There is a charity tied into this all-star game so please check out the link and consider sponsoring Brent and/or Trevor.

Congrats, guys!

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More honors for Myers, Thompson

It was an incredible turnaround for a team that had only scored 19 points in the first three quarters to come up with 25 in the fourth and then another 10 in the four minute OT.

If you're like me and were there or listened or watched that unfold you found yourself wondering "what the heck just happened?"

I re-listened to the fourth quarter and if you can get past my hyperventilating you will be able to piece the puzzle back together. By the way… it's a lot less nerve wracking the second time.

Another note: I stayed at a hotel that had many Blair Taylor people staying there and while they were very stunned at what had transpired, they were very gracious when they saw me and my Grantsburg attire. It maybe was because I had two young children with me, but I think it's more because they're good people who appreciated the effort Grantsburg put forth to capture the win.

Here's the replay of the fourth quarter and overtime.

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Fourth quarter and overtime

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Recap from last year

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Championship audio

It was a season where few expected that it would end with that game on that Saturday. Sure, a regional championship would be nice for these guys who lost in the first round last year. That was probably as much as anyone could've asked or expected.

Except for the guys who wear the uniform. And their coaches.

There was a higher bar set for those guys. A challenging off-season playing all over the land. Putting in time. Conditioning. Open gyms.

Still, the result wasn't guaranteed. The first game of the playoffs was a little wobbly in the first half. Then it all changed. The second half sent Grantsburg on their way to be one of the last two teams standing at the end of the season. Raising the silver trophy above their heads. And though the smiles may have been forced at that time, after the weeks, months and years pass, the smiles will come easier as they recount the thrilling win over Blair-Taylor and the butterflies dancing in their stomach when the championship game began, the goofing around at the hotel, the bus trip.

It will be something that, in the midst of very tenuous and downright scary times in the world, those boys were able to help us forget about the outside world for a couple hours. Gave us something to cheer for. They bonded a community.

Sport sometimes gets a bad rap because people focus so much on it. But being diverted by sport, especially in these times, is a completely American thing. There could be no better example than the Miracle on Ice. This was Grantsburg's diversion and there will be no apologies.

So, congratulations Pirates. You didn't listen to the critics and cynics. You believed in each other and accomplished great things. Well done.
 

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Congratulations

Here's what I've found out about Marathon.

They have a go-to guy named Cody Hanke. He's a 6' 3" Senior center who scores a little over 24 points per game and he scored 31 in the state semi-final against Oostburg. The next leading scorer is a tie between Cedric Lechleitner and Brody Hurtis both scoring nearly eight points per game. Clearly, coach Hallberg must be concerned about Hanke, especially since Seth Coy suffered a concussion on Thursday and while there's a chance he'll play, I doubt it (I don't have any insider info on that, though).

It looks like they don't shoot too many three pointers, but they do have a decent percentage (35%). It seems their min threat is Koleman Schilling. He has a 32% shooting percentage from outside the arc.

Here's a handy chart to compare the stats of the teams:

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Marathon: who are they?

Trevor Thompson is an honorable mention.

Congratulations to both guys. Well done!

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Myers is All-state… Thompson HM

Game stats from the WIAA (Grantsburg 54 Blair-Taylor 49)

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had a recap and great pic.

Here's WQOW – Eau Claire's video recap… Grantsburg is the second story

My kids, Kaitlyn and Zach, give a recap.

Here's a wissports.net summary and recap of the D4 semifinals.

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Press thread

The Grantsburg Pirates, by all measurables they were the underdog of the final four in Madison. I guess "heart" doesn't show up in the stats.

They were down by 13 at one point in the fourth quarter. It seemed everything was going Blair-Taylor's way. It seemed like the Pirates would never make a basket.

Then things changed. They made a three… made a steal… got to within 7… gave up a basket… hit a three… etc… They whittled it down to 5 with under a minute left in regulation. Then they made a steal… a shot… a steal… a shot… and had a chance to win in regulation. But it went to overtime.

From there the Pirates got their first lead of the game. And never lost it.

They outscored the Blair-Taylor Wildcats 10-5 in overtime to secure a berth in the championship game on Saturday around 12:35 (officially 20 minutes after the Division 5 game between Clayton and Randolph is over).

I am still having trouble wrapping my mind around that game. I'll have more later on the teams and how that comeback ranks all time in state tournament history.

But now I shall sleep.

Congratulations, Cinderella, or should I say, PIRATES!

Recapture it below.

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Epic

They head to Sectionals tonight and play Mellen (who actually lost to South Shore last week, but South Shore had a scheduled band trip and had to forfeit the game to Mellen, thus Mellen advances to play Siren tonight).

If the Dragons win tonight and the Pirates lose, I'll be there for the Sectional Championship game in Spooner on Saturday to broadcast the game.

Go DRAGONS!!!

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Good luck to Siren, too