When working with student-athletes during a college basketball season it can be very easy to loose focus over a 5 month span of competing for wins, and losses. One thing we attempt to do at Dakota College is to keep a sense "child-like enthusiasm" for a game WE are fortunate to play. Over the past two weeks we have progressively earned a bid into a tournament known as the "Mega-Bowl" (yes, reference to Semi-Pro movie), and successfully won three games this week to become champions. There was a short celebration following Saturday's victory over Trinity Bible. WE are attempting to wire our TEAM to understand the necessity of playing each game as the most important game on the schedule. In order to be a great TEAM we must keep our horizons short while striving to reach our pinnacle at the right time, February and March.
This weekend Dakota College hosted the 1st annual Cobblestone Classic held at "The Woodshed".
GAME 1 vs Northland Technical and Community College: Final Score 92-52 (Win)
The first half seemed to be a defensive battle as the score was 36-23 after 20 minutes of action. Our TEAM did a tremendous job a playing suffocating defense while rotating out of natural, and designed traps. WE continued to play with great energy on the defensive end coming into the second half as the ball began to fall into the hoop a little more often for our TEAM. Eventually we would break away from the pack with consecutive stops and scores as pressure continued to cause problems. When it was all said and done four players found themselves in double figures led by back up point guard Xavier Cruz who scored 22 points. Freshman guard Jalyn Turner who came to the Lumberjacks from Chicago played aggressively and found himself with 16 points.
GAME 2 vs Trinity Bible: Final Score 101-81 (Win)
This contest was much closer than the score appears as Trinity Bible played us very well and exposed several weaknesses. At half-time the WE held a 7 point lead, but clearly was struggling to execute at a high level. Trinity handled the pressure well limiting turnovers and created confusion with some zone play against our offense. Once again the TEAM seemed to rally down the stretch as they played together on both ends of the floor. WE had 20 assists on 38 baskets (52%), held Trinity Bible to 33% from the field, and shot 40% from the arc (10/25) to separate the last 5 minutes of the game.
Julian Vasquez led the TEAM with 23 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in 30 minutes of play. Cruz added 17 to the bunch while Freshman Travis Frye had a solid game scoring 13 points, and collecting 8 rebounds. Our interior play has not been special thus far, but Freshman Wesley Harrison played much more aggressive with 12 points along the way going 5-6 from the field.
COMING UP:
The Lumberjacks are back in action at "The Woodshed" on Tuesday evening against Turtle Mountain Community College. TMCC is located just 45 minutes away so WE expect the atmosphere to be great, along with the competitive nature of the game. Come check the TEAM out as tip-off is at 8pm following the Ladyjacks at 6pm.
Get JACKED UP,
Cory Fehringer
