February 8, 2012 Edition
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H.S. Girls’ Basketball
Tigers’ Winless Streak Hits Six
by Dan Ruud
Hard times continue for the Belle Plaine High School girls’ basketball team, which had its losing streak reach a half-dozen following home losses to Norwood Young America Thursday and Mayer Lutheran this past Monday.
The Tigers, 4-8 in the Minnesota River Conference, 7-15 overall, will host first-place Jordan 7:30 p.m. this Friday. They will be at Faribault Bethlehem Academy for a nonconference game next Tuesday before closing the MRC and regular season at Sibley East on Feb. 16.
NYA 53, Tigers 52
The Tigers looked to be well on their way to avenging a 56-24 loss at Norwood Young America on Dec. 20 as they led by 15 points with just a little more than 15 minutes left in the game. But the Raiders came storming back as they rallied for a one-point victory at the BPHS gym.
In fact, NYA grabbed a four-point lead with just over 40 seconds to play. The Tigers were able to cut it to one (53-52) on a three-point play by Haley Fogarty with 28 seconds remaining. Belle Plaine got the ball back with no damage done on the other end of the floor but couldn’t get a game-winning shot to fall as the final horn blasted.
“We came out ready to play,” said Tigers coach Jarod Werner. “We were able to knock down some shots and hold a lead into halftime. Then to start the second half we came out guns-a-blazin’ but the bad part was we were getting fouled and weren’t able to convert on free throws, which prevented us from setting up any kind of press. When we’re not able to get back and change up our defenses successfully, Norwood was able to exploit it and caught back up.
“We did hit on 27 shots from the outside, granted we put up 75 shots, but regardless, last time we played Norwood we made only six shots the whole game. It was a point to get shots off,” Werner continued.
Claire Otto had 11 points for Belle Plaine, followed by Abby Wolpern and Bobbi Stark with nine apiece. Becky Koepp (8), Haley Fogarty (7) Jamie Read (4), Clair Stier (2) and Ellie Murphy (2) were the other scorers for the Tigers. Fogarty grabbed 10 rebounds and Wolpern nine.
Mayer Luth. 69, Tigers 37
Mayer Lutheran built a 22-point halftime lead (37-15) and kept its foot on the gas in the second half Monday night at the BPHS gym.
“Seemed like it was going to be a shoot out for the first five minutes of the game, but we cooled off, our defense slowed, and Mayer Lutheran sped up and filled in gaps,” Werner said. “We’re capable of so much more than what we showed out there. It’s disappointing. Mayer Lutheran has some good size in their low game, and the tough part is, they run the court well too. They found the openings before we were able to close in on them, and they made 20 buckets from right underneath the basket to prove it. Defensively, we know what needs to be done, we just seemed to play too slow and lackadaisical and you can’t do that against Mayer Lutheran or anybody.
“As a team, we have some things to prove yet before this season wraps up,” Werner continued. “We have one more home game against Jordan and two more on the road. As one, we have to play with a chip on our shoulder and with all out aggressiveness, all while keeping our heads.”
Otto led Belle Plaine in scoring with 11 points, followed by Stark (8), Stier (6), Wolpern (6), Koepp (3), Amara Meyer (2) and Fogarty (1). Wolpern had six rebounds.
H.S. Boys’ Basketball
Update: Tigers 64, Central 56
Belle Plaine took a 39-31 lead to halftime and maintained the advantage throughout the second half to claim the MRC win Thursday night at BPHS. Aaron Bigaouette paced the Tigers with a dozen points. Dan Beal scored 11 while Jacob Meger chipped in nine. The win improves the Tigers' record to 6-5 in the MRC, 10-10 overall.
Tigers Edge Giants, Lose at W-M
by Dan Ruud
The Belle Plaine High School boys’ basketball team split a pair of Minnesota River Conference games last week, defeating Le Sueur-Henderson on Tuesday and losing to first-place Watertown-Mayer on Friday.
Belle Plaine, which has slid to the middle of the MRC standings at 5-5, 9-10 overall, is scheduled to host Norwood Young America 7:30 p.m. this Thursday before heading to Mayer Lutheran next Tuesday night, also a 7:30 p.m. start.
Tigers 62, LS-H 57
The Tigers trailed by five points (32-27) at halftime but were ahead by five points when the final siren sounded in a 62-57 victory at the BPHS gym.
“This was a total team win. LS-H played really well in the first half and made a lot of tough shots. Dan Beal in particular kept us in the game with his offense in the first half,” said Belle Plaine coach John Wellner. “In the second half our defense really picked up. We did a better job of staying close to their shooters and making them take tough shots, and we caused some key turnovers with our pressure.”
Everett Kruschke led the Tigers with 14 points. Also in double figures were Beal (12), Alec Koepp (11) and Gavin Dauwalter (10). Rounding out the scoring for Belle Plaine were Aaron Bigaouette (8), Jacob Meger (4), Jack Winders (2) and JP Bergs (1). Dauwalter had 15 rebounds and Bigaouette served up eight assists.
W-M 67, Tigers 48
The Royals took another long stride in running away with the MRC crown when they bested the visiting Tigers by 19 points Friday night in Watertown. The Royals, who are enjoying their inaugural season in the conference, improved to 10-0 in the MRC, four games ahead of second-place Mayer Lutheran with four games to play.
“The final score does not indicate how close this game was. We played one of our best games all season,” said Wellner, adding that his team had a season-low nine turnovers. “We rebounded effectively and played the most inspired defense of the season. The problem was that we only made 25 percent of our shots and 53 percent from the free throw line. We did a great job of staying patient and moving the ball on offense, but we didn’t make our shots when we had them. Defensively, I haven’t seen our team play any better.
“It is now the stretch time of the season and we are getting close to playing our best basketball,” Wellner continued. “The guys are improving so much and coming together as a team. If we can continue to play the floor like we have in the last three halves and make a few more shots, we will be a tough out in playoffs. The key for us is to improve everyday in practice and being playing our best in March.”
For a second game in a row, Dauwalter grabbed 15 rebounds. Scoring for Belle Plaine were Bigaouette (13), Koepp (10), Billy Boecker (6), Dauwalter (5), Beal (4), Bergs (3), Kruschke (3), Luke Bristlin (3), and Shane Mickle (1).
H.S. Wrestling
Panthers Still Unbeaten Entering Final Week of Regular Season
After beating Shakopee 64-12 and St. Francis 54-18 on Friday night in St. Francis, the Scott West wrestling team’s regular season will come to a dramatic conclusion this week as the Panthers will travel to New Prague for a Thursday night meet with the Trojans and Windom Area before returning home for a Friday night showdown with Minnesota’s AAA #2-rated team Hastings that will be held in Jordan.
“It should be an exciting back-to-back night of wrestling,” comments Scott West coach Darren Ripley. “New Prague is having a very good year and Hastings is Hastings and the Raiders have really turned it up over the second half of the season.”
Last season, Scott West traveled to Hastings and scored a 37-24 win over the #2 AAA-rated Raiders as the Panthers were on their way to a 19-0 regular season before going on to finish as Minnesota’s Class AA state runner-up to Simley with a 24-1 team record. This season, Scott West will enter the last week of the regular season with an 18-0 team record and will look to complete the first back-to-back unbeaten regular seasons in the program’s 22-year history.
“We have a great deal of respect for the Hastings program as they wrestle hard and have always been well coached with the likes of Paul Vaith and now Josh McLay,” says Ripley. “People might want to come and check this one out because this is what Scott West and Minnesota high school wrestling is all about.”
The Panthers were all about beating Shakopee on Friday night in St. Francis as they won 12 out of the 14 matches wrestled in winning the meet 64-12 over the #10 AAA-rated Sabers.
“We got after it pretty good,” exclaims Ripley. “We scored nine pins, so that was good, but we gave up two pins and that’s not so good.”
The Panther pins came from David Flynn at 103, Luke Betchwars at 120, Gabe Fogarty at 145, Charlie Pesch at 152, Patrick Dvorak at 160, Nick Dvorak at 170, Jake DeWeese at 182, Mike Riker at 220 and Michael Kroells at heavyweight. Jake Weierke was a 5-2 winner over Alex Coleman at 113, while Luke Zilverberg scored an 11-0 win over Jack Edberg. Andrew Fogarty won an exciting 3-0 Eastview Invitational rematch over Patrick Casey.
In their second match of the night, which was a 56-12 win over St. Francis, Scott West jumped out to a 29-0 lead over the host Saints as David Flynn (103), Jake Weierke (113) and Luke Betchwars all recorded falls to begin the meet. Luke Zilverberg followed with a 16-0 technical fall at 126 and the score became 29-0 when St. Francis forfeited to Phillip Dvorak at 132.
The host Saints would get on the board when Cole Ostendorf secured a second-period pin of Isai Morales. The Panthers won the next six weight classes before dropping the final two. Gabe Fogarty (145) scored a second-period pin that was followed by an 11-4 win by Charlie Pesch over Taylor Charles at 152. Patrick Dvorak won a hard-fought 8-7 match over Alec Simoneau at 160, while Lee Vest did the same with a 3-1 win over Tyler Reitz at 170.
After Nick Dvorak accepted a forfeit at 182, Jake Schultz would sink in a tight third-period half that took Anthony Norman to his back and an ensuing pin fall call.
“We are really happy for Jake,” states Ripley. “He has really come and improved a lot this year, so it was good to see him get a big pin here.”
Dropping the final two matches of the evening were Scott West’s Ray Carter and Danny McDonnell. Michael Kroells, who remains undefeated, sat out the St. Francis match.
The only Scott West wrestler in action on Saturday was eighth-grader Ben Kelvington as the young Panther lightweight at 94 pounds came up with a fourth-place finish at the Minnesota 9th Grade League State Tournament, which was held at Champlin Park.
Belle Plaine’s Gavin Dauwalter, a 6-4 sophomore, had 10 points and 15 rebounds against LS-H last Tuesday night.
Belle Plaine’s Bobbi Stark had nine points against NYA Thursday night at the BPHS gym.
The Tigers’ Abby Wolpern had nine points and nine rebounds against NYA Thursday night.
College Signing Day
Belle Plaine High School students Austen Bahr and Celeste Borchardt signed athletic college letters of intent last Wednesday. Bahr, pictured with his mother, Amy Ladd, plans to play football for Waldorf College in Iowa. Borchardt, seated with her parents Brian and Lori Borchardt, plans to compete in track and field for South Dakota State University.
State Record Broken With
Belle Plaine Ties
There are a couple of Belle Plaine connections in a state record that was broken last week.
Waterville-Elysian-Morristown’s Grant Pope had four steals in his team’s victory over United South Central Feb. 1, breaking the state career record of 467 that was held by Belle Plaine High School’s Drew Carlson (1996-99). Pope currently has 468.
While Carlson is the son of former Belle Plaine head basketball coach Randy Carlson, Pope is the grandson of Del Pope, who five decades ago was Belle Plaine High School’s head football coach for several years. He also taught junior high science and geography. He currently lives in Waterville.
Meyer Signs Letter of Intent
Jake Meyer of New Prague, grandson of Gerald and Carman Meyer and Joyce Weldon of Belle Plaine, recently signed a National Letter of Intent to play NCAA Division II collegiate football at Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU).
Meyer is currently a senior at New Prague High School.
Belle Plaine Youth Baseball
Association Meetings Feb. 19, 26
The Belle Plaine Youth Baseball Association will again have summer leagues and/or tournaments for ages 10-16. These competitive teams have produced several state tournament champions over the past few years and we look to have another good summer in 2012.
There will be informational parent meetings on Sunday, Feb. 19 and Sunday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. in the commons area of Oak Crest Elementary School. The sign-up deadline for those interested in playing this summer is at the end of the Feb. 26 meeting.
Parents interested in coaching can also complete applications and turn them in by that same meeting date. Try-outs will be held the weekend of March 3-4.
Tournament dates, player costs, tryout times and handbooks will be discussed at each meeting. Both meetings will cover the same material and parents can attend either of the meetings.
For more information about the summer leagues, meetings or sign-up, contact Jason Ladd (laddaj@frontiernet.net) or Jeff Thaves (jkthaves@frontiernet.net).
Minnesota Deer Hunters’
Banquet Set For Feb. 18
The Minnesota River Valley Chapter of the Minnesota Deer Hunters’ Association is having its 29th annual banquet Saturday, Feb. 18, in Shakopee.
The banquet is open to all hunters and outdoor enthusiasts. Social hour starts at 5 p.m., dinner is at 7 and the program starts at 8 p.m.
Tickets for the banquet are $25 for adults and $15 for youth. It will be held at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 1760 Fourth Avenue E. For tickets or more information, contact Barb Breeggemann, 952-445-4396.
Fastpitch Softball Registration Sunday
The Belle Plaine Fastpitch Association will host one more registration session from 3-5 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 12 at Oak Crest Elementary School.
Parents can find registration and medical release forms on the BPFA’s website at www.leaguelineup.com/bpfa.
The Belle Plaine Fastpitch Association is excited to be sponsoring girls’ 10U, 12U, 14U and 16U teams this year. The BPFA is an Amateur Softball Association of America/North American Fastpitch Association organization and participates in the Suburban League of Minnesota.
The Belle Plaine Fastpitch Association’s philosophy is to provide a structured, enjoyable and learned fastpitch experience for all participants. For those girls interested in a more competitive level of play, the Belle Plaine Fastpitch Association sponsors a traveling league. It requires a greater commitment in that each participant is expected to attend all practices, league games and weekend tournaments during the summer season. Emphasis is on skill development, teamwork, cooperation, sportsmanship and respect for others.
