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Here’s the article in the Sentinel.

Boys:

Brennan Olson (Luck)

Carson Giller (Luck)

Harry Severson (Luck)

Ben Larson (Grantsburg)

Trent Bonneville (Grantsburg)

Jason Jensen (Grantsburg)

Tyler Myers (Grantsburg)

Connar Goetz (Grantsburg)

Brady Flaherty (Unity)

Ryan Larson (SCF)

Gus Koecher (SCF)

Austin Elliott (Webster)

 

Honorable Mentions:

Charlie Brown (Siren)

Brennen Moose (Siren)

Zach Anderson (Frederic)

Ethan Cook (Frederic)

Cory Gephard (St. Croix Falls)

 

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.

 Girls:

Janey Emery (Siren)

Carley Emery (Siren)

Ashley Guevara (Siren)

Marissa Campeau (SCF)

Sarah Petznick (SCF)

Morgan Denny (Luck)

Taryn Pilz (Luck)

Rose Kopecky (Webster)

Michelle Gibbs (Webster)

Becca Milligan (Unity)

Becca Anderson (Frederic)

Kortney Morrin (Grantsburg).

 

Honorable mentions:

Meghan Baasch (Siren)

Jenny Benoy (SCF)

Megan Anderson (Frederic)

Gabrielle Witzany (Grantsburg)

 

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.

As the girls started in on the Star Spangled Banner the pre-game warm up cd started back up and overwhelmed the national anthem. The girls were able to recover and put in a nice performance. It wasn’t their fault that the music started like that, but there was nothing they could do about it either.

Was it an omen?

It wasn’t as if Grantsburg played poorly, it was just that St. Croix Central couldn’t miss… and it continued like that throughout the game. They were overwhelming the music that Grantsburg was trying to make.

There was one kid for SCC who never took a good looking shot, but he made all of them. It was incredible. St. Croix Central had no players averaging double digit scoring for the season, in fact their two best players average just over eight points per game. Tonight was different. The Panthers came out shooting and scoring… it was like an NBA All-Star game out there, especially to begin the game.

The end of the game was one for the ages as Grantsburg made a three point basket with 15 seconds left in the game giving them a two point lead, then with about seven seconds left SCC made a three pointer from waaaay downtown to give the Panthers a one point lead. Out of timeouts, Grantsburg had to race down the court, Connar Goetz drove then kicked the ball out to Thane Larson who was open but had to lean to his right to receive the pass. He gathered himself and took the shot, a three-pointer at the buzzer. It was just a little too much to the right when it contacted the rim. Game over. Season over.

The Pirates did do some things that they’ll look back on and wish they could change. They got into foul trouble in the second half and Ben Larson fouled out in the fourth quarter then Tyler Myers did the same in overtime. SCC didn’t have anyone in foul trouble.

Trent Bonneville should be commended for the way he played tonight. He drew a ton of fouls, especially in the first half and ended with over twenty points. He took control of the game at times.

I want to congratulate the team on a nice year. Yeah, everyone was counting on them making a deep playoff run, and if the circumstances were just a little different, maybe we’d all be in better moods, but this is life. Sometimes the underdog wins. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a year we’ll all remember. The last second win in Luck, the last second losses to Webster and Luck and now SCC. Those games didn’t turn out the way we hoped, but that doesn’t mean we look at this team as a failure. They had a good season and those seniors who were so dedicated to the sport they love so much should all be commended for the way they busted their tails for the past four years.

In other news, the Luck Cardinals were also upset by #5 seed Eleva-Strum 48-46 in overtime. Two of the best teams this area both underachieved in the playoffs. I haven’t heard any anecdotes from that game, so I have no idea what happened.

Siren also lost to #1 seed Prescott 49-42. So all West Lakeland teams have been eliminated from boys tournament action.

That leaves just the Siren girls, ranked 3rd in D4, left in the playoffs. They play tomorrow night against Flambeau. I’ll be there broadcasting on WXCX if you are interested. Game time is 7:00.

It was a nice night for the Pirate boys. Not great, just nice. The Pirates won the game by 11, 55-44 and stayed unbeaten on the year raising their record to 6-0. They were led in scoring by Tyler Myers whom I had down for 18 points. I was also impressed by the Trent Bonneville/Jason Jensen duo defensively and rebounding-wise.

Bonneville, who had scored at least twenty in the past two games was pretty much shut out offensively the entire game, he maybe had four points which was mainly due to the defensive scheme of the Pine City Dragons. The Dragons played a good portion of the night in a 2-3 defense which is meant to shut down the opponent’s inside game.

Grantsburg was relegated to jump shots, and they didn’t make a lot of them, especially in the first half. They were 11-32 from the floor in the first half mainly due to having to shoot from the outside and they came out cold. That changed a bit in the second half when they started canning some of those jumpers they missed in the first.

This was the first time I had seen the Pirates this year and they looked like they really knew what they were doing and they played very well together. Coach Danny Judd rotated eight players in the entire night and all played well, including Thane Larson who was, at least for me, a pleasant surprise coming off the bench canning a couple threes early in the second half and giving Grantsburg a nice lead.

Grantsburg has some good shooters, a good inside presence, and an aggressive defense. I also believe they can play a little better than they did tonight. The game tonight could’ve been a 20+ point win had they come out hot in the first half.

NOTES:

Did anyone notice the night and day difference between the roads in Minnesota compared to Wisconsin? It was like driving on a skating rink and then once you crossed the bridge it was like Lightning McQueen had just finished paving the new road! I could not believe the difference.

I interviewed Byron Higgin during halftime of the game and he seemed very upbeat about his situation of being let go at the Sentinel last week. It must have been an adjustment sitting in the stands just enjoying a game without thinking about story lines or deadlines.

Tonight was my last broadcast of the year. There will be more programming on WXCX, but I won’t be back behind the mic until Grantsburg plays Webster on January 6th.

We’re heading to Iowa tomorrow to celebrate Christmas with Renae’s family. I’m so excited to drive through a blizzard.

I would appreciate prayers for my family, especially my dad, who lost his brother today. I found out about my uncle’s death about half an hour before the broadcast. I was not close to my uncle mainly because of proximity, but it is still a bit stunning and of course losing a brother would be very difficult. Thanks.