January 8
Hockey 6 – 0
Always begin with the previous day’s hoar frost . . .
[And then a hockey game followed by a basketball game . . . ]
[It was . . . ]
[Moms & daughters (on loan from the Cardinal Connection). Yup, only four seniors so the team’s future, as some wag once said, is all in front of it . . . ]
[We were hosting the Prairie Center Blue Devils, a conglomerate comprised of Sauk Centre and surrounding communities. Here’s senior forward McKenna Ellingson (24) in warm-ups . . . ]
[Junior defense Mayson Toft (14) . . . ]
[Freshman defense Makenna Aure (17) . . . ]
[Sophomore forward Marki Oberg (10) . . . ]
[Senior forward Alexis Heckert (20) . . . ]
[Each of the seniors honored with their parents – Alexis first . . . ]
[All captured by the Amazing Mark Ripley . . . ]
[He who gives we amateurs white lens envy . . . ]
[McKenna . . . ]
[Olivia Kopp (13), defense . . . ]
[Erin O’Kane (26), forward . . . ]
[Let’s begin . . . ]
[The Cards line up in random numbers that would make a solid password . . . ]
[Hooray for us!]
[We’re ready! Bring on the Blue Devils!]
[Sophomore defense Ali Castle (22) and Makenna in a shift change with Olivia coming off . . . ]
[GOOOAAAAALLLL! By Marki!]
[Fist bump, fist bump, fist bump . . . ]
[Marki’s line with sophomore Anna Doherty (7) . . . ]
[GOOOAAAAALLLL! Freshman forward Kaci Trosvig (25), shorthanded, from fellow freshmen Hanley Block (28) and Riley Nyberg (21) . . . ]
[Freshman goalie Hailee Bailey (35) skates out for the fist bumps . . . ]
[And here they come . . . ]
[After one, yup, a distinct advantage in shots-on-goal . . . ]
[I was with partner in crime, Bradley. We would stay until we were sure the game was well in hand before heading to the high school for the basketball game . . . ]
[Here’s Erin . . . ]
[Back to Marki’s line . . . ]
[Marki’s one on five . . . ]
[Here’s Alexis . . . ]
[Then McKenna . . . ]
[McKenna circles from behind . . . ]
[Alexis is in with appears to be Anna . . . ]
[Arghhh, it got away . . . ]
[Marki with Anna . . . ]
[Both now in their 3rd varsity years as sophomores . . . ]
[And they’re taking a run at it . . . ]
[GOOOAAAALLLL! McKenna from Hanley and Olivia . . . ]
[We did good!]
[Brad and I figured the game was in hand and could move on. Riley scored later in the period from Kaci; and in the 3rd, McKenna got her 2nd goal, from Mayson, and Kaci got her 2nd goal, from Alexis. The final score was 6 – 0, with a rather disparate shots-on-goal advantage of 55 – 4 . . . ]
Basketball 71 – 41
[The game had started by the time we arrived. We were up 5 – 0, and heard the JV had won to move their record to 10 – 1. Here our Emily Jones (33), senior, has the Detroit Lakes center trapped in the corner . . . ]
[In the offensive zone, senior guard Kaye Paschka (3) whips a pass to the wing, with junior guard running mate Mia McGrane (5) and senior center McKenzie Duwenhoegger (35). If you look close, junior Ella Grove (11) is hiding behind the 6’2″ Laker center (though she seemed taller!) . . . ]
[Ella comes out from hiding to join the offense . . . ]
[Kaye launches a 3. The one part of the game that soured a bit. I remember Jonesie hitting two 3’s early, and sophomore Jaya Hatlestad hit two late in the game. Oh, and Ella got one late as well, but it seemed for the full body of the game we missed a lot of them . . . ]
[McKenzie at the line. The free throw shooting was good, which will be a real plus for the long haul . . . ]
[Kaye on the Lakers point guard No. 1. That was a battle all game long . . . ]
[As she (No. 1) was really aggressive . . . ]
[Look! Over there! Do you see her?]
[I think it’s Kim Kardashian!]
[The horrors that confront the opposition just trying to inbound the ball after a Cardinal made basket . . . ]
[Give me the ball!!]
[It’s mine, I tell you!]
[It’s been rather amazing recently that the Cards have been able to apply this much pressure without getting into much foul trouble . . . ]
[Ella’s been on a run recently where her foul shots don’t even graze the rim . . . ]
[What???]
[Kim Kardashian’s over on that side now?]
[Lest you were wondering why the Cardinals have been ranked No. 1 this year (so far), this photo sequence pretty much ‘splains it. Our guards, Mia and Kaye, just get out and go – whether after a steal or the bigs rebounding and outlet passing. They’re both fast, can handle the ball at speed, and finish.]
[I have no idea why I took this shot?]
[Why, yes, Kaye is also a hurdler . . . ]
[She will be hurdling and triple jumping in college next year . . . ]
[Cards apply pressure out to the center line . . . ]
[And with Ella at the point of the defense, she is often the recipient of the break out passes . . . ]
[Jonesie and Mac working the inbounds defense . . . ]
[And those two have also been known to take the ball the length of the court themselves . . . . ]
[The ball is up there. I don’t know who dunnit?]
[Bradley pointed out we had a “straight” from the starters, with 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 points, respectively . . . ]
[One last shot of the defense . . . ]
[But seriously, we’re No. 1 because of this. These are the late in the game scoring for the 5 starters. Who do you guard? It was also double doubles for Mac and Ella who both hit double digits in rebounds and Mia added 10 assists . . . ]
[Another big win to go 12 – 0.]
Our biggest concern this season will be diaper rash. ~ George MacIntyre, Vanderbilt football coach surveying the team roster that included 26 freshmen and 25 sophomores
Up Next: Likely hockey . . .
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