2/16/18: Mora

Pine City Pioneer, Jesse Logan

With just one game on the week’s docket, the Pine City Dragons boys basketball team made the most of their opportunities. The Dragons improved to 18-5 overall with a great game against a local rival. Pine City’s Head Coach Kyle Allen also tallied his 100^th career win in the game, making the night a memorable one for fans of the Dragons.

Pine City 87, Mora 66

After besting the Mustangs twice last year, the Dragons home win on Friday, Feb. 16 ran their current winning streak against Mora to three games. Pine City came with a game plan to slow down Mustangs senior Cal Wright, and although he finished with 27 points, he was frustrated and well guarded all night by the tandem of Jake Lunceford and Quentin Miklya. On the offensive end, the night belonged to senior captain Jake Rademacher.

“Very fun and physical section game,” Coach Allen said. “Mora is a good team and Cal Wright is a phenomenal basketball player; he is next to unstoppable. Jake Rademacher took over for long stretches in this game on the offensive end. He did a nice job of balancing both looking for his own shots while creating for others.”

Rademacher had an impressive double-double with 21 points and 11 assists. Nick Hansmann was the top-point scorer with 22, including a white-hot first half that saw him make five threes. Seth Logan continued to pound the boards and finished with nine rebounds to go along with 17 points.

Allen was pleased to get win and surpass a major milestone, especially in front of the Dragons fans in Pine City.  

“Personally,” said Coach Allen, “it was a lot of fun to get win number 100 at home. I am so proud of the program we have built. I cannot thank all of the former players enough that bought into all of the craziness I presented them and being willing to be a part of something bigger than themselves. I know it was not always easy to see the big picture early on for some, but the players were always in. When we were only winning a handful of games a year during the first few, the boys dedication and belief never wavered. They continued to believe in me and the program; they are the foundation to what we have built. It has been a lot of fun.”

Allen came to Pine City in 2011 and went just 12-42 over his first two seasons as he laid the groundwork for a program that would garner national attention in 2017. The Dragons are just two wins away from having back-to-back 20-win seasons, and the third such campaign in four years.

Pine City has three games remaining on their schedule including at Braham, and then home games against Moose Lake-Willow River and Hinckley-Finlayson.

Varsity: W (87-66)
JV: W (51-43)
C-Squad: L (31-41)