The Journey to the Pentagon: Upsetting Augustana and the Road from Three Wins to 17
The last couple years has been a roller coaster of emotions. The journey has been long, and easy is not the word I would use to describe it. Countless hours in the gym as a team and as individuals is what has gotten us to where we are today. Playing at Minnesota Crookston for the last couple years has taught me to believe in myself and the people around me.
Sometimes people doubt themselves or others when their hard work doesn't pay off right away, but as long as you keep your head on straight, great things will happen. As a fifth year senior, I've been fortunate enough to see all the cultural changes since Coach Weisse took over and all the progressions that are made every day and every year. Changing a program doesn't happen over night. The only thing people look at is the box score after games and the win and loss columns, not the blood and sweat that goes onto the hardwood every day behind closed doors. This is why seeing a team go from three wins to 17 (and still going) is so awesome. The group of guys that we have had each year may be a little different, but we all are working towards the same goals.
Wednesday's game against Augie
We prepared for the game against Augie just like any other game. We start by watching the scouting report on the plays that they run and player tendencies. Usually this lasts for about 30-45 minutes and then we head into the gym to stretch and get some shots up. Seeing that we only had two days to prepare, we jump right into how we want to guard each player and how we are going to guard their set plays. So we did just that on Monday and Tuesday. The bus ride to Sioux Falls consists of pretty much everyone watching Netlfix or playing cards because there is not a whole lot you can do on a bus. The day of the game we usually start with a 9:30 a.m. breakfast and then we watch the scouting report again after that. We then head to shoot around at their gym around 1 p.m. to get a feel for their gym and get a light sweat in. After that we pretty much just chill until it is time to go back for the game. That is usually the worst part because we were all excited to play. Winning on the road has been a struggle this year so we knew we had to play very well in order to beat Augie. The locker room before the game was very energetic. We always have our energy guys like Josh (Collins), Mal (Cohen) and Aaron (Hollcraft), but this time it was everyone and you could just tell that something was different but in a good way. Everyone was feeling great and we were all locked in so I had a really good feeling about it. The game itself was crazy but also very fun. We executed on both ends of the floor, which usually gives people a little bit more confidence. That may have something to do with us shooting 69% from three. It doesn't matter who you play, if you light it up like we did, it's tough to beat that. The rest is history.
