Great Plains Alliance Tournament (June 27th – June 29th – St. Cloud, MN)

Great Plains Alliance Tournament (June 27^th – June 29^th – St. Cloud, MN)
3-1 Tournament Record, 27-7 overall record
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM: Matt Morse, John Swanke

Coaches Take: MN Fury Ramey played well this weekend.  What I really like to see is that we are learning from past tournaments and improving steadily.  Case in point - we had limited turnovers this weekend, were getting shots that we wanted, and playing decent defense.  The biggest areas that we need to grow in are still communication on defense and quicker movement on offense (both swinging the ball and off-ball movement).    Once we have these two points mastered, we will be the most difficult team to play against.  

While we exhibited some rust in our first game against Dakota Schoolers, which was to be expected after a few weeks of not playing in any tournaments, we ended up winning a hard fought showcase game.  They were by far the toughest and most physical opponents that we played all weekend long and it was good to pull out the win.
The next two games were relatively easy, though both teams could shoot very well and we all know good shooting teams are only a few buckets away from a comeback.  We exhibited good poise and close-out ability, handling ECI Select and Comets Phillips by 32 & 26 point margin of victories, respectively.

The first game against championship bracket play was against MN D1-15's, which we knew would be a quality opponent.  The scouting report was essentially simple - prevent Amir Coffey from touching the basketball, front the post and force others to beat you.  It was a good game plan, but not when the entire D1-15s shoot 70-80% in the first half and MN Fury Ramey shoots 20-30%.  We were getting the shots that we wanted, they just weren't going in.  The D1-15's were phenomenal from the 3pt line, but they were getting some easy post touches and actions off the post, which only added to the quality shooting barrage.  Despite our defensive efforts, we quickly found ourselves 25 points down.  But MN Fury Ramey doesn't go down without a fight.  Despite our worst initial shooting performance to date, we battled back to being down only 16 at the end of the first half, 46-30.  Just as the D1-15's were going to go on their scoring runs, I knew that we were poised to go on our run.  The 2nd half onslaught was started by the quality perimeter shooting of our guards, the tenacity of our posts - both defensively and offensively - and the awesome pick and roll game between Matt Morse and Max Lynch.  We had the momentum and got within 6 points.  But anytime you get in a 25 point hole against a quality opponent, the comeback will be insanely difficult, if not possible.  D1-15s went on their run too during the 2nd half and though we chipped away as best we could, we ended up losing the game by 13 points.  

What do we learn from this game?  Coach Meier and I will be doing some thinking, but I think the lesson is two fold: 1) What do we do to come out hard and fast against the best competition?  Is it mindset?  Offensive sets?  Defense?  I think it is a combination of many items, but in large part it is having the mentality that from start to finish, we give our best efforts - physical and mental.  We have the physical - there is no doubt about that, but we need to know that we can and we will compete with any team they put against us.  2) The 2nd part is when our shots aren't dropping, we need defense.  Our defense was ok, but again, some communication was lacking and as a challenge to my posts, so was our physicality in the post.  D1-15s were getting whatever shots they wanted, whatever positioning, and that is something we cannot and will not allow in our remaining tourneys.  

The most important question is always - did I give my best effort out there?  I believe so, but this can only be answered one game, on play, one player at a time.  Hold your head up high fellas, I'm proud of you and you should be too! - Coach Ramey

Box Scores:
Game 1 MN Fury Ramey vs. Dakota Schoolers 56-53 (W)
Kevin McKiernan – 6pts, 4reb, 1ast, 2TO, 3steal
John Swanke – 4pts, 5reb, 4ast, 3TO, 2blk
Sam Skoyen – 11pts, 1reb, 1ast, 2TO, 2steal
Austin Heidecker – 18pts, 6reb, 2ast, 1TO, 1blk
Garrett Ober – 2pts, 5reb, 1blk
Jake Meyen – 2pts, 3reb, 3ast, 2TO, 1steal, 2blk
Joe Morris – DNP
Matt Morse – 7pts, 1ast, 3TO
Craig Nielsen – 6pts, 3reb, 1ast, 1TO
Max Lynch – 0pts, 2reb, 1blk

Game 2 MN Fury Ramey vs. ECI Select 76-44 (W)
Kevin McKiernan – 16pts, 3reb, 3ast, 1TO, 3steal
John Swanke – 15pts, 7reb, 1ast, 1TO, 2steal
Sam Skoyen – 14pts, 4reb, 1ast, 1steal, 1blk
Austin Heidecker – 0pts, 3reb, 1ast, 1TO, 1steal
Garrett Ober – 0pts, 2reb, 1ast, 1steal, 1blk
Jake Meyen – 6pts, 7reb, 1ast, 1steal
Joe Morris – 2pts, 1ast, 1TO
Matt Morse – 11pts, 3reb, 3asts, 1TO, 1steal
Craig Nielsen – 6pts, 6reb, 3ast
Max Lynch – 6pts, 2reb, 2ast, 2blk

Game 3 MN Fury Ramey vs. Comets Phillips 59-33 (W)
Kevin McKiernan – 9pts, 1reb, 1ast, 2TO, 2steal
John Swanke – 16pts, 5reb, 2ast,
Sam Skoyen – 7pts, 5reb, 2ast
Austin Heidecker – 12pts, 8reb, 2ast, 1blk
Garrett Ober – 5pts, 4reb, 3ast, 1TO, 1steal, 2blk
Jake Meyen – 3pts, 2reb, 1ast
Joe Morris – 2pts, 1reb, 4ast, 4steal
Matt Morse – 3pts, 4reb, 1TO, 2steal
Craig Nielsen – 2pts, 2reb, 1ast, 1steal, 1blk
Max Lynch – 0pts, 4reb, 2blk

Game 4 MN Fury Ramey vs. D1-15’s 65-78 (L)
Kevin McKiernan – 6pts, 2ast
John Swanke – 4pts, 6reb, 2ast, 1TO, 1steal, 1blk
Sam Skoyen – 17pts, 1reb
Austin Heidecker – 7pts, 6reb,
Garrett Ober – 4pts, 2reb, 2ast, 1steal, 1blk
Jake Meyen – 0pts, 3reb, 1ast, 1TO, 1steal
Joe Morris – 7pts, 1reb, 2ast, 1TO, 1steal
Matt Morse – 20pts, 1reb, 2ast, 1TO, 2steal
Craig Nielsen – 0pts, 1reb, 1TO
Max Lynch – 0pts, 1reb, 1steal