Conference Notebook: Big 9

Currently sitting on top of the Big Nine Conference is the Winona Winhawks who hold a two game lead over Mankato West and Owatonna. Winona beat the pair in the first round of conference play to stay undefeated in the conference and 15-1 on the season. Also, Owatonna beat West but was defeated by fourth place Rochester Century who is 3.5 games back of the leader.

Big 9 Standings

Winona 15-1 (9-0)

Owatonna 11-5 (7-2)

Mankato West 8-4 (7-2)

Roch. Century 10-4 (5-3)

Mankato East 6-9 (4-5)

Faribault 5-9 (3-5)

Roch. Mayo 5-10 (3-5)

Austin 4-8 (3-6)

Roch. JM 1-13 (1-7)

Albert Lea 0-7 (2-10)

Numbers

Six -foot-7 junior forward Mark Blacklock of Winona is averaging 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.2 blocked shots a game next to Alec Brown whose averaging 24 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 4.5 blocks per game. Brown broke the school single contest scoring and field goal made records with 44 points and 18 field goals last Tuesday against Rochester JM. He's shooting 67 percent from the field. Winona is 26-2 when Brown is in the lineup as a varsity player.

Owatonna junior point guard Vaughn Thada has scored 86 points in the last four games. He recently produced a season-high 32 points in a win over Austin. Thada made 14 of 17 field goal attempts against the Packers and then followed that with 19 points on Tuesday in a win against JM.

This Tuesday approximately 1,500 fans showed up for the Mankato West versus Mankato East girls/boys basketball doubleheader. In the past decade the games had been selling out MSU's Bresnan Arena overloading four thousand plus fans.

West senior Preston Brunz scored 14 points with three assists while junior guard Des Spann came off the bench for 13 points and six rebounds and junior guard Nick Kaus scored seven points with six boards. This backcourt trio led West over East with a 56-36 win on Tuesday. The West defense forced 24 turnovers from the Cougars.

Tuesday, in a 20 point win over Austin, Faribault hit 52 percent of its field goals and three players had double-doubles! Junior Michael Emge scored 30 points with 11 boards, senior teammate Zach Tinaglia had 10 points and 10 boards, and junior Chad Hansen put up 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Quotes

"The way they're playing with that zone (defense) and Brown in the middle like that, it's going to be difficult to beat unless someone shoots well and gets a lead." - Rochester Mayo coach Shaun Lang on Winona.

"He's definitely something special. There hasn't been a freshman playing this many minutes in I don't know how long." - Alec Brown on freshman teammate Chance Bechly, a 5-foot-9 guard.

"It's up in the air completely. I have no clue. I kind of wish someone would just tell me where to go." - Brown on his recruitment.

"We were struggling a little bit after a loss to Shakopee, but three wins last week was great. We are still very much alive for the number one seed in the section. The conference is kind of out of our control but we can control things in the section still." - Vaughn Thada on his Owatonna Huskies.

"I'm excited that we're playing well. Everything on offense has been clicking. Our defense is improving every game. Also, the guys have just been making plays." - Owatonna coach Josh Williams.

"MSU has been a terrific host, but it's always nice to be on your home floor, and win the smaller crowds, you can play these games at home." - Mankato East AD Todd Waterbury (my former 8th grade science teacher at Ellis Middle School in Austin).

"We ran into a buzz saw the last seven minutes. Our defense had been good up until that point and then it kind of fell apart for a stretch, and we didn't have the offense to combat it. They've got multiple guys who can put the ball on the deck and do a lot of damage." - Mankato East coach Joe Madson on his team's loss to Mankato West.

"We had some shooting woes and their efficiency on offense did us in. Hopefully this is just a bump in the road and we'll get back on track." - Austin head coach Kris Fadness said.

"You don't get those very often. This was a very good team effort." - Faribault coach Steven Lansing said referring to three of his players producing double doubles.

Notes

The Winona Daily News reported that Brown is interested in five schools: Washington State, UW-Green Bay, Loyola Chicago, Northern Iowa, and Santa Clara.

Owatonna junior Mitch Hawkins had season bests of 12 points and six boards plus led his team in deflections in a win over JM.

Attendance for the Mankato West versus Mankato East rivalry games has been dwindling in recent years so the plan is to return some or all of the games back to the high schools. They have been playing the games at Mankato State's Bresnan Arena for about a decade.

Weekend Schedule

All games below are Friday at 7:30.

Winona at Albert Lea

Rochester Century at Austin

Owatonna at Faribault

Rochester Mayo at Mankato East

Mankato West at Rochester John Marshall

Saturday

1:30 Marshall vs. Mankato East @ Mankato Bethany Lutheran College

6:00 Austin at New Prague