Athletics and Activities Update February 26th Posted on February 26, 2018 in Activities, Press Releases Girls’ Varsity Basketball Coach Bryan Backes & Henry Smith, Jr. The girls’ notched another victory last Tuesday evening at Willmar Community Christian School defeating the Warriors 62 to53. The Johnnies took an early lead and never trailed, but the Warriors battled the entire game and several times the Johnnies had to find a way to stop comeback attempts. In the final minutes-the Johnnies handled intense full court pressure and were able to maintain possession of the ball forcing the Warriors to foul in an attempt to get the ball back. Clutch free throw shooting (100%) by A’ishah Smith ’18, Reid Nydeen ’19 and Valeryia Woodard ’21 extended the Johnnie lead and ultimately the margin of victory. A’ishah finished with 16 points; Reid added 11 and Valeryia was unstoppable -leading all scorers with 28, Hana May ’21, Irene Jiang ’21 and Jaedyn Nydeen ’22 each had 2 points. Justine Meyer ’20 had 1 point and again was dominant inside with great defense and rebounding. Both Sydnee Wick ’21 and Carol Viera-de Maginolas ’20-seeing her first varsity action –played key minutes in tense situations helping the Johnnies maintain their lead. Friday’s game at Hillcrest Lutheran Academy was canceled due to the snow storm. The Johnnies open section 5A play at Isle Monday night at 7:00pm Boys’ Varsity Basketball Coach Mike Moen Last week had the SJP Boys’ Basketball team matching up against conference foes Osakis and Browerville. On Tuesday, the boys hosted the highly rated Silverstreaks in a rematch to a hard fought and close game from earlier in the season. This time around was a lot of the same, with the Johnnie’s tough man-to-man defense giving the shooters from Osakis little room to work with. A back and forth first half had the Streaks up by three at the break. The second half followed suit, but some well-timed three pointers and free-throws by the opponent allowed the Silverstreaks to hold on to a slim 8-point margin in the end. The Johnnies were led by Nick Foss ’18 with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Derek Steichen ’19 with 17 points. On Thursday, we honored our seniors before the match up with the Browerville Tigers. A great turnout from our fans combined with the support from the SJP Pep Band and Dance Team set the stage for a very exciting night. The Johnnie’s defense picked up right where it had left off Tuesday night and threw a wrench in the offensive game plan of the Tigers. The Johnnies controlled the game from the start and played their best all- around game of the season, surprising the Tigers with a 58-51 victory. A very balanced attach had the Johnnies with four players with double digit points led by Derek Steichen ’19 with 16 and Henry Smith ’18 with 14. This week the Johnnies wrap up their regular season hosting the Rush City Tigers on Tuesday before visiting the Upsala Cardinals on Friday. Tuesday will be the last home game for our great seniors. Please come and help us show how much we appreciate the contributions they have made to our program over the years. Dance Team Coaches Jayme Harlander, Celestina Rodriguez and Maddie Behelke A big thank you to the Intramural Dance Team for entertaining the fans at basketball games this season. Their energetic routine is a highlight for the all in attendance. Seniors Hope Roback and Ari Denning serve as captains this year and are closing out great careers in dancing for SJP!
