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Here’s the article in the Sentinel.

All five Grantsburg starters make All-conference… what an accomplishment! I don’t know if that has ever happened before (probably) but Grantsburg finished second in the conference. It shows that it was truly a team effort for those guys.

I feel like Siren sort of got snubbed with selections as they had a very good season and I thought that Charlie Brown definitely had a good enough season to warrant an All-conference selection.

I like the fact that Gab Witzany got an honorable mention. She had a good season and really played well at the end of the season.

I think the conference is going to be highly competitive for the next couple years as a lot of the players on this list are sophomores (Morrin, Carley Emery, Ashley Guevara, Michelle Gibbs) and Witzany is a freshman. I might have missed a couple younger players, but that would only strengthen my arguement.

The easy way for me to write about the Grantsburg/Luck boys game tonight would be to copy and paste the post from the first game they played, change some of the names (Jason Jensen to Brennan Olson) and the final score and I could go to bed!

I won’t do that, though.

If you care to listen to the game you can find the archive here.

This game was so highly anticipated and hyped up that it seemed that there could be no way those 10 guys on the court could live up to it.

Wrong!

Over 1000 people witnessed another gut-wrenchingly exciting game which came down to a buzzer-beating shot to win the game by one. This time it was Luck who came away with the victory 57-56 in Grantsburg. Taking that shot was who you might suspect… Brennan Olson (he’s a stud… and I say that in the most manly way possible).

Olson got off to a very slow start, in fact he didn’t score until a few minutes into the second quarter (it was a dunk where he had to knife through 3 people to get to the rim then he threw it down with two hands). He finished the first half with only four points. It looked like Grantsburg had figured him out after he went for 25 in their first meeting, but they hadn’t; Olson ended up with 22.

The boys in purple came out blazing hot hitting jumpers from everywhere, Ben Larson especially, it seemed nobody clad in purple and white could miss. Grantsburg used that sharpshooting to amass a 14 point lead at one point in the third quarter, but conservative play and cold shooting in the fourth quarter spelled doom for the Pirates.

This game also crowned Luck as the winners of the West Lakeland conference. Had Grantsburg not inexplicably lost to the Webster Tigers a couple weeks ago, there would be a two way tie for the conference crown, instead the Cardinals get it outright.

Really, there’s not a lot more to say about this game. If you were not one of the 1000+ people in attendance, you really missed out. The crowd was electric the entire night as probably 900 people witnessed the girls game (which Grantsburg won!) which started at 6:00. There was even overflow seating in the auditorium starting during the girls game. It was an incredible experience.

Casting our gaze towards the playoffs, both of these teams are projected to receive number one seeds. You can read my previous post about the bad draw that Luck is getting (and the great draw Grantsburg will be getting) if you follow this link. Brackets will be finalized on Sunday and I’ll post the as soon as I can.

The Pirates could clash with the Cardinals one more time this year if both teams win their regional. They will meet in Somerset for the Sectional semifinal. I can predict the name of my post after that game, "An epic, part III" The only uncertain thing is the victor. Here’s hoping for just one more game between these two rivals.

It was worth the wait.

A 43-42 win by the Pirates on a last second shot by Jason Jensen in front of a standing room only crowd in Luck was one of the best sporting events I’ve ever seen. If you weren’t there no description would match the intensity and the atmosphere of the game.

Both teams played their guts out and, I hate this cliche, both teams deserved to win.

I thought I would be smart and get to the game an hour early to make sure I got a seat. I was not smart enough. It was standing room only for the game that preceded the marquee matchup. It was a non-conference girls game between Luck and Bruce (Luck won, by the way). I knew something was up when I had to park about four blocks away. I heard that a lot of people left because of the seating situation. I had heard that the seating capacity was 850 and I would guess there were about 100 people standing to take in the game. I ended up with a great spot because I stood behind the baseline and was about five feet from being in bounds. It was pretty cool.

Notes:

Grantsburg did not hold a lead until 3 seconds left in the game. Luck had as much as a nine point lead in the game.

Brennan Olson had 25 points in the game, but failed to score in the fourth quarter.

Luck was 0-8 on free throws (unofficially), Grantsburg was 3-8.

There were two dunks in the game. Harry Severson-Dickinson and Brennan Olson were the players.

The JV boys teams were both undefeated coming into tonight. Grantsburg won that game by six. (I did not hear the final score).

The usually deep bench for the Pirates really got shortened for tonight and I think it was key. Grantsburg has played a regular rotation of eight players, which gives their starters a lot of rest during the first part of the season. During the fourth quarter of tonight’s game you could see that Grantsburg had more energy than did the Cardinals.

Odds are Grantsburg’s gym on February 20th will be the loudest you’ve ever heard. Take my advice and get to that one early. It will be worth your three bucks!

I wonder how the rankings will be shaken up with this game. Luck was ranked 3rd in the state, Grantsburg was ranked 11th. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out.

#12 Grantsburg (11-1, 5-0) @ #4 Luck (12-0, 6-0) 7:30pm.

Listen online at wearegrantsburg.com

The wait is almost over… after having to postpone tonight’s tilt from a couple weeks ago, both teams remain undefeated in the conference.

This will be the biggest game of the night in all of division 3 basketball and I’m excited to be announcing it exclusively online on YouCastr (you’ll find a link on the right hand side of this page – you may have to scroll down).

Of course a lot of the focus in this game will be dedicated to Brennan Olson who is averaging 25 ppg this season and is getting some looks from Division 1 schools. Rumor has it that he is also being courted by UMD and Winona State University.

Grantsburg is coming off a night like I’ve never seen before. They defeated Shell Lake 77-39 (they were leading 49-17 at half). The Pirates were shooting out of their minds in the first half of that game. They were down 9-3 in the opening minutes of the game… so that means they went on a 46-8 run to end the half! If Grantsburg can shoot like that tonight against Luck, they will win.

The key matchup here is the post play. Brennan Olson can jump out of the gym, Grantsburg needs to limit his points inside, even though Olson can shoot the mid-range jumper as well as anyone. If the Pirates can limit Olson on offense and rebound effectively they should win. All eyes will be on Trent Bonneville and Jason Jensen.

Luck has many other weapons that cannot be forgotten about. Carson Giller, Harry Severson-Dickenson and the Mortel brothers are all outstanding ball players and coach Rick Giller is outstanding.

Luck made it to state last year and are primed to make a run this year as well.

Grantsburg believes they are the team to beat. They have a nucleus of seniors that have been playing significant varsity minutes since they were sophomores.

I am excited about tonight’s game, more than I think I’ve ever been for a regular season game in any sport. I’m hoping for a good game decided by the players. It should be intense and Luck’s gym should be crazy tonight as we watch the best game of the night in Luck.

Make sure you listen to the broadcast at We are Grantsburg!

Boys Standings

Results from Tuesday’s games

A bit of a surprise in the Luck/Unity tilt in Luck. Only a 15 point victory for the Cardinals (who are ranked 4th in Division 3) over the winless Unity Eagles. Brennan Olson had 23 points, nearly half the points for Luck.

Girls Standings

Results from Tuesday’s games

The big matchup with St. Croix Falls and Siren went Siren’s way giving the Dragons the clearest path to the conference championship.