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| Darren Beenken 7th Tiger to score more than 1000 career points (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
Half of the games were decided by fewer than 10 points. Three came down to the final shot and three more went into overtime in the thrill-a-minute season.
"I feel this season was another big step forward," Tiger coach Shane Wyandt said. "We have been improving each year and have positioned ourselves for what should be an exciting 2013-14.
"Although we were disappointed at times with the close losses, we do realize how close we were to an 18 or 19-win season."
Eighteen players earned varsity letters for their work this winter, including three seniors: Darren Beenken, Alex Chadwick and Charles Anderson.
A strong junior class produced 11 monogram winners, including Johnny Dittman, Mac Bassett, Eli Rockett, Nick Varner, Tyler VanWinkle, Jordan DeCroock, Jordan Beschorner, Tyler Clayton, JD Hinks, Dallas Guyot and Sean McHenry.
Sophomore letterwinners included Zach Speikers, Wyatt Ferm, Andrew Larson and and Jackson Halstrom.
Individual award winners, including all-Missota Conference and honorable mention selections, will be announced at the post-season awards banquet scheduled for April 10.
Wyandt said several shining moments highlighted the season just completed. Near the top of the list was a 97-95 overtime over Spring Lake Park, then rated the No. 5 Class 3A team in Minnesota.
Wyandt also pointed to his team's two 20-point wins over conference rival Northfield; a 40-point blowout victory over section opponent Hastings; two narrow wins over Chanhassen, including the first-ever on the Storm's home floor and a post-season win over Rochester Century that avenged a regular season loss.
Beenken provided the biggest individual highlight when he became just the seventh male player in school history to crack the 1000-point barrier.
"If there was a disappointment," Wyandt said, "it was our inconsistent play, especially in close games. We won a few of the close ones, but lost some real heart-breakers. I felt we gave a couple of those games away with some critical mental errors in key spots."
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| Leading rebounder Eli Rockett (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
"North played extremely well but I felt we played a little scared in both games," he said.
"We did not follow our game plan. We had some individuals play well but did not play well as a team either time. This will be a key thing to turn around next year."
With the loss of only three seniors from this year's team, Wyandt said that the outlook for next year is bright although he cautioned nothing can be taken for granted.
"We need to learn to finish better," he said. "We will return a number of very good players with quality experience and should have some nice players to add to that. But we again have to remember that many of the teams in the conference return some big name players as well.
"We must outwork those other teams. We have to expect some close games next year and must do a better job of handling those situations and making the necessary plays. If we can do that I like our chances."
Before putting the season in his rear view mirror, Wyandt said he wanted to pay tribute to the contributions of his three senior players.
"Our seniors were a huge part of the significant improvement we've made the past few seasons," he said. "They will be missed, but they should be proud of the impact they made on our program."
22 Zach Speikers - 10
24 JD Hinks - 11
30 Dallas Guyot - 11
33 Sean McHenry - 11
34 Andrew Larson - 10
41 Wyatt Ferm - 10
42 Jackson Halstrom -10
