2016-17 End of Year Review

Pine City Pioneer, Jesse Logan

Pine City’s boys basketball team put a wrap on their season on Sunday, April 2 at a team awards banquet held in the seventh grade commons at the high school. The Dragons celebrated the winning-est ever season under sixth-year head coach Kyle Allen. Pine City finished 22-7 overall, and had a deeper playoff run than the school had experienced in nine seasons.

“Really thought that we grew a lot this season,” said Allen. “We were playing our best basketball at the end. A testament to the coaching staff and the kids. Jason (Rademacher) and Wayne (Hansmann) did a great job, junior high coaches Larry (Britton) and Monte (Petersen) did a great job there, and our scouts David (Jackson) and Mike (O’Donnell) were a huge help too. Proud of the growth of the boys and the program throughout the season. I thought we attacked the things we needed to in terms of our weaknesses and the boys really made that happen. The growth of the boys over the year was something that really stands out.”

On this night, the players watched a highlight video of the season and also a lengthy feature piece that Fox 9 News had done on the team after they were featured in the Wall Street Journal. Team awards were passed out and four players were recognized as either All Conference or All Conference Honorable Mention.

Earning the most awards on the night was Jake Rademacher, a team captain.

“Roddy” took home two team awards including Team MVP and the Dragon Award. Rademacher finished his junior season averaging 10.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while also leading the team in assists. Rademacher was also on the All Section team.

“Roddy,” said Allen, “he was our leader, he was our rally guy. Always did what was needed and was top three in almost every statistical category. Jake had the knack of getting the big rebound, hitting the big shot or getting an assist. His game really took off this year.

Clay Logan received All Conference distinction and was named as the team’s Offensive Player of the Year for averaging a team-high 16 points per game while shooting the highest 3-point percentage on the team. Logan made 58 shots from downtown. His 80.2 percent mark from the free throw line was impressive, and he made nearly twice as many free throws (81) as anyone else on the squad (41). Logan was also on the All Section team.

“Clay is a phenomenal high school scorer,” said Allen. “He had some huge individual games, inside and out, he’s a great shooter and in the offseason he added the ability to penetrate. He stepped up down the stretch and played big in the playoff games, so I was really proud of his development.”

The third player to receive All Conference distinction was Nick Hansmann, a sophomore who also finished second on the team in scoring at 13 points per game. Hansmann led the 

Dragons in made three pointers with 88. Hansmann was also awarded the Hustle Award.

“Nick came on the second half of the season,” added Allen. “His shooting and his athleticism is big for us. He’s got a lot of potential. He can score the ball and is learning how to take over the game in other facets, in terms of his rebounding and defense. I’m excited to see what he does in the next six to nine months with basketball.”

Jake Lunceford earned All Conference Honorable Mention and team Defensive Player of the Year as well as having made the All Tournament team over the winter break at Cloquet. Senior Captain Austin Hansmann received the Teammate Award. Seth Logan was named the Most Improved and Konnor Jusczak was awarded the Eye Opener.

Allen thanked his seniors and put the whole season in perspective.

“The two seniors,” Allen noted, “Austin and Adam Seals, were two guys who’ve been with me for awhile. They were always team first and were ready to do what the team needed. They won a lot of games in their high school career. On the season I’m proud of all of the boys. We came up short on the goal of putting a year on the banner, but got 20 wins in the regular season, first in my tenure, so I’m proud of the boys and the accomplishment of that. When we talk about goals, we talk about winning, we want to win games, so 22 wins and getting to the sub-section championship game was a great accomplishment. Beating Braham in Braham (first time in over a decade). It was a special season.”

Allen will now move forward with a 22-win team that will return all of its starters and its top weapons. The future looks bright for the Dragons.