The downside of a lame-duck coach struck again. Faced with the possibility of another loss and a top 10 pick, the man's ego opted to not do what's in the best interest of the business but instead ran out all the proven starters and won the game. In a twist that few saw coming, the hideous losses to Cleveland & Baltimore have now come around and given the Purple the tie-breakers so that they will have the right of first refusal over those orgs. If Spielman is indeed still the man tasked with having a plan trading down may be more than a 50/50 proposition, but I'd rather not get into those particular weeds at the moment.
Since today's game was as worthless as a bet ticket for MN to just make the big game, it will not be given any more time. After taking a few days to process the season a dedicated post will be released, so you can have that to look forward to!
The first of the four games this week was a visit by Denver as the spinning wheel landed on Reneya Hopkins to have one of her best days on the court while Emily Dietz crossed into quadruple-digits scoring. They retook the court Saturday against Omaha but with less successful results. They were the only ones to come up short though, as Maleeck Harden-Hayes had his first double-double as the men came back in the second half for their 10th win of the season. And there was a cherry on top as Vinny Shahid was named the MVP for December, for his league in France. If he keeps going like that a spot in the Developmental League may have his name on it.
And of course there was the flurry of news out of Frisco. In addition to the championship, David Braun was named Coordinator of the Year. Even with Matt Entz at the helm, credit for the dominance of the defense can be spread around. Prior to all of it Christian Watson was announced as a participant in the senior bowl next month.
It was a quality over quantity approach and you won't get many better weeks than this past one!
Moorhead State had an unscheduled pause in their calendar with all of this week's events being postponed or cancelled.
Of the three, Concordia had the busiest week of competition. It was set to start Wednesday with a pair of 🏀 games but got pushed back because of the weather. They made the extra day of waiting worth it with a 43 - 25 second half for the women to win. The men one-upped even that as freshman Dylan Inniger poured in 30 to help them bypass St. Olaf 83 - 66. Not since the 16/17 season have they had a 30 point scorer so as expected Tyler Bormann has them headed in the right direction!
As the long weekend progressed 🤼 hit the mat in Louisville and another freshman took the opportunity to shine.
The basketball teams then received word that Gustavus would not be able to make the games set for Monday. The cancellations count favorably for Concordia in the standings. In great form they did rest on the wins when St. Scholastica took the opposite bench but won 70 - 62 as Braeton Motschenbacher lead the way with 18 pts & 8 reb. Then came the women's turn to turn-up the pressure, winning 76 - 47.
The ice was not quite as nice to this week. Facing off against another ranked opponent the women showed they may be better than their record but UW-River Falls hasn't been recognized by accident. The men also faced a Wisconsin school but Superior also came out on top in overtime Saturday. With a one-night turn-around they were back on the ice Sunday against Northland and no worse for the wear, winning 3 - 0.
As the Wolf-pack turns, this week it was all green lights. Each of the four games were against should-beat teams and they have one more before the schedule tightens up again. The defense slipped late against Houston Sunday but as much of a cushion as they had, letting off will happen - better to do so against bad teams & get chided with a W in pocket instead of an L.
The Bolt's upward trend of success out of their Holiday break continued this week on the road. But before the puck was dropped two of the key pieces to the success were recognized by the League as Players of the Week. The team got a reminder that they will need to remain determined Friday at second place Omaha.They fell behind 2 - 0 & 4 - 1 and couldn't recover from the deficit. On Saturday, against third place Sioux City, Charlie Lurie scored his sixth & seventh goals of the season as they went wire to wire without trailing to win 4 - 3. They concluded the week in Sioux Falls and were pushed to overtime but then Yavash German played the role of closer to secure the fourth win in the last five. Tri-City is comfortably atop the West but there's an opportunity for them to move into second if they can sustain the recent quality of play.
Possibly the most unexpected announcement this week was the Birds re-signing a handful of players. The early bird gets the worm and the ramp-up to the season will begin sort of soon but it still was a surprise.
Reminder that scores are added daily plus there's a new home for recruiting news, so check back often!
Now for this week's highlights
West Fargo's boys 🏀 started the week with a 32-point rout of Fargo South while the girls finished one point closer. The Bulls continued their early-season domination with a 23-point victory over Shanley while Davies' girls doubled-up South. Thursday also included North hosting Sheyenne while Shanley pushed West Fargo to overtime but then came up short. The Bruins gauntlet continued Saturday as they squeezed in Davies as the back-half of a double-header. Shanley rebounded with a 29-point win over Valley City.
To the East of the River Moorhead's girls got their own lopsided win as D/G/F entered the gym. That one barely held a candle to what the Taters did on the ice. Brainerd got rung-up for a ten spot Tuesday as the shot advantage finished 54 - 6 in Moorhead's favor. Saturday St. Cloud took their turn at the whipping post with an 8 - 1 lashing. The scoring fever proved to be transmissible as the girls beat St. Cloud handily as well. The hot ice continued on the North Dakota side as Davies girls thumped Mandan by a half-dozen after beating Grand Forks by four Thursday evening.
Big wins continued on the court outside of town. Central Cass's boys continued their undefeated start to the year as they keep working to crack the rankings. The Squirrel girls also put on a display at Northern Cass. Likewise, Hawley's girls stifled Pelican Rapids Thursday and the boys added another win to their sterling start, 24 up on Thief River. Northern Cass's boys had little trouble getting by Midway/Minto Saturday. Down in Kindred, the Viking boys edged Grafton as Paul Olson went for 35.
Further off the radar, Moorhead's swim team finished 55 points ahead of Grand Forks. Girls wrestling also managed top-tier success as Davies, West Fargo & Sheyenne all had champions at this weekend's Bismarck tournament.
Outside the lines, D/G/F's McKale Pierson was named one member of the 32-person All-State 🏈 team after rushing for nearly 1,200 yards & 12 touchdowns as well as 166 yards & 2 scores through the air.
And a blast from last year, Jackson Moni was named Player of the Week after helping Northern State to a win over Moorhead.