SAUK RAPIDS HERALD | SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2019 | Page 15
boys basketball
Spohn section champ at 120 pounds Storm have many wrestlers place high at meet
SRR avenges earlier loss to Cardinals
BY ANNA HINKEMEYER STAFF WRITER
Jared Spohn wrestles for Sauk Rapids-Rice High School at the 120-pound weight class. While his teammates ended their season at the Section 8AAA individual tournament in Cold Spring Feb. 23, Spohn was able to advance to state individuals. Spohn will wrestle at the Minnesota State High School League Individual Wrestling Tournament March 1-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. “I went into sections with the plan that no one would stop me from going to state,” Spohn said. “I was expecting to make it if I stuck to my plan. I believed in myself and had a great, successful day.” Spohn won in his bracket, defeating wrestlers from St. Cloud Tech, Willmar and Alexandria to take the top spot. As of right now, Spohn has tallied 123 career wins as a junior. He hopes to add more at the state tournament. “The last two years I have fallen short of placing at state,” Spohn said. “My goal is to place this year. I am excited and ready to reach that goal. I am also excited to represent my school and the team.” While Spohn is the only wrestler to advance from SRR, the team had eight of 13 wrestlers place in the top six at sections – Dante Haywood, Spohn, Andrew Wollak, Ben Gilbertson, Jake Ackerman, Marcus Santillana, Ben Konz and Hunter Farnick. 106: Zander Pelton lost by 8-2 decision to Kelly Johnson of Alexandria, received a bye and lost by fall at 3:28 to Coy Olsen of Bemidji. 113: Haywood placed third. He received a bye, won by 7-2 decision over Nick Hamak of St. Cloud Tech, won by fall at 5:11 over Andy Heckman of Sartell, lost by 11-3 major decision to Braeden Erickson of Willmar and lost by 12-0 major
Storm flip the script on Alex BY MARK KLAPHAKE STAFF WRITER
PHOTO BY MARK KLAPHAKE
Sauk Rapids-Rice eighth grader Dante Haywood tries to work a move in his match at 113 pounds against St. Cloud Tech during the Section 8AAA quarterfinals Feb. 23 at Rocori High School in Cold Spring.
decision to Blaze Nelson of Alexandria. 120: Spohn placed first. He received a bye, won by fall at 1:08 over Mahamat Hissein of St. Cloud Tech, won by 6-0 decision over Caden Carlson of Willmar and won by 12-0 major decision over Ryan Borris of Alexandria. 126: Sawyer Simmons won by 8-6 decision over Aiden Orth of St. Cloud Tech, lost by technical fall to Joe Hudson of Bemidji and lost by 5-4 decision to Kole Kern of Little Falls. 132: Wollak placed fifth. He received a bye, won by fall at 3:29 over Kyle Miller of Alexandria, lost by 4-1 decision to Denny Busbey of Brainerd, lost by 5-2 decision to Alex Backes of Willmar and won by fall at 1:00 over Xander Risdal of Moorhead. 138: Gilbertson placed sixth. He received a bye, won by 8-2 decision over Bryce Golden of Bemidji, lost by 3-1 decision to Kyle Patnode of Brainerd, lost by 8-2
decision to Simon Pantzke of Little Falls and lost by forfeit to Golden. 145: Jacob Kruger won by fall at 4:17 over Ben Hansen of Rocori, lost by technical fall to Brad Patnode of Brainerd, won by fall at 0:24 over Moayad Abdi of Moorhead and lost by 6-5 decision to Cody Vatnsdal of Alexandria. 160: Ackerman placed third. He received a bye, won by fall at 3:25 over Austin Frauenholtz of Sartell, lost by fall at 1:15 to Gabe Nagel of Little Falls, won by fall at 2:44 over Grady Minnerath of Rocori, won by 5-0 decision over Hayden Netland of Moorhead and lost by 8-4 decision to Ethan Roux of Willmar. 170: Santillana placed sixth. He received a bye, lost by 12-7 decision to Forrest Gibson of Brainerd, received a bye, won by 9-7 decision over Mason Swanson of Willmar, lost by 8-0 major decision to Trappier Botz of Alexandria and lost
PHOTO BY MARK KLAPHAKE
Ben Konz, of Sauk Rapids-Rice, prepares to lock up with a Moorhead wrestler at 220 pounds at the Section 8AAA Individual Wrestling Tournament Feb. 23 at Rocori High School in Cold Spring.
What a difference a week can make for the Sauk RapidsRice boys basketball team. The Storm were steamrolled by the Alexandria Cardinals 84-54 Feb. 19. Fast-forward to Feb. 26, and it was SRR that led from start to finish and won 64-61 over Alex to claim its second-straight victory. “That was awesome,” said Derek Peterson, head coach. “The kids played very well. They deserve a lot of credit. They did a great job.” The Storm made several defensive adjustments from the first game. SRR played a manto-man defense and positioned Cade Milton-Baumgardner on Alexandria’s 6-11 center Treyton Thompson. “Cade did a wonderful job fronting him, and we had a big guy helping on the backside,” Peterson said. The Storm got hands in the faces of Cardinal shooters and limited Alexandria to 24-66 shooting (36 percent), including 9-31 on 3-pointers. “We simply played their big differently and came out with a different drive and energy than we had in our game prior,” said Braden Tretter, senior guard and captain. “It feels great to beat a good team. It shows us what we are capable of.” Peterson agreed. “[Alexandria] didn’t hit their 3’s, and I don’t believe they got as good of looks,” he said. “We often times had hands in their face and made them shoot more uncomfortable 3’s.” Offensively, the strategy was to use junior post Josh Schloe in the middle and allow him to find the open teammate against the Cardinals 1-3-1 zone. “Josh did a great job of getting the ball in the middle, and he did a great job on making decisions from what was open from there,” Peterson said. “He found the open guy, and we hit open shots.” The Storm served notice the night was going to be different from the onset. They played hard in the first half and opened up a 10-point, 27-17, halftime lead. Alexandria charged back in the second half and decreased the lead to single possession, but the Storm always had an answer. Rebounding was a contributing factor in the Storm victory. SRR pulled away 42 rebounds, including 13 while on offense. Alexandria gathered 28 (nine offensive). “Rebounding is all about want and the attitude that I’m going to get the ball,” Peterson
said. “Our kids had that attitude. We did an outstanding job of crashing the boards. When you limit a team to one shot per possession, it’s a lot harder for them to score and win.” The Storm also did a tremendous job sharing the ball. They finished with 14 assists. Tretter and Cade MiltonBaumgartner each had four. “If there is one key that I’ve seen change in the last few weeks is we are now sharing the basketball,” Peterson said. “We are out to win games and do it together.” SRR improves to 3-11 in the Central Lakes Conference and 5-19 overall. More importantly, they are on a two-game win streak and took down a 16win ballclub. “We’ve been saying we can beat anybody, and we are better than our record, but until you actually do it you are not sure if you believe it,” Peterson said. “Alexandria could arguably be the best team in our section, and we beat them. That just says we’ve got a chance every night and a chance to win our section. We just have to play basketball the way we are capable of doing it.” The Storm host St. Cloud Apollo Feb. 28 and travel to Fergus Falls March 1. They will open Section 8AAA playoffs March 5, and it appears SRR likely will be seeded sixth. SRR: Josh Schloe 21 (4 rebounds), Kobe Lee 13 (5 rebounds), Milton-Baumgardner 10 (4 rebounds), Tretter 8 (8 rebounds, 4 assists), Jake Schloe 8 (8 rebounds) and Ethan Opsahl 4 (4 rebounds). A 17 44 61 SRR 27 37 64 SRR 60, St. Cloud Tech 58 The Storm hit huge shots at the end of each half that propelled the team to an impressive road win Feb. 21 in St. Cloud. The first big hoop came from Milton-Baumgartner. He gave the Storm a big momentum boost when he canned a shot from half-court to end the first half and cut the Tigers lead to 28-27 at the break. Jake Schloe delivered the game-winning shot and broke a 58 tie with five seconds left in the game. “The kids shared the ball well,” Peterson said. “It was a big win for us. The kids played a lot better.” SRR had a six-point advantage late in the game when the Tigers connected on consecutive 3’s to tie the game. Josh Schloe and MiltonBaumgardner combined for 41 points to lead the Storm. The Storm dropped in 4-11 3’s and were 13-16 from the free-throw line. SRR: Josh Schloe 26 (8 rebounds), Milton-Baumgartner 15 (5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals), Lee 6 (5 rebounds), Jake Schloe 6 (3 assists), Tretter 5 (3 rebounds, 3 assists) and Opsahl 2 (3 rebounds). SCT 28 30 58 SRR 27 33 60