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One of my father’s favorite expressions is, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.”
That saying came to mind as I watched the Caledonia girls basketball
team topple two very tall and talented foes enroute to their second
straight state tournament appearance. The local girls sent the Winona
Cotter girls home with second-place medals following the East
Sub-section championship game March 1 and then handed Myron Glass’
Lourdes Eagles a five-point loss in the Section One AA championship
game.
When I saw Cassie Gran (listed at 5’6”) standing next to 6’3” Cotter
center Ginny Gilbertson during a free throw attempt shortly into the
sub-section game, the Biblical story of David and Goliath came to mind.
Gilbertson, who is heading to Kansas State on a basketball scholarship
looked down at Cassie and smiled. It wasn’t a real nice smile. It was
kind of menacing. It didn’t seem to faze the spunky Caledonia junior,
however. I think it fired Cassie up a little more.
Cotter had handed the Warriors a 21-point shellacking back in January.
It was one of just three losses the Warriors suffered all year. It
appeared as if Gilbertson and company figured the sub-section game was
going to be a cakewalk, and a warm-up to the Section One finals against
arch rival Lourdes.
A funny thing happened to Cotter, however. They ran into a buzz-saw
called the Caledonia Warriors. The Warriors slapped on a relentless
full-court press. When Cotter did get the ball past mid-court, they
switched into a half-court trap. The undersized Warriors exhibited some
of the best blocking out techniques I’ve ever seen under the basket,
and pulled down rebound after rebound.
Junior guard Laquita Becker, who gave up nearly a foot to Gilbertson
and several other of the Ramblers, kept driving the lane, forcing the
larger, and slower Ramblers to foul her.
Sarah Colleran, Megan King, Libby Augedahl, Brianna Vick, Alecia
Fruechte, Aly Meyer, Gran, and Becker left it all out on the
floor during the very physical game against Cotter. The game was
stopped at least five times because of blood on the floor. Augedahl
spent quite a bit of time during the waning minutes of the game with a
bloody nose. I found later that it was broken. But thanks to Doc
Schoeberl, another important team member, Libby’s nose is going to be
fine. In fact, she didn’t even have to wear a protective mask in the
section championship game against Lourdes.
Speaking of the Lourdes game, it was basically “second verse, same as the first.”
Lourdes wasn’t quite a big as Cotter, but close. Once again the smaller
Warriors had to contain a tall and talented center, this time 6’1”
Laura Melquits.
The Warriors jumped out to an early lead, continued to use their
patented full-court defense and run-and-gun offense. They built up a
nine-point 26-17 halftime lead. That lead provided some comfort for the
large crowd attending the game, and those listening to the game on the
radio. But an 8-0 run by the Eagles brought everyone to the edges of
their seats. The Warrior offense went to sleep, not scoring a single
point for five straight minutes.
When Lourdes took their only lead of the night (36-35) with five
minutes to play, I was one of many who became more than a little
nervous. This was Rochester Lourdes they were playing. The team that
has won 17 Section One AA titles and eight state titles. They were
being coached by the legendary Myron Glass. Would the Warriors fold? No
way!
Gran, who had run into foul trouble returned to the game, Caledonia
went on an 8-2 run, and won the game with clutch free throws by King
and Augedahl, two fast-break lay-ups by Gran, and a big steal by King
to ice the game.
It was a team effort by a bunch of quick, tenacious, talented athletes, and an excellent coaching staff.
I’d like to wish the Caledonia girls the best of luck at the state
tournament this week. Hopefully, they can bring back a large trophy to
add to the already crowded trophy case, just like the football team did
last fall.
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