Lennox is Ready for the Semi Finals... Are You?

Lennox is Ready for the Semi Finals... Are You?

The Freshman Tanner Smith pulled up from 3 Point Range and shot as time was expiring and it rimmed out and the game ended. This was the final play of the Elk-Point Jefferson and Dakota Valley game as the final score was 72-56 and Elk-Point had won by 16 Points. This means multiple things such as: Dakota Valley's season has come to an end and Elk-Point will move on to the Region 4A Semi Finals. Most importantly though, Lennox will play Elk-Point Jefferson at 7:00 on Saturday in Lennox. The loser will say good bye to a great year and the winner will head to the Region 4A Championship. The question is, who will win and how will it come out.

First things first, my prediction of Beresford beating Tea Area at a score of 58-52 was extremely close but wrong. I give kudos to Tea Area and Beresford for putting on a great game. The final score was 54-53 and it was a great game to watch. I also predicted Vermillion will win 62-50 over Canton but I give props to the Canton C-Hawks on a great defensive game and on a great upset as Canton won 51-40. Now that the first round is over, we can look at the 2 games and come to a decision on who can win.

Taking an in depth look at the Tea Area versus Canton game you will find a few valid points that will make this game close no matter what. The first time they played, Canton lost by 14, 71-57 and it was a close game the whole way through. But looking in depth you can see why these teams are evenly matched. The Canton C-Hawks are a hardworking and well coached team who is willing to shoot the three ball. They are very good at shooting the three ball. Anders Peterson is a very talented player who can shoot very well. They also use contesting shots as their defensive weapon. As for Tea Area, they are a shooting team who have no size at all. They use the 15 foot and 3 point shots in order to win. Fast drives through the lane and offensive rebounds are about the only paint scoring the Tea has. They are a team who loves to move the ball to the offensive weapon Ethan Freidel. He is the leading scorer and he is the main scorer for Tea. He will be a good matchup versus Anders Peterson. This matchup and the rest of the matchups will make it a very good game. I feel that the Canton C-Hawks have been on a streak lately as they have won 6 of their last 8. Canton pulled off the upset over the 3 Seed Vermillion and because of this, I feel that Canton has a really good chance to win tomorrow.

My Prediction of Canton C-Hawks versus Tea Area Titans: Canton C-Hawks 59- Tea Area 55.

As for the Lennox and Elk Point game, these two teams have changed a lot since their last meeting. Lennox beat Elk Point on January 13th at a score of 58 to 34. It was an easy win for Lennox in which the PacLine defense came in to play as the biggest part. Elk Point found no answer for the PacLine and that is what Elk Point will have to do in order to win on Saturday. Elk Point's defense was decent against Lennox the first time but their offense was on the struggling side. They couldn't find a way to beat the PacLine and they couldn't handle the quick paced Lennox transition game. For Elk Point to win they will have to find a way to score and slow down the Orioles high speed transition offense. Jacob Hinker, Nathan Timmerman and Creighton Raabe are the main three offensive threats. However, as Coach McVey and Jacob Hinker have pointed out all season, anyone can have a big game on any given day. Watch for Collin McEntee, John Oldenkamp, and Austin Weischedel to be threats in the game tomorrow. As for Elk Point, Jacob Herrity, Brandon Koupal and Aaron Koupal are the three main threats for Elk Point, even though they were held to less than 25 points combined. I think that Jacob Hinker and Brandon Koupal will both put on a great show and make the game on Saturday a really great game.

My Prediction of Elk-Point Jefferson at Lennox Orioles: Lennox 56- Elk Point 52

These predictions are made for fun and are not meant to offend anyone or any team. These are by no means official.

I had a chance to talk with Nathan Timmerman and I asked him what is the difference on the court from regions to a regular season game. Nathan said "Nothing is different, we need to play our hardest every game no matter what time of year it is." Then I asked him what helped them shut down Elk Point the first time and he replied with "High hand close outs, our pack line defense and running the floor on offense." Finally, I asked Nathan if he was nervous about possibly playing his last game tomorrow and he said "no matter what happens tomorrow or the rest of the year I will remember this year because it has been the most exciting year of basketball yet! We are going to go and play our hearts out tomorrow night and have as much fun as possible because that is what truly matters."

This Saturday looks like a great opportunity for the Lennox Orioles and the Elk Point Jefferson Huskies to play a great game. Both teams are quite evenly matched and so this game is going to be a great one and it needs to be a sold out game. So come on out on Saturday at 7:00 to the Nest and see who wins.

I would like to thank Coach McVey for allowing me to discuss with his players. I would also like to thank Nathan Timmerman for allowing me to interview him.

Finally, this article will be posted to Facebook and Twitter, any comments that are positive would be considered. Join on Monday in order to read the next article about either winning or how it was a great season. GO ORIOLES!!!!

Written By:

Grant Sweeter

Senior Lennox High School

Manager- Lennox Basketball Team