"I-94 Invite Champs"
Coach Fehringer is out on the road recruiting, so I have the duty of writing the blog for these past 2 games! Hopefully the insight from the assistant's side may be refreshing and a little humorous.
Earlier in the year, you might have recalled we played for the "MEGA BOWL" which consisted of us winning 3 games in a row, and 2 of them being in the Cobblestone Classic. The outcome of this "MEGA BOWL" was bigger than we expected as us coaches. The guys really embraced the fact of having a mini tournament in the season to get through tough stretches of games. Seeing the enthusiasm they brought to those games to win the "MEGA BOWL" inspired us to have another tournament to help us snag these last 3 Mon-Dak conference games. We chose the name "I-94 Invite" because I-94 is the interstate we must travel down to get to Danville, IL which is where the DII National Championship is held.
The first game of the tournament started with Lake Region, and as the video in the post from last week shows, was one for the ages! The next 2 games versus Bismarck State and United Tribes were going to be a test for our guys, not only mentally but physically as well. With Tribes being the team we have to beat in order to host the 1st round of Region XIII tournament, having it be the championship game for the "I-94 Invite" couldn't be any more perfect.
BISMARCK STATE
Coming into this game that there was a buzz going around town from how exciting our previous game was against Lake Region. We knew that with this buzz, we were going to get more fans at the game than we have in the past. As the Lady Jacks game was counting down in the 2nd OT, there was hardly any room for fans to sit!
After tip-off, our guys came out of the gate letting McCloud get an easy 3, which made us nervous because we could not let him get going! The next 5 minutes were one of those times as an assistant coach where you hope the head coach has something up his sleeve because you don't have a clue what to do! Our guys were getting good shots, but the ball just wouldn't fall through the net! As the first half came to a close, the guys started to settle in and started playing Lumberjack basketball. We went into halftime with a lead of 41-38.
The second half our guys got a sense of urgency and turned up their intensity! This win was truly a team effort because there were 5 guys who scored 12 points or more and a final score of 91-78.
Julian Vasquez- 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Billy Engel- 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
Jalyn Turner- 14 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
Xavier Cruz- 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Patrick Robinson- 12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist.
UNITED TRIBES
One of the things you do not want to happen to you as an assistant coach (especially this part of the season) is to get sick. Getting everything ready for practice, games, etc. takes a lot of time and having a cloud over your head does not help one bit. The only thing that could make this worse is if I would get Coach Fehringer sick.......... which happened!
The reason why I tell you these details is because it changes how you practice leading up to games. We cannot let our players catch our cold, because if any one of them goes down, our strategy changes. So with Coach Fehringer in the stands giving direction, and my voice whispering in the midst of the shoe squeaking and ball bouncing, we prepare for the championship game of the "I-94 Invite."
Going to Tribes we knew it was going to be tough to win because they have only lost 1 time while at home. Along with that, they were very competitive when they came here and gave us a run for our money. We knew we had to slow down their point guard and get to their shooters in order for us to come out victorious. The game started off with us scoring 16 of our 22 points in transition, which is exactly what we wanted to do. But on the flip side, they had 10 of their 20 points in transition as well, and 6 additional points from the free throw line. At halftime we were only up by 7 and we were still not sticking 100% to the game plan defensively.
After another motivating speech by Coach Fehringer, the team came out guns blazing and got a quick 15 point lead on them. Just as we knew would happen, Tribes got on a roll as well and started to make a comeback by hitting a few 3's and getting us to force contested shots and get quick turnovers. There are times in games where you want your guys to fight through their own mistakes and weather the storms by themselves. On occasion, there are times when the basketball gods come in and help them out when they aren't quite getting the message, which is what happened to them....... Media Timeout! The minute timeout helped our guys focus in and forget about what happened the previous 5 minutes prior, and finish out the rest of the game strong. The team came together and once again played Lumberjack basketball and finished the game in an exciting and enjoyable way winning 94-71.
The last win now makes the Lumberjacks record 23-4 overall and 5-2 in the Mon-Dak conference.
The team making a 94 with their hands for being champs
NOTABLE ACCOMPLISMENT
Julian Vasquez was named the Mon-Dak Player of the Week for the 2nd time this year! His record setting performance in last weeks overtime win against Lake Region earned him this award. He scored 53 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and dished out 5 assists. Congrats Julian!
Mark on your calendars 15th for another one of our Lil' Swishers camp. This time it will be held at the Woodshed starting at 9am and going until 12 noon for grades 1-5. Hope to see your camper(s) there!!!
Thanks for all the support this season and we will see you at the next home game February 17th at the WOODSHED!!
Get Jacked Up!!!
-Dano Fagerlund
This video below is one we made to promote our team this year. Hopefully everyone enjoys it!
