Post Messenger Recorder -

For those finding the holiday season's pace a little too slow, let me welcome you to high school basketball. NGHS fits the profile with their 2nd Annual "Holiday Tournament", which ran December 28-29. Deerfield, Monroe and Brodhead were guests of the Glarners. On December 30, the Knights made a trip to Milwaukee to play Pardeeville in, of all places, the Fiserv Forum...home of the Milwaukee Bucks and Marquette. Three games in three days. Why not?!

In game #1 of the tournament, it was Deerfield softening up the rims and hardcourts with a 69-60 win over Monroe. In the nightcap it was the Glarner Knights all over their once venerable State Line League rival, Brodhead, 72-48.

The Knights took control of this game from the opening tip when senior center "Maximus" Parman won the tip and promptly followed with the first 2 points of the game. Coach Sysko's boys kept relentless pressure on the Cardinals the entire game, with full-court traps and half-court ball pressure producing numerous turnovers. Senior guard Ethan Friedrich was the early beneficiary with two break-away layups off turnovers as the Knights raced to a 19-6 lead at the 8:46 mark.

Brodhead guard Gabe Bockhop brought the Cards to a 33-25 game at the break with some clever shooting, but that was the closest his team would ever get.

Glarner Knight junior Brett Warrel opened the second half with 5 unanswered points - a deuce followed by a nothing-but-net triple. When senior A.C. Strok stole and drove the distance to make it 40-25 at the 15:48 mark, it was more than the Cardinals could answer. The game was basically on auto pilot as the Knights cruised to a 72-48 victory, allowing all reserves plenty of playing time.

A.C. Strok finished his evening early with 21 points, while Ethan Friedrich followed with 18. Leading scorer for Brodhead was freshman Sam Searls, with 16.

Thursday, December 29, pitted Monroe against Brodhead in the consolation game and NGHS vs Deerfield for the championship. (Monroe would win over Brodhead, 76-56).

NIGHT #2

It was the Demons of Deerfield taking the title in the Championship game, 65-59, behind the leadership and scoring of senior Cal Fisher's 20 points. (BTW, Fisher is a baseball recruit headed to Florida State University.) This despite a smothering face guard (formerly called a "box-and-one" by us old timers) defense played against him all evening by the Knight's Ethan Friedrich, who wore him like a cheap suit.

At times the game resembled a tug-of-war more than a basketball game. The Knights opened a 24-18 lead late in the first half on a Ja'Kodey Strahm basket for their biggest lead of the game. The Demons whittled that lead down to a 31-29 deficit at the half.

The second half was close, with both teams trading scores and sharing the lead back and forth until the 4:40 mark when Fisher made an and-one to give his team their biggest lead of the night at 53-46. The Glarner Knights fought back when A.C. Strok buried a triple with 31.2 seconds to play, narrowing the gap to 61-59. When senior Max Parman intercepted the inbound pass, the Knights were very much in this game, alas, until a scrappy Demon defense forced a turnover under the basket giving the ball back to the Demons with 13.0 showing on the clock. Now forced to foul quickly, and in the double bonus, the Demon's Martin Kimmel went to the line...twice...making four consecutive free throws to close out the game 65-59.

This game was lacking in flow, both teams struggling to find any sense of rhythm. Much had to do with so many fouls (39!) being called. Perhaps some of the referees received new whistles for Christmas? Or, more likely, it really was just one of those rough-and-tumble kind of games. Deerfield got the better of this scenario, making 23 of 31 free throw attempts, while the Knights made only 4 of their 8 tries. Doing the math you'll find a disparity of 19 points at the line, a difficult hardship to overcome by any team. So yes, this game was won/lost at the charity stripe. Lesson learned.

NIGHT #3

It was early to bed early to rise as the Glarner Knight cagers were treated to a buffet breakfast at the Landhaus before boarding the bus to Milwaukee to play Pardeeville, as mentioned, in the Fiserv Forum. More than just a few mouths were agape as they got their first look inside this capacious Taj Mahal of basketball. (Think "Hoosiers", the movie, sans Coach Sysko measuring the height of the rim.)

Each team had trouble finding their range, their bearings, in this cavernous facility until Pardeeville's Coy Haseleu broke the ice after nearly three minutes of play to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead. His teammate added a triple, to which Max Parman came alive and responded with the next 5 unanswered points to tie the game 5-5 well into the game at the 12:44 mark. After an awkward start both teams settled down and played ball, now indifferent to their surroundings.

The Knight's junior guard Jake Roth provided a spark when he hit senior swingman A.C. Strok with a laser assist, which seemed to ignite their squad. Then came 67 seconds of basketball where Ethan Friedrich was apparently determined to make his own highlight reel, when he out hustled a Bulldog for a loose ball taking it the distance for a layup; buried a triple; and then took another loose ball on a break-away for another layup. The Glarner Knights repaired to the locker room with a 32-21 lead, having played every player that made the trip in this the first half. (Nice touch, Coach Sysko!)

The Bulldogs obviously held an informed discussion in their locker room as they came out and scored the first 7 points of the second half. But they were held at bay, the Knights refusing to relinquish the lead until the 4:22 mark when the Dogs went up 51-50. And now we had a game!

Seniors A.C. Strok and Max Parman each made good on their respective and-ones to give the boys from NG a 62-57 lead with 1:46 to play. Pardeeville's Elijah Achterberg answered with an and-one of his own to make it a 62-60 game. Strok snagged a key rebound off of a Demon miss with 42.6 seconds remaining, forcing the Bulldogs to quickly foul Jake Roth. Now in the double bonus, Roth splashed home both throws. Next it was Ethan Friedrich quickly fouled and he followed suit making his pair, giving the Knights a 66-60 lead. Roth stole a pass at midcourt, was immediately fouled, and again walked to the Fiserv line showing all the confidence as if he owned it - calmly sinking two more with 17.4 seconds to play. Yet again Friedrich was fouled, making one of his two and that, as we say, was that(!) as the Glarner Knights celebrated a 69-62 victory, now having learned and applied their lesson about free throws.

Scoring was delightfully balanced as Breckyn Thompson, Max Parman, and A.C. Strok registered 11 points each. Ethan Friedrich finished with 17 and Jake Roth, making the most of his opportunity, carded 10. Sophomore Caleb Gard would lead Pardeeville with 18 points.

Perhaps it is noteworthy that the "undercard" game was played later, when the Milwaukee Bucks took on the Minnesota Timberwolves. All the NG players and many of their faithful stayed as they continued in celebration well into the evening. HAPPY NEW YEAR!