The Tigers finished 8-5 in the Missota Conference, good enough for fourth place in the final league standings.
"I would have liked to have done a little better in the conference and we would have liked to have another shot at Lakeville North in the section championship game," coach Shane Wyandt said.
Wyandt said several games stood out as especially memorable over the past seasons. On the plus side, five victories stood out.
"We beat John Marshall at their place early in the season and then in our second conference game we came from 20 down to beat Red Wing in one of the best comebacks in my tenure here," he said.
"We also had a 'revenge' win at home against Chaska who had taken it to us pretty good at their place...We were hitting on all cylinders in our home win against Holy Angels and we had a great game against Northfield in the first round of the section. Were were playing without Zach Speikers and I really liked how our kids responded."
On the flip side were a handful of games for which Wyandt said he would like to have a do-over.
"We lost a really tough game (104-99 in overtime) early in the season to Lakeville North where we were ahead most of the game," Wyandt said. "We had some guys foul out late in a game where I thought we outplayed a very good team."
Wyandt listed three other times during the season where his team failed to play up to its potential.
"At the Hastings tournament we came out flat against Burnsville and learned a tough lesson," he said. "We thought we had what it took to win that tournament his year....We also didn't play very well in back-to-back losses to conference champion Shakopee and then in the section semifinals, we let a slow start beat us against John Marshall."
Seventeen Tigers eared varsity letters this season, including six seniors: Eli Rockett, Nick Varner, Mac Bassett, Johnny Dittman, Jordan DeCroock and Tyler VanWinkle.
"This was a great group of seniors who were kind of thrown to the wolves early in their careers," Wyandt said. "We needed to rush their development in order to compete and because of that they took a few lumps along the way. But they improved every year and regardless of some setbacks had a great senior season. They should be extremely proud. They will be missed."
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| Zach Speikers averaged 19 points a game (photo by J. Lindquist) |
"We also had a solid 10th grade group with some players who will certainly be in the mix and push for spots next season," Wyandt said.
All-Missota Conference awards as well as other team honors will be announced at the post-season awards banquet scheduled for April 9.
While acknowledging the loss a strong senior class, Wyandt expects his program to field another solid team next winter even with the move up to membership in the rugged South Suburban Conference.
"The Missota was as good top to bottom as any other in the state this year," he said. "It has been a great basketball league for a long time. I would argue that with anyone, but now we go to a league that is like that every year and with us and Shakopee it gets even better.
"We will put the work in and it should be some exciting basketball to watch in the future. My hope is that our youth players will be playing against the same top-level competition and out-working them on the way up."
