Category Archives: basketball

basketball, Campus, College, sports, Uncategorized, Winona State University

Future Bright For Warriors After Shortened Season

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The Winona State University women’s basketball team finished their 2020-21 campaign this weekend after a sweep of the Upper Iowa University Peacocks, a feat which head coach Scott Ballard described as difficult to accomplish during the shortened season.

“We had four separate quarantines during our season and it’s really hard to gain any momentum when you have interruptions all the time,” Ballard said, “practice is important to gain confidence in what you’re doing, when it gets taken away periodically, the confidence isn’t there.”

Ballard said winning both games of a weekend series against the same team is challenging because of the lack of opportunity to adjust due to the infrequency of practices.  “You can talk but there’s no repetitions,” Ballard said. He added there is also the extra layer of motivation for the team that loses the first game.

Despite the lack of a tournament seed due to the field being cut in half from years prior, the Warriors will have much to look forward to next season.

An extra year of eligibility for their four senior starters, each of whom have continued to develop in Ballard’s program, will provide the Warriors with a combination of experienced talent to match the youth of four incoming high school recruits.

Perhaps the most decorated member of the team, three-time NSIC second team All-Conference selection and former WSU and NSIC Freshman Female Athlete of the Year Allie Pickrain, has dealt with a knee injury the entire season resulting in her playing time decrease.  The injury will require surgery.  The sharp-shooting wing does not expect to miss any time next season.

Video: Allie Pickrain drains a wide-open three against Upper Iowa University.

While Pickrain has seen her minutes decrease, she has stayed a threat through efficiency, shooting 51.9 percent from beyond the arc.  Pickrain also achieved a career goal in reaching 1,000 points.

The team gathers to celebrate Allie Pickrain’s 1000 point. Photo: WSU Athletics

“At first I felt like I was doing something wrong,” Pickrain said, “but in reality, it’s because this season really, although it sucks to say, it didn’t mean that much because we’re coming back next year.”

The Warriors did not view this season as a waste of time.  They implemented a new defensive scheme, switching defensive matchups, a break from their traditional man-to-man defense which relied on fighting around screens to stay with their assignment.

The style of defense requires players to be versatile in defending across all five positions and has seen its popularity increase since the recent Golden State Warriors championship seasons.

On offense, the Warriors had to find a way to combat the triple teams sent against leading scorer and former NSIC first team All-Conference selection Taylor Hustad.

The Warriors also faced the backed-off approach teams took toward senior point guard Emily Kieck, who was coming off a season that saw her three-point shooting percentage fall almost 15 points from 32.2 percent to 17.8 percent.

Center Emma Fee, who has seen her role increase each year on the squad, made the most of this season benefitting from the new system and increased opportunities.

“Emma had to wait her turn and pay her dues behind some all-conference players,” Ballard said, “had to be patient and keep working hard, and she didn’t get bitter she got better and now she’s an all-conference caliber player.”

Fee has transitioned from a five minute-per-game player to starter averaging 10.8 points per game with a 30-point outing against Sioux Falls on January 17.

Video: Emma Fee sinks a shot to beat the buzzer and secure the win against Concordia St. Paul.

“Emma’s scary to go against, she’s a big body, she’s in your face, there’s not a whole lot you can do.” Pickrain said.

Next season the Warriors will look to get to the regional tournament for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign, and the team hopes there will be fans in the stands to take the journey with them.

basketball, cotter, Uncategorized

Restoring Culture at Cotter

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The game clock dwindles down to the final seconds as the players shake each other’s hands.

Adding the polite comment of, “good game” or, “way to shoot the rock.”

The buzzer sounds.

It’s 95-42.

The Winona Cotter boys’ basketball team has been eliminated, ending their season with a record of 2 wins, 24 losses.

For many, this would seem like a season to forget.

For the Ramblers, they have a lot to be proud of.

This was the first year for Cotter head coach TJ Lowe.

Lowe, a former college athlete and skills trainer, has worked with players on reaching goals, but has never had a whole team to lead.

“I did a lot of individual work with people,” Lowe said.  “Like somebody that’s Division-II and they want to get to a better school, or even Division-I.”

Lowe started with the boy’s freshmen team at Winona Cotter during the 2015/16 season  before working his way up to Junior Varsity.

Coach Lowe drawing up a game plan for the Ramblers.

There he coached for two years before a job promotion pulled him away.

After a year away from the teams, Lowe found a way to clear his schedule, and according to him, was asked back by “popular demand.”

Coming into the 2019-20 season, the Cotter boys’ basketball program had not had a winning record in their division for the past ten years (MNBasketballHub.) Coach Lowe wasn’t sure what he was getting when he held the first practice last fall.

“They were freshmen when I was still there, so one or maybe two kids would come up for a half in a tournament and I’d let them play a couple minutes,” Lowe said. “Other than that, I knew nothing about my team.”

The team rostered only three seniors, two of those injured, and a bunch of juniors and sophomores who hadn’t seen solid minutes at the varsity level.

Worse, the team had become used to losing.  The narrative surrounding the Cotter boy’s basketball program had dropped significantly since their championship runs of the 1980s.

Coach Lowe said he believes he can reinstate the powerhouse narrative of Cotter basketball.  He knows it’s going to be one step at a time.

“I think a lot of kids don’t get to their full potential because the mental side of it is holding them back,” Lowe said. “All year I said, ‘we have to come together as a team first, we can’t bicker.’”

Being able to play as a team helped the Ramblers secure two victories on the season, but there were many more successes being made throughout the year.

After the first couple losses, Coach Lowe rallied his team , and promised improvement.

“First they came in hanging their heads, and I said, ‘Hey, this is just the beginning.  We are going to put time in the gym, and we are going to get better,’” Lowe said.  “We have to believe that we are going to do that, we have to take these steps.  Next thing you know, people are starting to shoot better, we had multiple people in the top 100 of Minnesota basketball, in all divisions.”

Seeing the ball go through the hoop is definitely a confidence booster, but Lowe said he knew that was the beginning.

“The next hump was knowing what it was like to maintain a lead or be able to stay in the game,” Lowe said.  “We did get the one win against Coulee-Christian, but that is the one we were expecting to win.”

Thinking of the progress as a step by step solution sounds like a simple task.  It is not.

“You have to go through the trials and tribulations.  Otherwise you have no idea what you are doing out there,” Lowe said.  “They could have easily just said, ‘this blows, I don’t want to be here.’  But man, they just kept with it and I was very proud of them.”

Having a good relationship with the players is a must for Lowe.  With team and individual meetings, he has a chance to talk with each player and know what’s going on.

Ryan Todd has been around the Cotter boys’ basketball program for a few years as the junior varsity coach and has noticed the changing narrative of the varsity program.

“It’s not so much winning and losing games,” Todd said.  “Seeing their skills improve, and getting comfortable on the floor I think helps them buy in.  It’s night and day how much better we are from the first practice.”

Watching the final game of the season, the progress and effort can be seen by anyone in the crowd.

Down 43-4 to start the game, frustration was running high as, “oh my god, we’re bad,” was muttered on the bench during a stretch of turnovers by one of the players.

Coach Lowe called a timeout and brought his team back together.

The ensuing five minutes was like watching a completely different team.

Plays were being executed, shots were falling, defensive stops were being made, and next thing they knew, they went on a 14-4 run against the number one team in the section.

Coach Lowe called another time out and brought his players in.

From the huddle you could hear Coach Lowe yelling, “this is how it is, this is how it could be!”

“This is how it is, this is how it could be!”

The game did end 95-42, but the second half was much closer than the first.

“It’s amazing how far we came, especially in a section like ours.  It was so easy to give up, but we kept stepping forward,” Lowe said.  “They made such a big jump this year, it was amazing, I’m very happy.”

Links

https://www.mnbasketballhub.com/standings/show/5372012?subseason=651301

basketball, Campus, College, Introvert, Journalism, Local, News, play by play, Radio, sports, voice, Winona

Finding A Voice

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I wake up, It’s Thursday.

The Winona State University women’s basketball team leaves today at 3:30 p.m. for games in Marshall, Minnesota and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

I, being the radio guy, cannot miss the bus as the men’s team does not arrive before the start of the women’s game.

Time to pack my bag and prepare for the fourth weekend on the road this season.

I’m a bit nervous as I’ve never really got on talking terms with any of the players.

They all do their thing while I sit there quietly and mind my business.

I’ve covered the WSU basketball teams for three years while working at the campus radio station, 89.5 KQAL, so you’d think I’d have a better relationship than this.

It’s just not the case.

I get to the bus stop, say hello to Coach Scott Ballard, and take my seat.

I’ve debated sparking conversation, but I don’t feel like the team is interested in my small talk, plus I feel like they discuss basketball enough as it is already.

Hours later, we arrived in Marshall.

They eat their team meal together at Texas Roadhouse or Pizza Ranch, I usually eat off to the side, then we head to the hotel for the night.

I’ve said two words since the start of the trip.

Team meal at Pizza Ranch in Marshall, Minnesota.

Being secluded and keeping to myself isn’t what I’d like to be doing, it just happens.

The nerves of saying something stupid or sitting where someone else wants to sit triggers my anxiety.

My boss and longtime radio professional Doug Westerman explained that it’s not unusual for radio personal to be introverts off the air.

“They just want that high energy ‘Hey everyone! Blah blah blah we got a great day in store for you!’ then all of sudden you’re walking down the hallway and they give you a nervous ‘hi.’”

How could someone be an introvert and be on the radio where you talk for hours?

Pat Broe, former KQAL Program Director and Sports Director, described the flipping of the switch from off-air to on-air as being trapped in a corner with no way out.

“There’s something about when that red light comes on that you have to start, you can’t do anything but be that person,” Broe said. “You’re trapped in a corner, you are live on air, there’s thousands of people listening to you, and you have to figure out a way to entertain them.”

Sounds pretty intense, but I found that to be accurate.

Waiting in the hotel lobby until the team leaves for their shoot around.

In the morning I checked out of my room at 11 a.m.

I sit in the hotel lobby until we leave for the game at 3 p.m.

5 o’clock rolled around and I plugged in the comrex, got my mics into position, and waited for my producer Ryan “Baby Shaq” Mandli to send the call my way.

“That’s going to do it for the Warrior Tip-Off Show as Buck Wallert is waiting in the R/A Facility in Marshall Minnesota, take it away Buck,” Baby Shaq said.

And I picked it right up with, “Welcome to the R/A Facility over here in Marshall Minnesota as we have a good match up in store for you tonight as your Winona State Warriors take on….”

Like that flip of a switch, I was in a zone.

Calling the Tip-Off Show before the women’s game in Marshall.

From saying two words in almost an entire day, to rattling off names, stats, and match up history, you would think I knew these players their whole lives.

Anything to paint the best picture possible for the listeners back home, as according to Doug Westerman, “radio is the theatre of the mind.”

Not talking at all, to saying thousands of words, then right back to not talking after the game bothered me.

It just didn’t make sense.

Mike Martin the original KQAL radio jock and now the guy who keeps the radio station going, met with me the next day and explained how radio gives you confidence.

“It makes you think on your feet, spontaneously, and being kind of a shy kid, you’re doing it in a room by yourself, so that kind of helps too,” Martin said. “You’re talking to people, but they aren’t right in front of you. You’re by yourself, but you’re not talking to yourself, there’s maybe hundreds of people.”

Thinking of the amount of people listening to me makes me even more nervous, do I sound okay? What if I say something I shouldn’t or panic?

And panic is just what I did the first time on air.

Pat Broe reflected on the first time we were thrown into the spotlight.

“It’s a day you and I will never forget.  I was producing and co-hosting, you were hosting, and neither of us knew what the heck we were doing.  TJ Leverentz and Tyler Jeffries kind of just gave us the keys and let us go and let us fail, and we did,” Broe said.  “I think we went to commercial 25 or more times; we didn’t turn our mics off one time, and there might have been a word that the FCC doesn’t like that got on the air.  Basically, anything that could have gone wrong went wrong.”

That was just over three years ago.

Now when I go on air, I have fun with it, take it and run.

Notes or no notes I was going to think of something.

“It’s so funny too, I thought I was prepared for that day, I thought I had enough information to put a show together, but I was not even remotely close,” Broe said.  “Now putting together a pregame show is easy.”

But it’s not always as easy as he says, when you’re having a bad day, you still have to be happy go lucky on air.

Martin explained this well when talking about his experience as a disc jockey.

“I had been just having a horrible bad day or something, and I was just grumpy…. Then I flip the mic on and immediately I’m cheering and I gotta play the role, I gotta play the radio guy,” Martin said. “Flipped the mic off again and went back into grumpy mode. This other guy in the control room with me said ‘how did you do that, how did you just change personality like that.’ And I’m just like ‘hey, that’s what they pay me to do.’”

I receive $20 for each game I call, as well as the free hotel rooms and couple of meals.

But, the radio has given me a voice, so I’d say I’m living the dream.