Athletics and Activities Update December 11th Posted on December 11, 2017 in Activities, Press Releases Robotics Team Coach Steve Larson This past week the Robotics Team met at Apollo High School. This was the first of two meets this year, and really the first opportunity both teams have had to test their robots. Team A (YaBoi) had technical challenges from the start, and were continuously working to better the robot during the day. They succeeded and ended up being selected as a third alliance partner in the elimination rounds. Kudos to the team for their indomitable spirit. Team B (USSB) quickly found their robot had a competitive advantage scoring the heavy mobile goals and honed this skill as the day went on. They too were chosen as a third alliance partner and advanced to the elimination rounds. Their entire team executed nearly flawlessly throughout a long day. Team A met Team B in the first elimination match, and Team B delivered a knock-out blow scoring 3 mobile goals. Team B moved on to the semi-finals where they ran into a strong alliance from Mankato East and Windom. Despite losing the match, Team USSB qualified for the Minnesota State VEX tournament for reaching the semi-finals! In addition, Team B received the tournament “Energy/Spirit” award, which is given to the team that shows the most enthusiasm for robotics and the event. Team A is comprised of Alexis Akre ’19, Joel Kissela ’19, Kamso Onyemeh ’18, Jeremiah Weber ’20, Ben Jolkovsky ’18, Levi Posch ’20, Oliver Hennen ’20, Will St. Hilaire ’23, and Nate Salzl ’18. Members of Team B are Martin Nelson ’21, Sam Craft ’22, Lucy Cheeley ’21, Kai Martinson ’22, Cole Butenhoff-Phillips ’23, Tori Grandy ’23, and Sophia Kapoor ’24. Girls’ Basketball Coach Bryan Backes Assistant Coach Henry Smith, Jr. The Johnnies captured their second straight home victory on Friday night defeating Hmong College Prep Academy 54-16. Senior captain A’ishah Smith led the way with 20 points. Sophomore Justine Meyer had 16 points; playing only in the first half. Sisters Redi ’19 and Jaedyn ’23 each had 4 points; sophomore Lailah Corrigan also had 4. Cindy Deng ’19, Irene Jiang ’21 and Hana May ’21 each added 2 points. To give less experienced players an opportunity for some game action, the teams played an extra quarter and the Johnnies enjoyed that experience with Angel Wang ’21 leading the way with 4 points. On Thursday evening the Johnnies traveled to Cambridge to play Cambridge Christian School. Playing without Justine Meyer ’20 due to illness the team struggled to prevent Cambridge from scoring inside and came up short and lost 58-29. Junior Reid Nydeen led the J’s with 12 points and A’ishah Smith ’18 had 6. Middle School Boys’ Basketball Coaches JJ Roske and Billy Borgerding The Middle School teams finished their season with three games last week. The seventh graders lost a nail biter to Kimball in a game that came down to the last minute, led by the ball handling and shooting of seventh graders Wally Wenner and Eli Perry. The sixth graders stepped up, playing kids older than them all year, getting points and strong defense from everyone on the team including Owen Anderson, Henry Beuer, Raj Johnson, and Charlie Wang. The eighth graders finished their season with a dominating wire to wire victory against Royalton. Led by strong point guard play from Anson, our defensive stoppers Josh and Aiden, sharpshooters Logan and Matthew, and fear-inducing bigs Luke and Billy, the eighth graders showed that the future of Prep basketball is strong. Boys’ Basketball Coach Michael Moen The SJP Boys’ Basketball team was in action this week for the first time this season with a game against Pillager and Long Prairie Gray Eagle. Tuesday saw the Johnnies hosting the Pillager Huskies in a very exciting back and forth game with our boys coming up just five points short in the end to a very solid opponent. Nick Foss ’18 picked up right where he left off from last year’s All Conference season by dropping 21 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Derek Steichen ’19 contributed 15 points in his Johnnie debut. Our JV squad put in a great showing and had the winning shot in the air at the buzzer, but unfortunately came up just two points short in the end, with Mekan Mamedov ’20 leading the way with 12 points. C squad struggled a bit against a solid Huskie team but still made a good showing with Luc Westling ’20 leading the way with 11 points. Friday the Johnnies made the trip to Long Prairie for their conference match up against the Thunder. With both teams very evenly matched, it was a tight game from the start. An effective run at the end of the game combined with some timely free throws helped the Thunder squeak past the Johnnies 52-50. Derek Steichen ’19 led the way for the Johnnies with 19 points while going 6 for 10 from long distance. Nick Foss ’18 and Andrew Moen ’18 added 12 points each to the cause. The Johnnies will play host for their Holiday Tournament next week while matching up against Eden Valley Watkins, Milaca and Rush City.
