Girls Hockey: No home ice advantage for Tigers

Maddie Bowe 28 saves (photo by Jim Lindquist)

A week before Christmas the Tigers are still looking for an early present, namely their first home win of the season.

Amy Menke scored the game's only goals, one midway through the second period and the other early in the third, to lead Shakopee (4-6-1) to a 2-0 Missota Conference win Friday night at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

Farmington, 1-7-1 for the season, is winless in four tries at Schmitz-Maki this season. The Tigers are 0-2 in Missota Conference play.

The Sabers outshot the Tigers 30-19 with Farmington sophomore goaltender Maddie Bowe finishing the night with 28 saves.

"We played pretty well overall," coach Jon Holmes said. "We knew we had to go in and limit their first line which has two of the top scorers in the state, and we held them to two which is good.

"We just weren't able to capitalize on our own chances. We hit some posts and had some very near misses that we just needed to bounce our way.... Games like this against we classify as toss-up games; it would just be extremely helpful to grab one or two of them."

Next Tuesday the Tigers get another opportunity to find success at Schmitz-Maki when Red Wing comes to town for a Missota Conference game. Friday they travel to New Prague for another league contest.

Boys BB: North rains on Tiger parade

Zach Speikers season-high 14 points (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Beating two state-ranked teams on the road in one week proved too tall of a task for the Tigers.

After edging Spring Lake Park (No. 10 Class 3A) in overtime Tuesday, Farmington was no match for Lakeville North (No. 10 Class 4A) Friday night in an 84-63 loss.

The win was unbeaten North's fourth straight. The loss snapped the Tigers' three-game win streak and left them with a 3-2 mark.

"When we ran our stuff we did some things offensively," Farmington coach Shane Wyandt said, "but the disappointing thing was how we let them dictate the flow of the game.

"When North  would get on a little run, we would start jacking up three's with no rebounders in sight. We talked before hand about not playing their game and we did exactly the opposite."

North, behind the brilliant play of senior PJ Macura (18 first half points), jumped to an early 24-16 lead before three-pointers by Zach Speikers and Mac Bassett and baskets by Speikers, NIck Varner and Eli Rockett pulled the visitors even at 28-28 with 5:39 to play.

Th rest of the half was a nightmare with the defending Section 1AAAA champions, forcing a rash of Tiger turnovers in an 18-6 run that all but put the game on ice. Farmington finished the half with a telling 15 turnovers.

Rockett scored two early baskets in the second half to get the visitors within eight at 46-38 but then Macura, a NCAA Division I recruit, went on a personal 10-2 run to extend the Panther lead. North's final 21-point bulge was its biggest of the night.

"They (North) have a very good basketball team with some outstanding individuals," Wyandt said. "When you get down to the difference in the two teams, they have been in and won a lot of big games and we are in the process of learning how to do that.

"We have to get back to work and from the looks of things, get healthy for our next two games before the holidays."

Wyandt was referring to the status of Bassett and Varner, both of whom left the floor with injuries. Bassett hurt his elbow early in the second half and did not return; Varner appeared to suffer a shoulder injury late in the contest.

Macura was a one-man wrecking crew for the Panthers, scoring 36 points in a variety of ways, including long three-pointers, mid-range jumpres, deft post moves and acrobatic tip-ins.

Rockett put together an 18-point, 11-rebound night to led the Tiger effort. Speikers had his best scoring night of the season with 14.

The Tigers make it three road games in a row Tuesday when they travel to Rochester Century before returning home Friday to entertain St. Paul Harding.

Tiger Scoreboard: December 15, 2012

Boys Basketball
Lakeville North 84 Farmington 63

Girls Hockey
Shakopee 2  Farmington 0

Girls BB: Buck too much for Tigers

Sofia Chadwick 23 points, 8 rebounds (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Red Wing's Tesha Buck blitzed the Tigers for 41 points as the Wingers beat Farmington 80-66 Thursday night in Red Wing.

The win raised the Wingers' season record to 7-2 and 1-0 in Missota Conference play. Farmington is 0-6; 0-1.

"Without a doubt, she (Buck) is the best player we will face this season," Tiger coach Sondra Chadwick said,  "and whenever we started to make a little run, she’d be right there with a key steal or basket."

Buck wasn't always dominant though. Midway through the first half the Tigers were up 14-10 before Buck began to light things up. She scored Red Wing's final 12 points of the half as the Wingers hit the break with a 36-29 lead.

"They (Red Wing) are currently ranked No. 5 in Class AAA.," Chadwick said. 'They are a very tough team but we came out with a lot of intensity and our girls were hitting their shots."

Red Wing came our hitting on all cylinders after intermission building an 18 point-lead before the feisty Tigers fought back to cut the deficit back to 69-59 with a little over four minutes to play.

Buck's blockbuster performance overshadowed quality outings by several Tiger players. Sofia Chadwick canned six three-pointers on the way to a team-high 23 points. Abby Gallus and Alicia Hett each reached career-highs in scoring with 20 and 16 points respectively.

Alicia Hett career-high 16 points (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Chadwick had eight boards and Hett seven to pace the rebounding effort. Gallus had three assists and Chadwick came up with a pair of steals.

Coach Chadwick said there were many pluses to take away from the road loss, including the team's balanced scoring, its six-for-eight three-point shooting, and its ability to handle the ball against Red Wing's full-court pressure.

"The things we need to continue to focus on are our execution on offense, rebounding and defensive intensity," she said.

"These girls have had a steep learning curve this first part of the season and they are now beginning to look like an experienced varsity squad. They did not back down in this game and kept in it until the end. For us to start with a lead, and play with the level of intensity that we did until the end, I am very proud of these young girls."

Next Tuesday the Tigers host section rival Rochester Century in a non-conference game at Tiger Gym.

Boys Swimming: Tigers depth beats Hopkins

Evan Carufel won one-meter dive (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Hopkins finished first in seven of 12 events but Farmington piled up the points in places two through five to roll past the Royals 95-89 in a non-conference dual meet Thursday night at the Dodge Middle School pool.

"The boys really stepped up," Tiger coach Ryan Hamen said. "Our top swimmers swam at least one off-event and still finished strong. I'm very proud of how our guys swam."

The Farmington 200 freestyle relay team of Eric Schimmel, Christian Bell, Dan Berg and Christopher Kirchamann was a winner as were four Farmington individuals: Schimmel, 50 freestyle; Kirchmann, 100 freestyle; Evan Carufel, diving and Austin Kueck, 500 freestyle.

The Tigers scored second place points in four events, including Oliver Chow in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke; Kirchmann in the 100 breaststroke and and Berg in the 50 freestyle.

No fewer than eight Farmington entries contributed thrid place efforts in the victory: Molnar, 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke; Kueck, 200 individual medley; Nick Stephan, 100 breaststroke; Tyler Lerbakken, 50 freestyle; Dahlton Bell, 100 freestyle; Jonathan Bovee, diving and Aaron Cochnauer, 100 butterfly.  

"Tonight was also a real learning night for many of our swimmers," Hamen said. "We have 63 guys on the team and about 25 of them are new to the sport.

 "They had a lot of butterflies and nerves working against them but they now know what competitive swimming is about. It got rowdy and there were a lot of cheers for everyone."

Next Tuesday the Tigers host Prior Lake in another non-conference dual at the Dodge pool.