2024-25: Wood City Classic

Game 1:

Mesabi East (W: 74-41)

Highlights: https://www.hudl.com/video/2/421951/6776a20a8a6b6c88d11cb86f

Game 2:

Cloquet (L: 81-58)

Highlights: https://www.hudl.com/video/2/421951/67769c312a743e01717a71c0

Dragon Boys Basketball gets a win in Christmas Tournament

• By Heidi Burger
 
• Jan 8, 2025

The Dragon Boys Varsity Basketball team attended the Christmas tournament in Cloquet, playing Mesabi East, Cloquet and East Central on Friday December 27. The boys started out strong but trailed toward the end of the tournament. 

Pine City 74, Mesabi East 41

The boys came out “locked in” according to coach Kyle Allen. They did a great job of adjusting to the opponents game and many of the varsity guys got on the court to see play time. “The more guys that are contributing to help, the easier the job is,” said coach Allen. Senior Austin Wiener led the Dragons with rebounds, and sophomore Kevin McKellar came in off the bench to grab seven boards. The Dragons played a steady game and came away with the win. 

AJ Ostenson put up 16 points and had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals. Austin Wiener contributed 13 points, with 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Charlie Ausmus contributed 8 points, with 1 rebound and 1 steal. Grant Larson had 7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Kevin McKellar had 6 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal. Grant Skluzacek had 4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals. Sawyer McDaniel had 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals. Jace Peterson had 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals. Tanner Fix had 3 points and 3 rebounds. Eli Fromm had 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal. Dan Milliman had 2 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals. Sam Johnson had 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 1 steal. 

Cloquet 81, Pine City 58

For the second game of the tournament, the Dragons were up against the hosting team, Cloquet. Coach Allen said the Dragons have been attending this tournament for many years now, and they always play Cloquet for one game. 

“It becomes kind of a good little fun game for us!” he said. The boys did a nice job in the first half, down by only a few points at halftime. Turnovers were few, and rebounds were sufficient in the first half. The second half started out well, but about 10 minutes into the second half, a few calls didn’t go the Dragons way, and it appeared to mess up their mental game. 

“We just crumbled a bit under the mental toughness of the situation, and then the game kind of opened up and got out of hand,” reported Allen. Ostenson and Wiener led the team in the first half in stats, showing the skills they have worked on. 

Ostenson contributed 18 points, with 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block. Wiener put up 10 points, with 12 rebounds and 2 assists. McDaniel had 7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Peterson had 6 points, 2 rebounds and 1 steal. Larson had 4 points, 1 rebound and 4 assists. Fromm had 4 points and 7 rebounds. McKellar had 2 points and 2 rebounds. Skluzacek had 3 points and 2 rebounds. Milliman had 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals. Ausmus had 2 points, 1 assist and 1 steal. Fix had 1 rebound and 1 steal. Colson Berglund had 2 rebounds. Kevon Williams had 1 rebound. 

Christmas Break Schedule

12/23: Practice and Weights

7-9 AM (High School)

7-8AM: In The Gym

8-9AM: Weight Room

Mandatory: Varsity

Optional: JV and C-Squad

12/26: Practice and Weights

6-8 PM (High School)

Mandatory: Varsity

Optional: JV and C-Squad

12/27: Varsity Game vs. Mesabi East (@Cloquet)

12/28: Varsity Game vs Cloquet (@Cloquet)

12/30: Practice and Weights

5-7 PM (High School)

Mandatory: Varsity

Optional: JV and C-Squad

12/31: Practice and/or Weights

8-10 AM (High School)

Mandatory: Varsity

Optional: JV and C-Squad

1/2: Back at School!

B LIFTS

Junior High: Early Practice (3-5PM) @ Elem

C-Squad: Early Practice (3-530PM) @ Elem

JV/V: Late Practice (530-730PM) @ HS

1/3:

C Lifts

Junior High: Early Practice (3-5PM) @ Elem

C/JV/V: Home game vs East Central

1/4 - 1/5

C Lifts (Saturday morning)

Youth Camp (Saturday morning)

Varsity only overnight trip

12/20/24: Lakes International Language Academy

Varsity: W (75-25)

JV: W

Highlights: https://www.hudl.com/video/2/421951/6776fe086024f5f95beda21c

12/21/24: Alumni Game

Great turnout at the annual alumni game!  Great to see so many familiar faces and share the court again with each other!  Shout out to Pizza Pub for bringing in the food for the event.

12/19/24: Moose Lake-Willow River

Varsity: L (53-74)

JV: L

C-Squad: L

Highlights: https://www.hudl.com/video/2/421951/6766213d7f2c3fb01354feb7

Lions Club Donation

Thank you to the Pine City Lions Club for the generous donation to our youth basketball program.  Their donation helped cover the registration costs of several of our players and helped them be apart of our tournaments and have jerseys!

7th + 8th Grade Tournament

Memebers of our 7th and 8th graders who have been part of the optional C-Squad opportunity so far this season got to go up to Duluth East for a tournament over the weekend.  Pictured below are some of those members.  They got to play against much larger schools including Duluth East, Cloquet, and Cambridge-Isanti!

12/14/24: Youth Camp

 

12/14/24: Duluth Marshall

Varsity: L (73-67)

JV: L

C-Squad: L

Highlights: https://www.hudl.com/video/2/421951/675f07d6f20bc0734c2a5036

Boys Basketball loses in close games

• By Heidi Burger
 
• Dec 18, 2024

Marshall 73, Pine City 67 

It again was a close game at the end. The Dragons knew they were up against a tough player as Marshall had a 6 foot 6 inch player who already has a full-ride to a Division II college. The defenders did a great job of guarding him. But again, the boys’ shooting percentage was low, which resulted in not enough baskets made to win the game. 

“Ostenson had a good game with six rebounds, four assists, and two huge charges,” said coach Allen. “We are still in the process of taking every game, and we’re giving it the right amount of respect.”

Ostenson contributed a whopping 28 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 2 charges. McDaniel earned 14 points for the team, along with 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Wiener had 11 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. Ausmus had 5 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist.  Larson earned 5 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Skluzacek had 2 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist. Jace Peterson had 2 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. Tanner Fix had 1 rebound. Fromm had 5 rebounds and 1 charge. Milliman had 2 rebounds and 1 steal. Johnson had 1 rebound. 

The boys will be playing at the Target Center on Friday, December 20. The game tickets can also be used to get into a future Timberwolves game!

There will be a PCHS Alumni boys game on Saturday, December 21 at 9 a.m. This is a great way to connect former alumni and current alumni/players! It’s free, and there will be pizza following the game.

Target Center Game + YOUTH HALFTIME

Exciting news!

On Friday, December 20th, the Pine City JV and Varsity teams will be playing at The Target Center.

ALL 3rd-6th grade youth hoops players are invited to come and play on The Target Center floor during halftime of the games!  We will plan on having the floor available for the JV and Varsity halftimes!

Want to participate?  Wear your hoops jersey and buy a ticket.  All people entering the facility need a ticket.  Ticket information is listed below.

On December 20th, Pine City will take on LILA at The Target Center.

JV @ 515PM and Varsity @ 7PM

Tickets must be purchased ahead of time through this link:

https://www.nba.com/timberwolves/youth-basketball/pine-city-lila

Tickets are $35 each.  Your ticket gets you into the Pine City games as well as a future Timberwolves game.

All players, coaches, managers, and fans must have a ticket.

12/12/24: @Rush City

Varsity: L (48-43)

JV: L

C-Squad: W

Highlights: https://www.hudl.com/video/2/421951/675c8b97dc277025b41701fe

Boys Basketball loses in close games

• By Heidi Burger
 
• Dec 18, 2024

Rush City 49, Pine City 42

It was a close game for the Dragons, and although they racked up the rebounds, their shots were not falling. Allen said, “I thought the shots we took were good. Although it was a physical game, we continued to fight. But we put ourselves into a hole, and we didn’t have enough time to get ourselves out of that hole.”

Wiener contributed 12 points, along with 13 rebounds and 2 assists. Ostenson contributed 11 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 1 block. Willert had 5 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals. Skluzacek had 3 points and 1 rebound. McDaniel had 5 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist. Fromm contributed 4 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Milliman had 2 points, 1 rebound, and 3 steals. Larson had 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal. Ausmus had 1 rebound. 

12/10/24: Mora

Varsity: L (77-48)

JV: L

C-Squad: L

Highlights: https://www.hudl.com/video/2/421951/675a0b30821590a5b8b80bed

Boys Basketball loses in close games

• By Heidi Burger
 
• Dec 18, 2024

“We did really well in the first half,” said Pine City Boys Varsity Basketball Coach Kyle Allen. “We showed that we could be on the floor and compete with them.” Despite the gap in the final score, there were good things seen on the court by the Dragons when they played the Mora Mustangs on December 10. The Mustansg came out with a win. 

Mora 77, Pine City 48

Grant Skluzacek was leading scorer with 9 points and contributed 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal. Bryer Willert contributed 6 points, 4 rebounds and 1 charge. Jace Peterson had 6 points and 1 steal. AJ Ostenson had 5 points, 1 rebound and 1 steal. Colson Berglund earned 5 points, along with 4 rebounds and 1 block. Austin Wiener also contributed 4 points, along with 3 rebounds and 1 assist. Sawyer McDaniel had 3 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Charlie Ausmus had 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 1 charge. Eli Fromm had 3 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist. Grant Larson had 2 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Kevon Williams put up 2 points. Daniel Milliman had 2 assists and 3 steals. And Samuel Johnson had 2 rebounds. 

12/7/24: Youth Camp

 

12/15/24: Youth Basketball (7th and 8th Grade) @Duluth East

 Information for the upcoming youth 7th and 8th grade basketball tournament on Sunday Dec. 15th at Duluth East High School.

All 7th graders will be on the "7th grade team".

All 7th and 8th graders will be on the "8th grade team".

12/6/24: Aitkin

Varsity: W (74-56)

JV: W

C-Squad: W

Highlights: https://www.hudl.com/video/2/421951/6754940d1c6c21aab9801991

Dragon Boys Basketball starts season off with big wins!

• By Heidi Burger Pine City Pioneer
 
• Dec 11, 2024

The Dragon Boys Varsity team traveled to Ogilvie on Tuesday, December 3 for their first game of the season. It was a great game to start the season with all the eligible varsity players able to see equal court time. 

Coach Kyle Allen has been talking the last year or so about rebuilding,  about going back to the foundation of the program. Last season was a reset season, a chance for the boys players to take a step back and focus on the foundation, to make mistakes not often seen in a varsity game, and to correct those mistakes for the future of the program. Those steps backwards, as Coach Allen said, were made so this season’s Dragons could develop players to play at the varsity level. 

Pine City 74, Aitkin 58

The boys then hosted the Aitkin Gobblers on Friday, December 6. Allen was proud of the team for sticking to the system and what the system calls for. “The boys continued to really focus on that and I think they were rewarded for it as the game progressed,” reported Allen. 

Going into half-time, it was a one point game. The first half was a grind, with the Gobblers being bigger in size than the Dragons. So the Dragons knew they would have to work extremely hard against those bigger players. Coming out the second half, the Dragons took a step ahead and went on a 10-0 run. From there, they were able to capitalize and take it away.  They ended the game with a final score of 74-58. 

The Dragon Boys Varsity Basketball team will also have a busy week this week. They hosted Mora on Tuesday, December 10 (no score available as of press time). Then on Thursday, they will travel to Rush City to play the Tigers. The boys will finish out their week with a game on Saturday at home against Duluth Marshall at 1:30 p.m.

12/3/24: @Ogilvie

Varsity: W (104-16)

JV: W

Highlights: https://www.hudl.com/video/2/421951/675033a93738464375308e13

Dragon Boys Basketball starts season off with big wins!

• By Heidi Burger Pine City Pioneer
 
• Dec 11, 2024

The Dragon Boys Varsity team traveled to Ogilvie on Tuesday, December 3 for their first game of the season. It was a great game to start the season with all the eligible varsity players able to see equal court time. 

Coach Kyle Allen has been talking the last year or so about rebuilding,  about going back to the foundation of the program. Last season was a reset season, a chance for the boys players to take a step back and focus on the foundation, to make mistakes not often seen in a varsity game, and to correct those mistakes for the future of the program. Those steps backwards, as Coach Allen said, were made so this season’s Dragons could develop players to play at the varsity level. 

Pine City 104, Ogilvie 16

“The standards were changed, in the hope that we would see success and more consistency,” said Allen. The Ogilvie game was a good starting point. The boys came out ready to play, and they played through their errors, staying up. “I really liked how the boys stayed with the principles in this game.”  

The majority of the team was able to see playing time and even see double-digits for playing time which was a great game for experience. Coach Allen also commented on how “everyone really played well in terms of the execution of what we were asking them to do.” Sophomore Grant Larson had a great game, senior Austin Wiener led the team with 12 rebounds and senior Eli Fromm showed his tenacity on both sides of the court.