3/14/18: Eden Valley-Watkins @St. John's University (3rd Round)

Pine City Pioneer, Jesse Logan

The curtain has closed on the Pine City Dragons boys basketball season, and in the process, the end has come for the winningest senior class in school history. For a second straight year the Dragons lost by single digits to a much higher ranked opponent in the Section 6AA semifinals. Despite the season ending, the team has many successes to celebrate. The 2017-18 Dragons are among the best teams in school history.

Eden Valley-Watkins 50, Pine City 42

This game was played on Wednesday, March 14 to a packed house at St. Johns in Collegeville. The Eagles entered ranked #12 in the state and were owners of an impressive 26-2 record. Pine City struggled to find an offensive rhythm all night against such a tough, defensive minded opponent. The Dragons trademark three pointers were severely limited; Pine City made just five shots from downtown in the game. Even so, the contest was as close as two points in the final minutes and was in doubt until late free throws by Eden Valley-Watkins sealed the Dragons fate.

“Coming into the game,” said Dragons Coach Kyle Allen, “we knew how stifling their defense was. We watched them live once and had another three games of film on them that we studied heavily. They are long, athletic, and very strong. Their athletic ability allows them to extend their defense in the half court setting and force teams to do things that they normally don't do. Between the combination of their defense and our poor shooting percentage, we just could not get enough going to win this one. I didn't think we took a ton of bad shots, they just did not fall.” Pine City trailed 23-21 at the break. Eden Valley-Watkins did a nice job of staying at home on the Dragons shooters and forced Pine City to take tough shots. Meanwhile, on the opposite end of the floor, the well-balanced Eagles showed tremendous patience. Seven different players made the Eagles first seven baskets. Pine City ran a trapping zone press but it had little effect on EV-W. "Eden Valley-Watkins also did a great job on the offensive end,” Allen noted. “They translated their strength, length, and athleticism to that end of the floor as well. They were very patient with the ball and worked to get the shot they wanted. We were able to turn them over a few times, but not enough; something we are not use to.” Pine City fell behind by 10 midway through the second half, but made a run. A three pointer by Seth Logan cut the Dragons deficit to two, but the Eagles responded and never let the Dragons overtake them. The game had a decidedly physical tone to it, and the Dragons needed to get to the line more often than they did. Eden Valley-Watkins did a nice job of not fouling hard enough to draw foul calls, while also keeping hands on the Dragons all over the floor. Pine City would have benefitted greatly from a game with quicker whistles. “We made a big push in the second half,” recalled Allen, “I think we cut it to two. We just could not get over that hump. Eden Valley-Watkins did a phenomenal job in the section final game, losing on a buzzer-beater three to St. Cloud Cathedral to go to State. It shows you how close we are. We shot 25% in the section semifinal and still had a chance to win that game.” The Dragons were led by Clay Logan with 11 points, Seth Logan had nine, Jake Rademacher had eight, and Jake Adams finished with seven. Although the season came to a close in a tough defeat, Pine City had many accomplishments to feel great about. The loss closes the book on the winningest senior class in school history. The team also won its first Great River Conference Championship in a decade, knocked off a top-six team in the state in Section 6AA’s #1 seed Annandale, and won 20-plus games for back-to-back seasons. “The year on a whole is a huge success,” said Allen. “You don't want to allow one game dictate your success or failure. A huge shoutout to our seniors (Jake Rademacher, Clay Logan, Jake Lunceford, Casey Foster, Damien Schwab, Cordell Major, Janae Johnson, Dayne Pulley). They have been quite the group and have blazed their own path; quite an accomplished group. I am so proud of our boys, our program, and our support system. We also had a great crowd at the game featuring our band and cheerleaders. I cannot say how important it is for the community to get behind the local athletics; we need that in a small community.”

Varsity: L (42-50)