What a championship game. What a tournament.
Monday night’s NCAA National Men’s Basketball Championship Game between Texas Tech and Virginia was a fantastic game from start to finish. True, Virginia opened up a couple of 10-point leads in the second half, but those Red Raiders of Texas Tech rallied and held a 68-65 edge themselves before the Cavaliers tied the score with a three-pointer from the right corner. In overtime, Virginia sank 14 straight free throws — without a miss — and pulled away for an 85-77 victory in what was a much closer contest than that final score indicates.
The whole tournament atmosphere for the Final Four at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis was exciting and handled well by all of the media, including CBS and ESPN. Saturday evening’s two semifinal games were true classics. Virginia escaped with a one-point win (63-62) over Auburn and Texas Tech throttled mighty Michigan State by 10 points (51-41) with a tenacious defensive effort and a 22-point scoring performance by former University of South Dakota star Matt Mooney. Those were two terrific games.
While I was pulling for an Auburn vs. Texas Tech final (which almost happened), I am happy for Virginia — which still seems to be chastised for its upset loss in the first round last year, being the only top-seeded regional team to lose to a Number 16 seed. That’s not all that surprising. There have been lots of upsets in NCAA Tournament action.
The Cavaliers certainly bounced back with a lot of class this year and were most fortunate to win against Purdue (in overtime) in the Elite Eight Round (regional championship game) to get to the Final Four. A dramatic one-point win, clinched by Kyle Guy’s three free throws, sends them to the championship game where Virginia wins another overtime thriller.
No question about it, the Cavaliers did not win easily. They prevailed with a bit of luck and a lot of gritty determination. It was indeed a great tournament, filled with so much exciting action, highlighted by terrific team defensive efforts.
The NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament was also filled with great games, including Notre Dame’s semifinal victory over U Conn. That was another well-earned victory for the Fighting Irish, who rallied but fell one-point short (82-81) to Baylor in Sunday’s championship game. It was good to see a battle for the national title without the Huskies of Connecticut, just as it was just fine to see a men’s Final Four without Duke.
The high school spring sports season is well underway and congratulations are in order to the Heron Lake-Okabena / Fulda girls’ track and field squad for their team victory at the seven-team Wolverine Classic in Mountain Lake last Friday. The Coyotes had multiple placings in several events and won their first-ever team title by racking up 110.5 points with a dozen girls contributing to the scoring.
On the golf course, the HL-O / Fulda boys are off to a tremendous start, winning four consecutive meets, including wins over Murray County Central, Worthington, Westbrook-Walnut Grove and Adrian. Senior Corey Renneke is really playing well and has been leading a well-balanced group of Coyotes to impressive team scores.
As usual, both MCC and Adrian have opened their baseball seasons with success, including a combined no-hitter tossed by MCC’s Nate Everson and Spencer Wajer in a 10-0 win by the Rebels over Wabasso in the season opener on April 2.
The Dragons and Rebels play at Slayton on April 18 and the rematch is scheduled for May 9 at Adrian.
HL-O / Fulda opened its baseball season with a walk-off 7-6 win over Worthington. The Coyotes have three conference home games in the coming week.
Enjoy the rest of this week as blizzard-like conditions may greet us on Thursday. But spring will soon return!!
