Column: Aaron Worm,  Behind the Mic

The last time I covered a team at the state basketball tournament was in 2001 when I was a sports director in Austin.

Hayfield got to the Class 2A boys’ championship game and lost to a very good team from Kenyon-Wanamingo. Both communities filled the stands at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, and I assume the streets were pretty quiet in those communities that weekend.

Last weekend I got my first chance since then to cover a team at the state basketball tournament and enjoyed every moment of it.

New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva came up just a bit short in their quest for a perfect season and a state title at the girls’ basketball tournament, but their tourney run ended with a lot of smiles in front of a packed house on the campus of Concordia University in St. Paul with third-place medals and two state records by Carlie Wagner.

I have been asked before if I ever use catch phrases or give players nicknames during broadcast. I have never tried to be a Chris Berman, who has given a middle name to pretty much every pro athlete, or a Kevin Harland, who has given many phrases, including “buckle up.”

I spent some time over the weekend trying to come up with a clever nickname for the NRHEG girls’ basketball team. Near-perfect Panthers is okay, but I wanted something to describe what kind of team this is. The only phrase that kept echoing in my head isn’t a catch phrase, but more of a quote, “Know your role.” Back in the late 90s I was a big wrestling fan of and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and he used that quote along with many other catch phrases.

But that is what this team did and did well.

Senior Anna Schlaak led the team in rebounding and blocks and was second on the team in assists. Sophomore Jade Schultz was the outside threat, hitting more than 180 3-pointers this season. Senior Tori Raimann and junior Katie Cole both played in all the games this season and helped solidify the starting lineup in the backcourt and in the paint. Wagner, of course, was the go-to player. Wagner has now scored 1,700 points for her career and has two more years to add onto that total. Double or triple teams didn’t matter, Wagner found a way to get to the bucket.

Sophomore Hannah Lundberg comes off the bench and is a scrappy player that every team loves to have. Lundberg told me after the third-place game her second home is on the floor.

“You always have the weekend to heal up,” she said.

If there was a loose ball, Lundberg always seemed to be scrambling for it. Junior Raelin Schue and seventh-grader Maddie Wagner clocked quality minutes to give the starters a breather.

A great season was capped off with Abby Crabtree, Marnie Wagner, Paige Overgaard and Danielle Krueger on the floor to finish off the third-place game.

This was a team effort where everyone had a role to play. It had been over a decade since I got to cover a basketball team at state, and along with all the fans in the NRHEG school district, fans around southern Minnesota and we in the media, we all enjoyed the postseason ride.

 

KATE Sports Director Aaron Worm’s column usually appears each Monday in the Tribune.