Bullpen

Goodhue girls finding their stride — again

Goodhue girls basketball coach Josh Wieme hesitated to say it after Thursday's dominant 75-49 performance against Stewartville, so I'll do it for him — that was the best his team has played since he took over three years ago. It was so good, in fact, that Craig Swalboski might have reconsidered his column from earlier this week had he seen it.

That should be a scary thought for other Class A teams around the state. Consider the circumstances:

•  The HVL Blue Division championship has become a secondary goal, rather than the primary objective. Goodhue finished tied for fourth — out of seven — in 2008-09, but hasn't dropped a division game since that 7-5 finish. That mark goes on the line again Friday against second-place Kenyon-Wanamingo, where Wieme's younger brother is the assistant coach.
• The Wildcats have improved each season under Wieme, despite graduating who many considered the program's leader. Erin Gadient helped guide the program to its first-ever (UPDATE: second ever — I forgot the Sue Fiero-led 1995-96 squad) state berth in 2008-09 and Grace Majerus was the team's vocal leader in 2009-10 when it lost 43-31 in the state title game. Seniors Courtney Hinsch, Anne Lodermeier and Chanel Robert are hoping to be the only Class A team to end this season with a win.
• Goodhue has gone to state each of the last two years, including a earning berth in the title game last season. They advanced last season despite Hinsch playing the entire postseason — including three games in three days at state — on a broken leg, which required surgery shortly after the season finished.

There's no a big secret to the team's success this year. In three separate conversations after Thursday's victory, three different Wildcats told me essentially the same thing — the end result is all anyone cares about. Having multiple players who can post big numbers based on match-ups helps, obviously.

 

Coach Josh Wieme

"The recipe for success is balance. Anne got hot, Courtney hit a couple shots, Erica (Tipcke) was scoring, Chanel put some in, Mikayla (Miller) took a few to the basket. When everybody is clicking, we're tough to stop. And no one cares who's doing it. When no one cares who does well, we all do well." 

Junior Erica Tipcke, on Lodermeier's three second-half 3-pointers

"It was a spark, for sure. She kept popping and and bringing a little more excitement, popping and getting us even more excited. That was a lot of fun."

Senior Anne Lodermeier on her offensive approach

"I personally feel a killer assist feels just as good as a great shot. On offense, my job is just to make sure the ball goes through the hoop. I don't care if I'm the one shooting it or the one passing it."

 

For all the synergy the Wildcats displayed Thursday — particularly with a swarming defensive effort that included 20 steals — it hasn't always been a smooth ride. Various crack have appeared during the current 11-game winning streak, which prompted Wieme to admit the season has been full of "peaks and valleys," particularly as he's tried to work freshmen Mikayla Miller and Mikayla Tipcke into the rotation.

The Wildcats hope that roller-coaster ride is now over.

"It was really exciting to see us come together," Erica Tipcke said. "We definitely hit a new level tonight. We've always been a good team, but now we're meshing. You know your teammates are going to be there, have your back. I mean, they always had them covered — but now we know they're covered."

While the subsection tournament appears to be Goodhue's to win for the third straight year — Glenville-Emmons and Lyle/Pacelli, the other top two contenders, were both trounced by 25+ against Spring Grove — Thursday provided a glimpse of this team's massive potential.

Living up to it on a nightly basis remains the challenge, particularly with fourth-ranked Spring Grove potentially waiting in the section finals.

"More than anything, it reminds us what we're capable of," Wieme said.

                                                                                                        ~ By Brett Boese

Red Wing's Buck ain't no Jay Cutler

Tesha Buck might be Red Wing's quarterback on the court, but don't you dare call her Jay Cutler.

With her third-ranked Wingers clinging to a tenuous 54-48 lead with under a minute to play Tuesday against a 14-1 outfit from Shakopee, Buck drove the lane and went crashing to the floor. She remained crumpled on the floor, appearing to hold her knee, as the other nine players went the other way with the turnover.

The 5-foot-11 guard didn't move until officials blew their whistle to stop play at the other end about 10 seconds later. That's when things got interesting.

Buck slowly stood up as the trainer went to check her out. With the trainer at her side, the sophomore standout began walking back to play defense. The trainer promptly grabbed her arm, attempting to steer her toward the bench. The two slowly went in opposite directions, which left the trainer visibly pulling on her left arm.

Buck shrugged her off, making the move many thought the Chicago Bears quarterback should have last weekend, as she fought to stay in the game.

The Shakopee fans howled as the two refs met to decide if she was, in fact, eligible to remain on the court after the stoppage. The large, boisterous crowd took things to another level when the refs allowed it to happen — with the home fans cheering and the visitors jeering.

Rich Buck, a Red Wing assistant coach, admitted that he thought his daughter needed to visit the bench, as did Shakopee coach Juan Mitchell. Others weren't quite as sure.

"I didn't know," Red Wing coach Kraig Ulveling said. "I don't think (the refs) knew either. I don't care. I wasn't taking her out."

It proved to be a key decision. Buck shook off the banged up knee to grab the next rebound and assist on a layup within the next 10 seconds, essentially putting the game on ice. The final score was 59-48.

She finished with a game-high 21 points — including 16 points while taking over in the second half — while adding nine boards and six assists, helping her team bounce back from an ugly loss to rival New Prague Friday night in which she struggled to find production.

More importantly, the Wingers prevented a two-game slide by knocking off the top team in the Missota Conference. It's the first time the highly-regarded Red Wing squad has been able to pull out a close game against a high-quality opponent, having fallen apart in the closing minutes earlier this season against fifth-ranked White Bear Lake and and a Farmington team that's 13-1.

It didn't take long for the biggest win of the year to turn into a discussion about a potential postseason showdown with New Prague.

"We just keep challenging our girls with all these teams," Ulveling said. "I just thought the last seven minutes (against Shakopee) was the best we've closed out a game this year. That's what the section championship is going to come down to."

-- Brett Boese

Random thoughts on the Minnesota sports scene

First up, why in the world did the Vikings go and win that game Tuesday night? Hello, draft pick! Yes, I know it's impossible to tell a team to "go out and lose one for the Gipper." But with so many teams close to the Vikings at the bottom of the NFL standings, that win could literally cost the Vikings five spots in the upcoming draft. A win over Detroit this weekend could move them out of the top 10. Yeah, it's great to see them pull off a victory against a playoff-bound team, but this season is over. The future is more important. So, while I understand you can't ask a team to lose, as a fan, I would have preferred to see a Vikings loss Tuesday night.

How about those Minnesota Timberwolves?! A two-game winning streak? Am I dreaming or did that really just happen? Michael Beasley looks like he's finally realizing his potential. And the Wolves appear to have a legitimate superstar in Kevin Love, even if he's not a superstar in the conventional sense of the word. I wouldn't put too much stock in Beasley. He still seems mentally unstable. And while Love should be the face of the franchise, Beasley would rather have the spotlight on him. If only he could defend, well, anyone.

The Minnesota Wild continue to be one of the NHL's most inconsistent teams. Injuries haven't helped, but even without the injuries, this team didn't acquire the top-end talent required to compete on a night-in, night-out basis with the elite teams in the league. People keep asking me: Is this a playoff team? And I continue to say, no. The Western Conference is a mess right now, with a giant clump of teams sitting in the middle of the pack. That means one too many Wild slumps will quickly take them out of the running. The thing that bothers me most about this team isn't the night-to-night inconsistency. It's the shift-to-shift inconsistency. One minute, they're flying around the ice, hitting everything that moves, making crisp passes and looking like a top-end team. Then, just minutes later, they're flat-footed, getting run by some of the league's worst teams. I don't get it.

— Ben Pherson

Red Wing's first big test

When the first AP girls basketball poll was released Wednesday, Red Wing found itself ranked No. 5 in Class 3A. Though it's the highest in program history, it's hard to argue with the pollsters.

The Wingers are currently 4-0. The smallest margin of victory is 65-35 against Goodhue, which finished second in Class A last year and is currently ranked No. 5 in the smaller class. Red Wing's average margin of victory is an astounding 40.5 points thus far.

Which makes Saturday's showdown against White Bear Lake in the Breakdown Tip Off Classic at Hopkins all the more intriguing. The 13-game event is meant to feature some of the top players and/or teams in the state.

The Wingers were supposed to face Bemidji, but the Lumberjacks suffered a key injury and pulled out at the last minute. White Bear Lake, which finished 29-3 and runner-up in Class 4A last season, jumped at the chance to fill in. The Bears aren't ranked this year after graduating some key players, but they do have size inside and a talented veteran guard in lefty Alexis Foley.

Red Wing starts five guards and tries to push the pace with an aggressive, trapping full-court defense. If Foley and the Bears can beat the press — something no team has been able to do consistently thus far — the Wingers could have problems inside. It figures to be an intriguing test for a local team with state tournament aspirations.

A preview of this game can be found here. Check Monday's paper for my recap, assuming I don't get snowed in tonight.

Brett Boese

NHL | Mark 'Stewart' gets some love from Boston radio

Rochester native Mark Stuart has earned enough respect in the Boston Bruins locker room over the past three seasons, that there's been talk of him eventually becoming a team captain.

Now, on a weekly basis, Bruins fans (and anyone who knows how to listen to a podcast) can find out a little more about the big defenseman's personality. Stuart will make a weekly appearance on WFNX (101.7 FM) in Boston. That podcast may be listened to here.

As you may have noted on the title of this post, he is listed as Mark "Stewart" on the WFNX page. It's a rock station, so we'll cut them some slack! There are enough Bs fans listening in New England, that I'm sure the station will be informed of the spelling error!

Regardless, check out the podcast. Stuart talks this week about some of the new faces on the team this year, the loss of fellow defenseman Johnny Boychuk for about a month due to a broken arm, and Stuart tells us what his favorite band of all-time is.

Stuart doesn't have a point yet this season, but he is plus-1 and has 7 penalty minutes through six games for the 4-2-0 Bruins.

-- Jason Feldman

Zygi deserves some love from Vikes fans

We'll touch on this in "Points On The Purple" in Saturday's P-B print edition, but now that the buzz (no pun intended) from the Randy Moss deal has calmed down a bit, it's time for Vikings fans to think about just how much Zygi WIlf has done for this franchise. Wilf generally receives boos when he gets introduced at Vikings games. But, Purple fans, know this:

He is not Red McCombs. There's no better way to put it.

McCombs was overwhelmingly loud and obnoxious at times. Other than "PURPLE PRIDE! PURPLE PRIDE! PURPLE PRIDE!" I'm not sure McCombs ever said anything substantial publicly about the team he owned. Who can forget the big-name free agents McCombs paid for. You all remember Henri Crockett, right? Or Keith Newman? (Yeah, he started 14 games at OLB in 2004).

Point is, McCombs would laugh at his coaches when they said they needed money to upgrade personnel. Wilf, on the other hand, will say "how much do you need?"

He's brought in Jared Allen, Brett Favre and now Randy Moss (who, by the way, was only traded away from Minnesota because McCombs didn't want to pay his salary). Wilf also dished out big money for Madieu Williams and Bernard Berrian, neither of whom have panned out like the Vikings had hoped, but Wilf at least was willing to pay for them, which McCombs would never have done.

Wilf is not Jerry Jones. He is not Dan Snyder. (We can be thankful for that.) The Vikings are not his personal real-life fantasy football team (does that even make sense? ... you know what I mean).

Wilf is willing to spend money like Jones and Snyder, if he and Rick Spielman and Brad Childress feel the money is well-spent. They're not afraid to deal draft picks to get the right player(s) in return, unlike a GM in our division who refused to make a no-brainer of a deal to land RB Marshawn Lynch. For that we should be thankful and appreciative.

-- Jason Feldman

Thoughts on the Bore by the Bay

Before the panic kicks in for Vikings fans and the celebrating begins in Green Bay, keep in mind that Brett Favre's first preseason game in 2009 looked a lot like his first preseason game of 2010.

So, after four plays and one shot from the Niners defense that knocked him on his Favre, grandpa picked himself up, trotted back to the sideline and Chili pulled him out of Sunday's 15-10 Vikings loss to the 49ers.

This isn't to say that Favre will have the season he had last year, nor can we know that the Vikings will have the season they had a year ago. Sunday's yawner at Candlestick (or whatever it's called these days) was what it was, a preseason football game, a means for coaches to evaluate guys who either won't be playing or won't be on the roster two weeks from now (and also a means for NFL teams to charge regular season prices for a joke of a game).

So, what can we take out Sunday's game?

THE GOOD

• E.J. Henderson. The middle linebacker returned to an NFL football game nine months after having a steel rod inserted in his leg. Henderson not only returned, but played like he hadn't skipped a beat. He was a beast in the brief time he played, even busting through the line to take down a Niners running back. His return cures a lot of headaches.

• A.P. is running hard. Say what you will about Adrian Peterson's fumbles, but 28 is running with a purpose and he's dang good when he's playing that way. Vikings coaches never try to rein him in, but, it's the preseason. He might wanna step out of bounds rather than lowering that shoulder at times.

• Alex Smith. The Niners QB, the 2005 No. 1 overall draft pick is starting to look like he belongs in the league. We'll see if it carries over to the regular season, but if Smith indeed has had his "lightbulb" moment, the Niners could again be a team to reckon with in the NFC.

• Karl Paymah. Why is he listed under "THE GOOD?" Because he's now playing for San Francisco. I'm surprised he's not still running down the Lambeau Field sideline, chasing a Packers receiver, while Packers QB Aaron Rodgers runs right behind him. Good luck, Niners, if you have to have Paymah in your lineup.

THE SO-SO

• T-Jack. He threw a couple of short passes intended for Toby Gerhart that were tipped, and at least one probably should have been picked off. The good news is that T-Jack didn't look nearly as tentative as he has in the past. His offensive line gave him little-to-no time and he made some good decisions. He scrambled a couple of times at the right time and in general looked more comfortable. That said, he didn't direct a touchdown drive.

THE BAD

• Pass defense. The Vikes have to get something figured out at safety and need to get the pass rush wound up. The safeties looked routinely late on their coverage. Jamarca Sanford started in place of Tyrell Johnson — something our Points on the Purple guys have advocated since late last season — but none of the safeties were noticable on Sunday. Madieu Williams needs to become noticable this year — for the right reasons — to justify what he's getting paid ($5.5 mil per). The Vikes first-team defense in general looked like it was just out there going through the motions. I'd bet they don't like what they see on film come Monday.

• The DirecTV "Troy Barkman" commerical. Wasn't funny the first time I saw it. Now it's getting annoying.

• Vikes offensive line. The top folks at Winter Park might want to watch the waiver wire when other NFL teams start making cuts. Either that or make some deal with the Devil to keep the Vikes' five starters healthy all season. If they have to turn to rookie Chris DeGeare or, ahem, veteran Ryan Cook, they're in trouble. DeGeare could turn into a player; he's still raw, playing in just his second NFL game. Cook has been around long enough (2006 2nd round pick), but is still a human turnstile. The Vikes cannot trust those guys in key situations in the regular season.

So, now onto the home preseason opener. It's Saturday, 7 p.m. vs. Seattle. This will be the one preseason game worth paying more than passing attention to. The starters should play all of the first half and we'll have a better idea of Favre's comfort level, A.P.'s comfort level as a pass-protector and the offensive line's comfort level.

— Jason Feldman