Belle Plaine used a strong second half to defeat Tri-City United, 67-52, Tuesday, Feb. 28 in the regular season finale for both teams.
TCU opened up an early 19-5 lead but by halftime the two teams were nearly heads-up. Belle Plaine hit a three-pointer to go ahead by six points with seven minutes to play and continued to extend their lead the remainder of the contest.
With two players ill and a third player nursing a bad ankle the Tri-City United girls basketball team went into their Section 2AA, North Sub-Section playoff game Tuesday, Feb. 28 not at full strength.
Belle Plaine took advantage of the absences and defeated the Titans, 43-33, ending TCU’s season.
Two Tri-City United senior wrestlers returned from the Class AA State Wrestling Tournament with All-State Honors.
Caden O’Malley and Reyes each reached the award podium after placing in the top six of their respective weight classes Saturday, March 4.
O’Malley, wrestling at 182 pounds, placed third overall. Reyes, wrestling at 220 pounds, placed fourth overall. A third senior, Cole Franek, competed at 132 pounds but did not place.
Tri-City United Activities Director Chad Johnson gave a proposal to the school board Feb. 13 recommending that the high school sports and activities remove themselves from the Minnesota River Conference (MRC) and join the Big South Conference (BSC). The middle school sports and activities would remain where they are.
One will be making his first appearance. One will be making his second appearance. One will be making his third appearance.
Three Tri-City United wrestlers have advanced to the Class AA State Individual Tournament after winning their respective weight classes at the Section 2AA Meet Saturday in St. Peter.
Seniors Cole Franek, Caden O’Malley, and Marco Reyes will start their State Tournament experience Friday, March 3 at 9 a.m. at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
One will be making his first appearance. One will be making his second appearance. One will be making his third appearance.
Three Tri-City United wrestlers have advanced to the Class AA State Individual Tournament after winning their respective weight classes at the Section 2AA Meet Saturday in St. Peter.
Seniors Cole Franek, Caden O’Malley, and Marco Reyes will start their State Tournament experience Friday, March 3 at 9 a.m. at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
The Tri-City United boys basketball team was defeated twice last week, once in Minnesota River Conference action and once in a non-conference game.
Blue Earth Area (BEA) downed the Titans, 65-50 Tuesday, Feb. 14. Lester Prairie pulled out a 73-57 win Thursday, Feb. 16. The losses drop the Titans’s overall record to 9-13 and 3-8 in the conference.
In the loss to BEA, the Titans were outscored 41-30 in the second half of this non-conference game.
A pair of wins last week has moved the Minnesota River boys hockey team into a tie for third place in the Big South Conference standings.
The Bulldogs defeated Windom Area, 3-2, Monday, Feb. 13 and defeated Fairmont/Martin County West, 5-1, Thursday, Feb. 16. The wins improved their record to 9-7 in the conference which is tied with Marshall and Windom Area.
Goaltender Ayden Christ had a good week, stopping 22-of-24 shots against Windom Area and 24-of-25 against the Cardinals.
The dual meet season has come to an end for the Tri-City United wrestling team Thursday, Feb. 16 in the Section 2AA team Tournament.
The Titans, the No. 6 seed, opened with a 58-23 win over Orono. This set up a match with No. 3 seed Scott West in which the Titans were defeated 50-22.
The top four seed, New Prague, Watertown-Mayer/Mayer Lutheran, Scott West, and St. Peter advanced to Saturday’s semifinals.
TCU sophomore Lexi Marcussen scored a game-high 22 points and added six rebounds, three assists, and two steals in a 57-51 Minnesota River Conference win over Lester Prairie Monday, Feb. 13.
Marcussen scored 13 of her points in the second half and she connected on three, three-pointers.
Emma Skluzacek finished with 10 points and three rebounds. Audrey Vosejpka added eight points, six rebounds, four steals, and three assists.
The third time was the charm for the Waconia girls hockey team in the Section 2A Quarterfinals against Minnesota River.
The teams had met two prior times this season, with the Bulldogs winning 5-3 Dec. 1 and the two teams tying 3-all Jan. 13.
The third meeting went the way of Waconia, with the Wildcats shutting out the Bulldogs, 3-0, in the Section 2A Quarterfinals played Thursday in Le Sueur.
Wildcat goalie Abigail Elvebak stopped 25 Minnesota River shots on goal, including 10 in the second period.
The Tri City United girls basketball team picked up its biggest win of the year and nearly pulled off their biggest upset of the season last week.
The Titans hosted NRHEG Monday, Jan. 23 and were edged by the top team in Section 2AA by a 48-44 score. Three nights later TCU scored 42 points in the first half of their 70-33 Minnesota River Conference win over Le Sueur-Henderson (LSH).
NRHEG came into their non-conference match up with only two losses, but TCU head coach Don Marcussen felt his team could hang with the Panthers.
The Minnesota River girls hockey team dropped a pair of close contests and picked up a win last week.
The Bulldogs were edged, 3-2, by Hutchinson Friday, Jan. 27. The following day, TCU was defeated by Marshall, 5-1, in a Big South Conference game. The week started with the Titans defeating Marshall, 3-1.
In the win over the Tigers, Makenna Andresen scored her 20th and 21st goals of the season. Adrianna Bixby added her seventh goal of the year.
The Tri City United wrestling team dropped three matches to much larger schools at the Faribault High Tournament Saturday, Jan. 28.
Hastings defeated the Titans, 63-13. Prior Lake edged the Titans, 42-33. The host school defeated the Titans, 46-22.
The Titans also dropped a pair of matches Thursday, Jan. 26 at Hutchinson. Hutch defeated TCU, 51-19. Annandale/Maple Lake downed TCU, 61-9.
The Tri City United boys basketball team played three Section 2AA opponents last week and had some heartbreaking results.
The Titans dropped a 53-50 contest to Norwood-Young America (NYA) Tuesday, Jan. 24. NYA entered the game with a perfect 6-0 Minnesota River Conference record. TCU rebounded with a 58-37 win over NRHEG Thursday, Jan. 26. The following night Le Sueur-Henderson (LSH) edged the Titans, 64-61.
Missed free throws were key to the overtime loss to the Raiders. TCU missed 15 of their 27 shots from the charity stripe.
It was a solid week for the Minnesota River boys hockey team last week.
The Bulldogs defeated Rochester Lourdes, 4-3, in overtime Thursday, Jan. 26 and tied Marshall, 2-2, in a Big South Conference game Saturday, Jan. 28.
Judson Narum scored the winning goal on an assist from Travis Kotek less than four minutes into the overtime in their win over Lourdes. It was Narum’s sixth goal and Kotek’s sixth assist of the season.