Alumni Tournament 2017

Reminder.  Alumni Tournament 2017 will be tomorrow (12/30/17).  Doors open at 930 AM.

12/22/17: @The Blake School

Pine City Pioneer, Jesse Logan

In only game of the week, Dragons boys win at Blake

Result: Pine City victorious 65-53

Where/When: In Hopkins on Friday, Dec. 22

What happened: Pine City’s boys basketball team improved to 5-1 on the season with a Friday night win at a private school right before the holiday break. The Dragons were led in the game by senior Clay Logan, who shot 10-12 from the floor for a game-high 26 points, and was the only player on the team in double digits. Logan continues to impress as one of the premier players in the Great River Conference and the Dragons top weapon. The squad repeatedly focused on getting the ball to senior captain Jake Rademacher in the high post and he responded with a team-high five assists to go along with six points. Jake Adams was solid with 3-7 shooting for eight points, two steals, and two charges taken.

What it means: Despite looking out of sorts on offense at times, the Dragons have five wins through six games. Pine City was ranked #40 out of 125 teams in the initial Class AA QRF rankings.

Up next: A pair of Class AAA opponents await the Dragons over the holiday break. Pine City will face Duluth Denfeld and Cloquet at Cloquet on Dec. 27-28

V: W (66-53)

JV: W (57-45)

C: W (42-30)

Jake Rademacher: AAA Winner

Jake Rademacher has been announced as the Pine City AAA award winner.  AAA stands for "Academics, Athletics, and Arts".

Congratulations to Jake for the award and positivley representing the Pine City Boys Basketball program!

2017 Pine City Boys Basketball Alumni Game

12/15/17: @East Central

Pine City Pioneer, Jesse Logan

Pine City 80, East Central 36

Played on the road on Friday, Dec. 15, Pine City once again looked slow offensively out of the gate. The Dragons managed just one basket in the first four minutes as they are struggling to fill a void at the ‘creator’ role in the offense. The Dragons fell behind 10-3, but would finish the half on a 42-7 run once the shots started dropping.

“As the game started,” said Allen, “it felt like a shot was never going to fall. But we talk about it all the time, trust in the system. The boys kept getting great shots, and eventually they fell; they usually do, and on nights that they don't, we want to rely on our tenacious defense and control of the boards. I thought Jake Lunceford played a great game. Not only did he (along with Quentin Miklya) have to take on the responsibility of guarding Gunnar Fogt, who has him by at least six inches, but he really did an outstanding job on the boards. Lunce has the athletic ability to do that on any given night.” 

Clay Logan was extremely efficient on the offensive end with 20 points in 17 minutes while making more than half of the shots he took, including four threes. Nick Hansmann put up 18 points on 6-15 shooting while adding some solid defense to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. Jake Rademacher finished with a season-high 12 points while the team got 11 points from Jusczak. Christian Fromm tallied his first varsity points.

The Dragons have just one game this week, at Blake School, before playing a pair of road games in Cloquet over the holiday break.

Varsity: W (80-36)
JV: W (76-31)
C: L (46-49)

Volunteering: Nursing Home

The Pine City Boys Basketball Varsity team has been volunteering at Lakeside Nursing Home in Pine City.  In the first week, the boys worked with the residents and learned what they are thankful for. 

This last week, they worked with the residents and made Christmas themed posters.

12/11/17: Onamia

Pine City Pioneer, Jesse Logan

Although the team came away with a pair of wins, the Pine City Dragons basketball team still isn’t quite firing on all cylinders yet this season. The Dragons ended up winning a pair of games by lopsided margins, but started sluggish in both appearances last week. The Dragons have a 4-1 record and are still looking to hit their stride.

Pine City 86, Onamia 25

With a bad turnover early and no offensive flow, Coach Kyle Allen benched his starters less than a minute into this contest.

“I did not like how we started this game,” said Allen. “Did not think that we came out with the right mindset or energy. We dug ourselves into a hole and that is unacceptable with the amount of experience we have on this team. That being said, the team righted the ship. They got things clicking and started the second half much better then what they did at the start of the game.”

Played at home on Monday, Dec. 11, the Dragons used unselfish play to get themselves going. Five players finished in double figures, and the team was really looking to make the extra pass.   

“Coach Rademacher always says that when we don't care who scores, we are pretty good,” added Allen. “Boys are trying to focus on the right things, and when we do that, we can be pretty tough. I thought Jake Adams and Seth Logan really tried to make the extra passes and do the right things. Konnor Jusczak and Quentin Miklya both took charges and worked well together on the defensive end. Cordell Major and Casey Foster played some good minutes for us. Cordell had some good boards while Casey hit three 3’s.”

Jake Adams had 14 points, Nick Hansmann 13, Jusczak 13, Clay Logan 11 and Seth Logan 10. Things may not have gone perfectly, but it was a decent start to the week. The Dragons would finish the week with a similar performance.

Varsity: W (86-25)
JV: W (69-21)