)]
[It was senior night. I didn’t know. I should have – it was the last regular season game.]
[So, I somehow missed gathering the bio materials on our six seniors . . . ]
[First up, Emily Aker (23) . . . ]
[Joined by her parents . . . ]
[Then Courtney Gould (31) . . . ]
[Julie and Wendy, as usual, enjoying yet another 20+ win season . . . ]
[Flora Kvale (33) . . . ]
[Her mom Angie is our longtime “guide” and host on our various fields trips to the winery . . . ]
[Taylor Partington (15) . . . ]
[Emma Schmidt (25) . . . ]
[Freshman Mataya Hoelscher (45) standing at the bench thinking, “Wow, seniors are really old.”]
[Emma’s folks, Sheryl and Al, are long time friends from both basketball and . . . ecological reasons.]
[Matie Wirtjes (21) . . . ]
[Final pre-game hugs . . . ]
[Congratulations Seniors!]
[Can’t remember, do cheerleaders get a senior night?]
[Let’s get ready to . . . ]
[Well, introduce ourselves. As the final starter, McKenzie Duwenhoegger (35), junior, comes on to the floor we already have Ella Grove (11), sophomore, Kaye Paschka (3), junior, Emma, and Courtney . . . ]
[Getting loose . . . ]
[And we’re off . . . ]
[McKenzie with the defensive stare down . . . ]
[Cards rotate on defense, the strength of the team . . . ]
[Emma draws Carly Magnuson (13), who appeared to be Willmar’s most talented player.]
[Ella got us off to a fast start with I believe out first 7 points . . . ]
[These 3 will be the key returnees next year . . . ]
[Cards on D . . . ]
[Emma joins Mia McGrane (5), sophomore, on a double-team . . . ]
[I see no escape for the Willmar player . . . ]
[The aforementioned Mataya joins her elderly teammates . . . ]
[Looks like Courtney . . . ]
[Kaye . . . ]
[Emily Jones (43), junior – I keep calling on her to shoot more, because she’s good at it.]
[A defensive struggle at the half, as anticipated . . . ]
[My only shot in the second half (as I concentrated on being a fan) – the Willmar center seemed to hit all her 3’s . . . ]
[And 3-point shooting was the difference in the game. So, Willmar is the conference champ – congrats to them. For our Cards, we’ll still begin tournament play as the No. 1 seed in our section. Stay tuned.]
I quit school in the sixth grade because of pneumonia. Not because I had it, but because I couldn’t spell it. ~ Boxing legend Rocky Graziano
Up Next: Girls’ state hockey tournament.
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