Varsity: End of Season Banuqet

What: End of season awards banquet for Varsity

Date: April 1st

Time: 7:30PM

-We apologize for the last start, but with the snow on the ground, all of our spring sports will be doing early/late practices inside and we do not want to schedule during their times.

Location: Pizza Pub

Cost: $10/person (cash only)

-Coach Kringstad will collect cash when you arrive.

-ALL player and manager meals are covered by a donation!

Who: ALL players of the program and their fammilies are invited to join us at the Varsity Banquet.

Pine City Youth Hoops program gains steam

 Pine City Youth Hoops program gains steam

By Heidi Burger Pine City Pioneer

The Pine City Youth Hoops program has had another successful year. There were 114 boys and girls grades 3 through 6 who participated this past season. The teams could be seen practicing all days of the week in the evenings at the elementary school facilities. The teams also participated in many tournaments over the weekends.  

The Mora Developmental League was a big success, and if you went there you could see many green jerseys playing on the courts. Pine City had great representation at these leagues and tournaments.

The volunteer coaches this past season were as followers: Mike Johnson, Alysha Kwapick, Andrea Mangan, Padrick Judd, Ben Bloomquist, Mandie Mishler, Andrea Kuschel, Dylan Kringstad, Mike Anderson, Ross Haverhals, Kelley Lasiewicz, Forest Caughlin, Kyle Allen, Austin Newman, Heidi Burger, Chase Hancock, Jason Wiener, and Scott Milliman.

The program teaches both life skills and basketball skills, building kids character as well as ability. John Wooden once said, “Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.”

Coaches and parents alike had many positive things to say about the program. “It was rewarding to coach the fourth grade girls this season. It was fun to see their skills improve as the season went on, especially with shooting and defensive aggressiveness.,” reflected coach Andrea Mangan. “I enjoyed getting to know them.” 

Head Dragon Varsity Girls Basketball Coach Padrick Judd (and volunteer Hoops coach) said that it has been an honor to coach the group of student-athletes. “I have been blessed and fortunate to get to work with this group. We had a lot of great memories: milestone accomplishments, big wins, wild games that sometimes went our way and sometimes didn’t,” said Judd. “This season has been amazing, and I am so proud of the way our players have grown and developed in both the classroom and on the court. This season brought many accomplishments, but I am most proud of how much these girls truly care about each other. The life moments in practices, before and after games, I wouldn’t trade that for the world. Go Dragons!” 

Parent and coach, Ross Haverhals, said that as a parent and a coach he’s always appreciated the emphasis Hoops places on players developing as people as well as athletes. “It’s so much fun to watch players grow skill-wise and also in playing as a team, which basketball is such a great sport for that to happen,” he added. “I’d keep an eye on this current third grade boys team; the class of 2033 has a lot of potential.” 

“Starting the season, we had players who were barely able to dribble and walk,” noted coach Kelley Lasiewicz. “By the end, they were dribbling up and down the court, passing to their teammates and scoring baskets. It was amazing watching the boys take to the sport, work hard and develop not only in their skills, but in teamwork as well.” 

The Hoops program would like to thank their sponsors, as much of this would not be possible without them. A huge thank you to Atscott Manufacturing, Premier Sealcoating, Farmer’s Insurance, Village Bar and Grill, Joe and Tammy Plasek, Pine Area Lions, Pine City Lions, and Rock Creek Lions.

End of Season Interviews

1. This is mandatory for every basketball player grades 7-11 for the 2023-24 season.
2. Sign up for a spot to chat with Coach Allen in the attached sheet.
3. Fill out the "Player's Answer" collumn in the attached document before your interview.

All documents are on Google Classroom!

3/7/24: @Albany

Varsity: L (85-48)
Highlights: https://www.hudl.com/video/2/421951/65eb3aa8688fda1700c10eba

Boys basketball wrap up season in play-offs

By Heidi Burger Pine City Pioneer

The Dragons Boys Varsity Basketball season came to a close last Thursday after their game against Albany. The game was the first section play-off game for the boys after their regular season. 

Albany is a team who has had many appearances at state tournaments in the past years, according to coach Kyle Allen. Albany is also ranked the number one seed this year. Although the score again didn’t result in a win for the Dragons, coach Allen was pleased with how the boys played. He said they did what they were hoping to do, and that was to compete. 

“We competed,” said Allen, “We competed on the scoreboard for the majority of the first half.  That’s really good against a team like Albany.”  

The game was not perfect, but the Dragons showed grit and determination in playing a good game. The team has grown immensely over the season. Allen commented, “Looking at this game compared to a game at the beginning of the season – big steps forward for us. This year needed to be about growth and about what we do as a program. Senior Matty Blake has been a huge part of this process.”

Sophomore Austin Wiener had a stand-out game grabbing 16 boards and putting up 23 points. “This is what I have believed he could do, night in and night out. If he can play this way against a team like Albany, he can do this any night,” added Allen. Freshman Grant Larson also was able to get 10 points and some big playing minutes. Allen also commented that he was pleased to see that Albany did not overlook them. “They still gave us their full effort, and they were ready for us.” 

The final score was 85-48, bringing the Dragons season to an end. 

3/7/24: 1st Round Playoffs Information (@Albany)

Section 6AA Boys Basketball First Round

Pine City at Albany
March 7th @ 7:00pm

●  Reminder of Region 5A Ticket Prices: Online - Adults $8, Students $5.
Online Link:  https://www.vancoevents.com/us/CIOC
Only Region 5A and MSHSL Tournament Passes are accepted.
●  The game will be streamed on the AHS HUDL TV Page: AHS HUDL TV

3/1/24: @St. Francis

Varsity: L (60-80)

Highlights: https://www.hudl.com/video/2/421951/65e302fd3453c909e49e74bb

JV: L

C-Squad: L

Dragon Boys Basketball falls to St. Francis, heads into playoffs

By Heidi Burger Pine City Pioneer

The Dragon Boys Varsity Basketball team had one game this past week, before they head into play-offs this coming week. They traveled to AAA school St. Francis on Friday, March 1. Although the final score of the game was a fairly big score difference, the game itself was a good game for the Dragon Varsity boys.  

St. Francis 80, Pine City 60

For the majority of the game, they stuck with St. Francis, even pulling ahead by a few points. The first few minutes of the game the score was 3 to 5, Dragons were down. Then they pulled ahead 18-14. St. Francis then went on a run and the Dragons were down 36 to 21, with 3 minutes left of the first half.  

The Dragons then went on an excellent run themselves and brought the gap to 35 to 38 going into halftime. The Dragons showed real grit coming out the second half, and were up again at one point 43 to 41. Then, according to coach Kyle Allen, the boys just “ran out of gas.” The final score ended up being 80-60. 

Coach Allen was pleased with how the majority of the game went. He said, “We hung with them as long as possible and competed with them most of the game. I think we played one of our better games, not in terms of production, but in continuity – like, there was a definite ‘let’s try to play with the system’ feel out there.”

The boys will now head into play-off this week and will start by playing Albany on Thursday March 7 in Albany.