(photo by Jim Lindquist)
The most accurate way to describe the 2011-12 Tiger roster would be "young". It contained the names of only four seniors.
"Young" might also might help explain the team's up-and-down season that produced an overall record of 10-17; 6-10 in the Missota Conference.
"We were very young and inexperienced and its showed, especially early," coach Shane Wyandt said. "We struggled adapting to the pace and style of the varsity game. Turnovers and lack of physical play killed us.
"As a coaching staff we always wanted more, but from start to finish we saw a lot of improvement. We really started to gain confidence in our ability as a team and with that more of the individual talent started to show...If you throw out a couple of poor performances at the end of the season, I think we played pretty well."
The four seniors on the roster included co-captain Jake Hanson, Austin Bassett Grant Blomster and Alec Hogstad.
Underclassmen included juniors Darren Beenken (co-captain), Alex Chadwick, Zach Batta, Tom Sell, Charles Anderson, Turner Olson and Yannis Smollich; sophomores Johnny Dittman, Mackinley Bassett, Tyler VanWinkle, Nick Varner, Eli Rockett, Dallas Guyot and Jordan DeCroock and freshman Zach Speikers.
Beenken (14.4), Varner (11.2) and Mackinley Bassett (10.5) each averaged double figures for the Tigers with Varner finishing as the team's leading rebounder.
Leading rebounder Nick Varner
(photo by Jim Lindquist)
Letterwinners, all-conference awards and other team honors will be announced at the team's post-season banquet scheduled for Mar. 29.
Wyandt said the season just completed produced some memorable moments, including early season wins over Rochester Mayo and Holy Angels; a 4-1 stretch during the second half of the conference season; three straight nail-biting home wins in a row and blowout victories over Burnsville and Park that displayed the team's ability to extend leads and "leave no doubt".
On the flip-side was an occasional lack of focus, identity and defensive intensity capped by a poor performance against Mayo in the opening game of the section tournament.
"We wanted to see a desire to attack the playoffs like a team that was hungry to advance," Wyandt said. "Instead it felt like we were a team already on spring break."
With most of the varsity regulars coming back next season, Wyandt said the potential is there for a big year in 2012-13. He cautioned, however, that a lot of hard work lies between this year's finish and next season's first practice.
"These kids have heard that they are going to be good for the next couple of years," he said, "but they need to remember most of our league is as young or even younger than they are. They'll have to out-work the competition.
"We will provide the opportunities to get better during the off-season, but the players must decide how good they want to be and what they want to do to get there...As we learned several times this season, just showing up will not get us where we want to be."
Senior co-captain Jake Hanson
(photo by Jim Lindquist)
The Tiger coach added that the departing senior class played a big part in his team's growth this winter.
"We had a mature and intelligent group of seniors who always did their share without complaint," he said. "They set a good example of sticking with it even when things weren't going their way as individuals. They will be missed."
