Random video clips from Sauk Centre's girls basketball playoff run

Sauk Centre vs. Pipestone Area


Sauk Centre vs. NL-S


Sauk Centre vs. NL-S


Sauk Centre vs. Staples-Motley (pre-game)


Sauk Centre vs. Staples-Motley (1st half of the game)


~RO

Another epic battle between Melrose and Sauk Centre ends in a 3-point loss for the Maroon and White

The Sauk Centre Mainstreeters boys basketball team put up a valiant effort against #3-seeded Melrose Area, as the neighboring West Central North Conference rivals duked it out in the Sub-Section 6AA-East quarterfinals on Thursday night.

In the end, the Dutchmen survived an upset bid and won 56-53 while improving to 14-11 overall. They will take one of their other two neighboring WCCN rivals, Albany, in the semi-finals this Saturday night at St.John's University.

Sauk Centre finishes the season 4-21 overall.

More will follow later.

~RO

Thoughts from Sauk Centre girls basketball Coach Scott Bergman following the big win over New London-Spicer

Coach Bergman is interviewed after the 2nd meeting of NL-S and Sauk Centre, back on February 23.

After being asked about his thoughts about the historic win over New London-Spicer on Tuesday night, in which the Sauk Centre Mainstreeters girls basketball team won their first-ever sub-section championship, Head Coach Steve Bergman had the following to say.

"I’ve got lots of thoughts right now. It’s very rewarding, I’m just so happy for the girls, they’ve worked so hard for this."

As far as what aspect of the Mainstreeters' game Coach Bergman felt deserved the most credit in the win, he said, "We played really good defense, especially on the perimeter. They went inside us at times, but we really rebounded well. That’s always the key for us in setting up transition opportunities."

As a couple examples of their defense, Maren Greenwaldt guarded her opponents tight. Then if someone tried driving the baseline, Megan Rieland dropped down.

"It was five players out there playing defense, with a game of this magnitude I probably didn’t play as many girls as usual. Our starters probably played over 30 minutes each. The girls on the bench were extremely excited at the end of the game, holding hands and counting down the time."

In terms of what the Mainstreeters coaching staff will do this week to prepare the team for the big Section 6AA championship game, Coach Bergman added, "This is just a step. I don’t think it’ll be our job (as coaches) to get the players re-focused for Friday night. I’ve seen one of the teams play, and Benson is on a roll. Some people assume the winner of tonight's game (Sauk vs. NL-S) is going to state, and that’s not going to be the case. Friday night is the big one."

Coach Bergman's outlook for Friday night's game, "I know that the girls are going to come ready to play. I know the team that we play is going to be really tough. We’ll be ready."

About a half hour later, word was received that Staples-Motley had knocked Benson out and would be the Mainstreeters' opponent in the section final. Read further below for more information on the Cardinals girls basketball team.

Additional comments from Coach Bergman, along with members of the Mainstreeters team, will be published in the March 16 issue of the Sauk Centre Herald.

~RO

More scenes from Sauk Centre's historic 45-32 win over New London-Spicer

The Sauk Centre defense was active all night, and in this clip taken with under 8:00 left in the first half, the Wildcats put up a bad shot that was rebounded by Rachel Gruber.

Over 210 photos from the sub-section championship game have been uploaded to the Sauk Centre Herald's online photo gallery = SaukHerald.Mycapture.com

Still working on more Youtube uploads.

~RO

Sauk Centre Mainstreeters girls basketball team earns sub-section championship with a convincing 45-32 win over defending champs, New London-Spicer

The Sauk Centre Mainstreeters knocked off the defending sub-section and section champion New London-Spicer Wildcats by a convincing 45-32 margin tonight at St.John's University in the Sub-Section 6AA-East championship game.

The Mainstreeters (25-2) led 23-17 at halftime.

The win avenges a 51-29 loss in last year's sub-section championship to the NL-S Wildcats, while also tying the win total from last year's squad at 25.

It is the first sub-section or district championship for the Sauk Centre girls basketball program.

For comparison, New London-Spicer won sub-section/district titles in the following years (and maybe more in this time span, I just don't remember them all):
1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2009.

**Up next for the Mainstreeters, their first-ever Section Championship berth, this Friday at 6:30pm at St.Cloud State University's Halenbeck Hall. Their opponent will be the Staples-Motley Cardinals, who were 57-53 winners over Benson in the Sub-Section 6AA-West championship game at the University of Minnesota-Morris campus. The Benson Braves (21-7) had a six point lead in the final half but let it slip away to the top-seeded Cardinals (24-5).

Here's some Youtube clips from tonight's game...

The team comes forward to accept their sub-section championship trophy following the big win. Yes, the photographer needs to work on his ability to take photos and video simultaneously.


The Mainstreeters' defense is working hard late in the first half.


More will follow on Wednesday, including more Youtube video clips from the game.

Also, be sure to check out the Sauk Centre Herald's online photo gallery, which will have well over 100 pictures from the sub-section championship game added on Wednesday.

The link is: SaukHerald.Mycapture.com (Hopefully you've already bookmarked that!)

A late note... Congratulations are in order for two members of the Mainstreeters girls basketball team, Kali Peschel and Megan Rieland, as they were both selected to the All-Section 6AA tournament team. More on that will be posted this week as well.

~RO