All-Missota Conference
(photo by Jim Lindquist)
Coach Shane Wyandt said the 2010-11 edition of Tiger basketball didn't post as many wins (9-18 overall and 3-11 in the Missota Conference) as he would have liked but the season nonetheless provided more than its share of positive moments.
"In my opinion, it was fun season," he said. "This was a very coachable group that worked hard and got along with each other as well.
"The seniors were great kids to work with and I hope our younger guys look up to and learn from them and their positive qualities."
Wyandt and his staff awarded varsity letters to 18 players for their efforts this winter, including seven seniors: Josh Ruthenbeck, Sam Hanson, Elliot Fenske, Sebren Baer, Andy Born, Alex Michels and Zach Wallace..
Underclassmen letterwinners included juniors Alec Hogstad, Austin Bassett, Jake Hanson, Grant Blomster and David Zitzmann; sophomores Darren Beenken, Alex Chadwick and Tom Sell and freshmen Mackinley Bassett, Johnny Dittman and Nick Varner.
Michels, the team's leading scorer with a 14.1 points-per-game average, made the all-Missota Conference team and Baer (8.3 points per game) received all-league honorable mention. Other awards were to be announced at next week's post-season banquet.
Wyandt said he was pleased with his team's success against Section 1AAAA opposition and some early season wins, including a third place finish in the Hastings Holiday Classic, that earned the Tigers a home game in the opening round of the section tournament.
"We knew we were a relatively inexperienced team coming into the season," Wyandt said," and that we would have to win the close games, something we didn't do last season.
"There were a few games where we couldn't convert down the stretch. It's always difficult to lose when you have chances like that."
The Tiger coach added that next season could look a lot like the one just completed as far as varsity experience is concerned.
"We will be very young again," he said, "but we will have some talented kids coming back as well as some younger kids who will get a chance to show what they can do. It will be a team that I hope gets better as the season moves on."
Between now and then, Wyandt said he and his staff are setting the expectations bar at a high level.
"We expect our kids to participate in basketball academy, training camp, summer league and AAU tournaments," he said "We want to outwork the competition."
