Milaca heads into crucial
RRC, sub-section games
Posted 2/6/03

Milacaís boys basketball team hosts North Branch tonight (Thursday) at 7:30, then travels to Hinckley Saturday afternoon to face Hinckley-Finlayson at 2:30 p.m.

Against North Branch, the Wolves will be bidding to remain in the race for the Rum River Conference title.

Against Hinckley-Finlayson, Milaca will have an opportunity to strengthen its claim for the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Sub-Section 18AA Tournament.

"Theyíre both big games," said Milaca Coach Jeff Meyer. "But, weíve had a lot of big games already and, at this point of the season, every game looks to be a big one."

Milaca moved its record to 12-3 last week, stopping Big Lake 66-47 in a RRC game Tuesday, Jan. 28, at Big Lake before topping Braham 67-58 in a non-conference game Thursday, Jan. 30, at Braham.

The win at Big Lake boosted the Wolves to an 8-2 Rum River mark, one game behind co-leaders North Branch and St. Michael-Albertville, which are both 9-1.

The win at defending Sub-Section 18AA champion Braham gave the Wolves a 6-0 record against Sub-Section 18AA teams, with games against Hinckley-Finlayson Saturday, Mora Feb. 14 (at Milaca) and Pine City Feb. 25 (at Pine City) remaining.

Hinckley-Finlayson, which topped Braham 62-58 in January, is 14-2 overall and unbeaten against Sub-Section 18AA teams. The Jaguars, who lead the Great River Conference with a 9-0 record, travel to Braham Feb. 21, then journey to Foley the following night.

Vikings tough on Wolves

North Branch trimmed Milaca 69-50 Dec. 20 (Milacaís other RRC setback was at St. Michael-Albertville).

And, in four seasons as Milaca head coach, Meyer is still looking for his first win against veteran North Branch Coach Bill Baumann.

"Theyíve always been tough on Milaca, even when I was playing at Milaca (1987-89) they were tough on us," said Meyer. "They shoot the three-point basket as well as anyone and when that shot is dropping for them they can really get on a roll."

North Branch, which is 13-6 overall and coming off a 55-45 RRC win at Chisago Lakes Friday, sank 11 three-pointers in its win over Milaca Dec. 20. The Vikings led 43-27 at halftime.

"We more or less gave them the three-point shot in that game," said Meyer. "This time we may put more outside pressure on them and try not to give their shooters a good look at the basket."

Baumann is in his 24th season as head coach at NorthBranch. The three-point shot has been a vital part of the

Viking offense the past three or four seasons.

"You have to adapt your coaching to your playersí skills and abilities," said Baumann. "For many years we had some 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-7 players, so we stressed getting the ball inside. We havenít had as many of those guys in recent years but weíve had some very good shooters. So we moved our game outside."

However, the Vikings moved inside on offense in early January to break a slump in scoring.

"Our offense wasnít clicking, so we went away from the outside game and concentrated on getting the ball inside," said Baumann. "We had success and it also seemed to boost our three-point shooting.

"We have several good shooters and they all have the green light when they get a good look at the basket.

"We know Milaca is a very good team. The center (senior Eric Bergstrom) can really make his presence felt and, like us, they have several fine shooters."

The Vikings open with 5-10 junior Britt Baumann (the coachís son), 6-2 junior Matt Fletcher and 5-11 Jared Gagne at guard spots and 6-6 senior Tyler Higley and 6-0 junior Jake Anderson inside. The Vikings also use 6-3 senior Jeremy Jaques, 6-0 junior Jeremy Anderson, 6-1 sophomore Tony Beaver and 6-0 senior Darren Breslin.

Fletcher scored 28 points to lead the Vikings in their earlier win over the Wolves. Jake Anderson drilled four three-pointers in that game while Baumann and Fletcher each had three.

Jaguars rolling

With four starters returning from last yearís 15-10 team, Hinckley-Finlayson Coach Tim Schmitz had expectations for this season.

"We had a good group back and so far weíve played pretty well," said Schmitz, whoís in his sixth season as head coach and 16th year at H-F. "Weíre not real big so we try to take advantage of our quickness and balance. We try to play the whole floor on offense and defense."

The coachís son, 5-10 senior guard Andy Schmitz, is in his fourth season as a starter and leads the Jaquars with a 21-point scoring average.

"Heís very good--one of the top players weíll see," said Milacaís Meyer.

The other Jaguar starters are 6-3 senior post Kenrick Williams (11.0 scoring average), 6-2 senior post Jake Morgan (10.0), 6-0 sophomore forward Spencer Bartz (15.5) and 5-10 senior guard Tom Linden (4.5).

Hinckley-Finlaysonís losses were non-conference games against Esko and Moose Lake-Willow River.

"Esko has a great team and just outplayed us," said Tim Schmitz. "We didnít play very well against Moose Lake-Willow River."

Last year, Milaca topped Hinckley-Finlayson 70-63 at Milaca, with Jon Matthews, now a senior, scoring 16 points. Andy Schmidt had 26 for the Jaguars.

Milaca 66, Big Lake 47

The Wolves completed a regular-season sweep over the Hornets by taking a 33-20 halftime edge and holding a 21-11 edge in the final quarter.

Bergstrom, who made 11 of 15 shots from the field, led Milaca with 26 points and 10 rebounds while senior guard Tim Veurink, who was 4-6 from three-point range, scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Matthews added 12 points and five rebounds.

The Wolves, who shot 50 percent (24-48) from the field, had just 11 turnovers.

Milaca 67, Braham 58

Trailing 48-42 after three quarters, the Wolves outscored the Bombers 25-10 in the fourth quarter to drop Braham to a 10-3 record.

"We were able to get the ball inside to Eric and he converted his shots," said Meyer. "We beat a very good team."

Bergstrom, who had 13 points in the fourth quarter, finished with 23 while also hauling in 14 rebounds--12 on the defensive board. The 6-10 senior made nine of 12 shots from the field and all five of his free-throw attempts.

Veurink and sophomore guard Adam Ruis added 13 points each while Matthews and junior guard Daren Koppendrayer each scored seven points.

Sophomore guard Josh Vaughan, son of Braham Head Coach Robert Vaughan, led all scorers with 37 points, which included five three-pointers.

"They set for screens for him and he was pretty hot," said Meyer. "We played well on defense in the final quarter and held him to five points."

The Bombers were without standout 6-3 freshman guard Isaiah Dahlman, who was sidelined with the flu.

Milaca, which had a 32-28 edge in rebounds, shot 51 percent from the field (25-49) while Braham shot 37.7 percent (20-53).