2019 NCAA Tournament First Round: Minnesota uses 3-pointers to keep season going

DES MOINES -- As University of Minnesota forward Jordan Murphy walked to the locker room Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena, he let out a sigh of relief and said to himself “we needed that one.”

Murphy knew that his team had something to prove. And, as the underdog, it did.

The tenth-seeded Gophers (22-13) hit a season-high 11 3-pointers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to upset No. 7 Louisville, 86-76. Minnesota will play Michigan State or Bradley on Saturday with the tip-off time to be announced later Friday night.

Freshman Gabe Kalscheur led that charge with five 3s, and scored 24 points, just one shy of his career-high. Kalscheur was one of five Gophers who scored in double figures.


In fact, all five who scored in double figures -- Murphy (18), Amir Coffey (18), Kalscheur, Dupree McBrayer, (13) and Daniel Oturu (13) -- were the only ones who had points.


Kalscheur wouldn’t admit whether it was his best game, but liked how he played in first national tournament game.


“I wouldn’t say that this was my best game, but my most complete game? I would say so,” Kalscheur said. “I feel like I got it done on the defensive end and on the offensive end. I feel like we did really well defensively and offensively. There are things we could work on and stuff.”


McBrayer hit the first 3 with 7 minutes, 14 seconds left in the first half that gave Minnesota an 18-17 lead. On its next possession, Coffey hit his first 3 of the night.


Then, Kalscheur got hot. He scored the next eight points for the Gophers, and even though they led by seven points, they wouldn’t surrender the lead to the Cardinals.


“He's a terrific three-point shooter,” Gophers coach Richard Pitino said. “He has a beautiful stroke. He's one of those guys, he deserves success. Doesn't matter what you do that guy doesn't take the day off. He sneaks into the gym. He's a throwback and he deserves success.”


The lead for the Gophers grew as much as 19, and did it for awhile without Murphy’s services. Murphy said his back locked up on him but wanted to play through it.


“I mean, I don't know what else I can do about it, but for now just get treatment and take care of it,” Murphy said.


The Gophers had a bad taste in their mouth after their last experience. Minnesota dropped its first-round game to Middle Tennessee State.


They wanted to erase that bad taste on Thursday.

“Coming into this game. Everyone was talking about Louisville,” Coffey said. “We were the underdog in this game and to come out with the win … we got to keep going and move forward.”

No. 2 Michigan State 76, No. 15 Bradley 65

The Braves certainly weren't scared to go toe-to-toe with a national brand name. In fact, Bradley had a 35-34 lead at the half.

But, the Spartans (29-6) grinded out a win on Thursday to face Minnesota in Saturday's second-round contest in Des Moines.

Michigan State went on a 9-0 run that put it ahead 63-55 with 2:41 left to bounce the pesky Missouri Valley Conference tournament champions from the national tournament.

The Spartans also held Bradley (20-15) to seven total second-half rebounds.

"I think coach said at the end of the game even after all that we'e still one of the last 32 (teams) standing right now," Spartans guard Cassius Winston said. "We know there is a lot we can improve, but that's our goal to get better and better each and every step of the way and now we got a chance to get better and that's always a good thing."

Winston scored a game-high 26 points; Elijah Childs led Bradley with 19 points.

Montezuma gets over the top with quarterfinal win

DES MOINES -- Toward the end of the first quarter, Montezuma High School girls basketball coach Janel Burgess took off her blazer and put her hair in a ponytail.
It was time for the Bravettes to get down to business, and after a slow start they did.
The Bravettes defeated CAM of Anita 59-45 on Wednesday in a Class 1A state quarterfinal game at Wells Fargo Arena.

Montezuma (22-2) started out the game shooting 2-for-12 from the floor, and missed all five 3-pointers attempted.
"Slow starts at the state tournament are going to concern you, just because it's a different venue," Burgess said. "Yet, we have played great teams. In that sense, I knew we were okay. We just had to calm ourselves down." 
To add salt to the early wound, Montezuma junior Shateah Wetering was on the bench with two fouls.
Wetering admitted that she does get in foul trouble more often than she'd like to, but enjoyed watching her teammates revive the offense with her on the bench with two fouls. 
"It always happens; coach is telling me to put my hands up," Wetering said. "I was excited that our whole team was doing so well."
Elise Boulton hit three 3s in the second quarter that helped the Bravettes erase an 11-point deficit, and go on a 17-4 run. Boulton scored 13 points while Wetering led the Bravettes with 17.

Once Montezuma took the lead with 2 seconds left in the second quarter on a Shelby Conger 3 near the right-side wing, the Bravettes never relinquished that advantage.
"To see our team enthusiasm and unity go up when those went down, that was pretty awesome," Burgess said. "I thought if we could get our composure on the offensive end and move the ball, we'd be okay. The defense was fine. Elise found a couple of open 3s and that was huge for us as well."
Montezuma will play No. 2 seed West Hancock at 3:15 p.m. Friday.

Criswell returns to state 25 years later

Greg Criswell thought he'd never coach again, much less at the 2019 Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union state basketball tournament.
Alas, he has returned with the Waukon High School girls basketball team 25 seasons after taking Montezuma to the state tournament in 1994.
Waukon won its state quarterfinal game with a 48-37 win over Crestwood in Des Moines on Monday. It was the third time the Indians and Cadets had met this season.

Many things have changed since the last time Criswell was a head coach. For starters, the tournament has moved from across the street from Veterans Memorial Auditorium to Wells Fargo Arena. (It's been that way since 2006.)

"It personally has rejuvenated me," Criswell said. "I inherited a great group of girls who love to work hard. It's exciting to be back and we're in it for another round."
Criswell uses the Montezuma squads from 1989 to 1994 -- the time Criswell coached at Montezuma -- as an example to his current Indians squad.
"In regards to how hard they work, how hard they played, and (Waukon) really reminds me of how Monte played," Criswell said.
Criswell had spent 21 years coaching at Winterset High School after leaving Montezuma.
Two years ago, Criswell happened to be in La Crosse, Wisconsin, watching a girls' tournament as a spectator. He had noticed among a slew of club teams was one high school non-club team: Waukon.
He appreciated how they played in an area where the girls basketball talent is strong.
A month after Criswell saw the Indians play in La Crosse, he saw their head coach job had opened up. He thought that was interesting.
"They have been super," Criswell said. "I decided to go ahead, I called the athletic director Brian Hilsabeck and he said, 'You have to come up here. This is God's country up here.' My wife and I drove up here, and we just felt it was right. We packed the family up to Waukon, Iowa."
He had known about the Montezuma girls basketball head coaching job being vacant, and he admitted there was interest.
He got a phone call from Janel (Grimm) Burgess, his star player in that 1994 state tournament run at Montezuma.
Burgess had just returned back to Montezuma after traveling around the Midwest coaching in different college basketball programs. She had interest in the Montezuma vacancy, and asked Criswell for her opinion.
He advised his former player to pursue the opening at her alma mater.
"Janel has a special place in my heart," Criswell said. "For Janel to be up here coaching in the state tournament, to me, that's really special and neat."
The two coaches keep in touch often, In fact, before the Indians and Cadets played Monday evening, Burgess sent Criswell three good-luck messages.
Montezuma is in its second straight state tournament after being ousted in the quarterfinals last season by Central Decatur.
Burgess' career record at Montezuma so far in two seasons is 41-5. The Bravettes play at CAM High School at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday.

Barnstormers Overcome Long Delay to Grab First Home Win

While high winds, hail and tornadoes bustled around Central Iowa, the Iowa Barnstormers created their own storm by defeating the Arizona Rattlers 56-54 on Saturday night.

However, there was a stoppage in play at the 7:15 mark in the second quarter as a severe  thunderstorm rushed through downtown Des Moines. Fans were advised to evacuate, but the offensive star of the game was worried about one of the fans in the stands.

When the Emergency Alert System went off, Jesse Schmidt had one thing on his mind and it wasn't defeating the Rattlers. Schmidt's little sister, Jacqulyn Stewart, is nine months pregant and just like any brother does for a sibling, her safety was top priority at that moment.

"I ripped off my shoulder pads, went up into the stands, and told her 'No, you're not going anywhere in this weather,' and on top of that, my daughter and mom were in my apartment, so I was very worried," said Schmidt. "Family definintely came first in that situation."

All members of the Schmidt crew were safe as well as all 7,921 who braved the elements.

While that was going on, General Manager John Pettit and Director of Events Ryan Ziegler were trying to coordinate a plan during the delay.
"It's really not uncommon for something like this to go off," said Ziegler. "I thought our entire staff did an amazing job."

Pettit has also seen something like this, but not in Arena Football.

"I've been in the sports business for 30 years, so I've pretty much have seen everything," said Pettit. "However, this was a crazy, but I've seen crazier."

Even team president Jeff Lamberti tweeted this during the delay (@stormerone): "What other sport but arena football can u have a power outage, emergency to evacuate, and still see a hell of a game!! Love ArenaBall!!"

Iowa played with a little more maturity as the team is starting to learn more about themselves day-by-day.

"We had a feeling all week," said Head Coach Mike Hohensee. "We fell in love wit hour gameplan, and we convinced our players that we can step out of the dark and enter that light. That was a great win for a young football team."

The team knew that they needed this win badly.

"We lost in overtime last time at home and kinda let one go against Utah, and we could easily be sitting with an even better record than what we have," said Hohensee.

"We're a talented team, and I sure hope people realize that," said defensive leader Jason Simpson. "We didn't make as many mistakes tonight, and we forced turnovers. We got to (Nick) Davila."

Not only did the defense play well, the offense was clicking as well.

QB J.J. Raterink threw seven touchdowns on the night while six of those were caught by Schmidt. Schmidt didn't reach his personal game high of seven, which he got most recently on April 16 of last year when Brad Banks was then-quarterback.

"It was what was working," Schmidt said. "A big for us against a great team. I'm proud to be a Barnstormer tonight."

Raterink realizes however that winning to Schmidt means more than building up his stat line.

"Last week was one of the few times Jesse didn't catch a TD pass, but he was so happy to get the win, and that rubbed off on the team," Raterink said. "That's the type of person he is. He never complained about it, but we definitely do have a little similar mindset going for us."

What does this win mean to a team who is now 3-2 on the season?

"Beating a team like that is certainly beneficial to our psyche," said Raterink, who ended up with 256 yards passing.

Kicker Chris Camay had some troubles by missing a couple point-after-attempts in in the beginning three quarters, but when Camay came up to attempt the PAT late in the fourth, the ball was placed perfectly down the middle.

"That was the biggest weight off my shoulder all year," said Camay. "I struggled today, no question. But all the guys left me alone and let me do my thing."

Camay felt the pressure leading up to the kick.

"I knew I had to make that last one," he said.

Even though the rain, wind and hail brought a delay to the game, Schmidt points out that there was something brewing afterwards.

"There was a black storm outside, but there was a black storm inside as well."

Every 15 Minutes

In 15 minutes from now, you’ll be finished reading this piece of this edition and move on with your day. In 15 minutes from now, you’ll still be thinking about this piece.

In 15 minutes from now, another high school-aged teenager will tragically die due to a car accident via a drunk driver or texting while driving.

On Thursday afternoon, Carlisle High School students received a rude awakening as the “Every 15 Minutes” program came into the Warren County town and touched a lot of hearts.

The Every 15 Minutes program is a national coalition designed to bring awareness to high school students that drinking or texting while being behind the wheel could bring severe consequences.

Take Carlisle senior Corbin Clark for example.

His plans are to attend Simpson College next year, major in accounting and play on the football team.

Instead, he played the role of operating a car while intoxicated and killed two young girls.

Clark’s morning was a normal one. His afternoon – anything but ordinary.

After being the one who “killed” the two girls, he was arrested and taken into custody. After that, he was transported to the Warren County Courthouse in Indianola where he was booked, had his fair trial, and sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Luckily, this was all fake, but the emotions shown from the student body and others impacted made it all seemed like it was happening for real.

And, sadly, it does happen for real. However, an event like this, can allow for prevention like this to happen.

“We want to make sure something like this never happens,” said Carlisle Principal Mike Anthony. “The timeliness of this event is huge with prom coming up this week.”

Every 15 Minutes is a year-round project, but the most impact is brought onto during the most important weeks of a school year – homecoming and prom.

Those two events are the prime events for high school students to go out and party. Whether alcohol is involved or not, students do stupid things. Those stupid things lead to bad results, and those bad results could change lives of those forever.

Seeing the stunned look on all faces from freshmen to seniors resounded all over the crowd as they stood behind the police tape. Tears were shed as some saw their best friends being put onto a body board, taken into ambulances and even one being put in handcuffs escorted by police into an official car.

The students, however, had no idea that the crash was going to be part of the day.

They thought there was going to be an assembly at the end of the day honoring all those students who were pulled out of classes representing the every 15 minutes a student dies in a car accident. Some took that concept seriously, too.

As a police officer walks into a classroom representing as the Grim Reaper, another Carlisle officer, or a chaplain within the department, announce a random name in the classroom representing he or she has passed.

For example, Turner Maryfield was one of the very last to be taken by the Grim Reaper. He was only 17, and as students heard his obituary, written by his parents prior to the afternoon, tears filled some faces as disbelief ran across the others, including Turner’s himself.

“I don’t know what to say,” he said as he walked away from his peers by the police. “I didn’t think I would get chosen.”

He wasn’t the only one who got selected. As each one of them were taken away from classes, shock hit their faces just as a car would collide with another in a crash.

Students stay at the school overnight as they are “dead” and cannot have contact with the outside world for 24 hours.

The event swept intense emotions among Wildcat students throughout the day.

Carlisle student Tyler Millard summed it up very well: “Because of this event, I will never drink or text while driving ever again. I won’t even think twice about it.”

What if White Stayed?

Every basketball fan in the state of Iowa knew this was coming. Royce White had too much talent not to pass up the offer to the NBA. He has all the upside in the world to work with. However, what if he would have stayed?

Iowa State exceeded many expectations this year by defeating the defending national champion in the first round, and for that matter, even making it to the first round. Fans and pundits alike believed this year was going to either be a year with many leaps and bounds or one which was going to have more downfalls. Lucky for all, Iowa State put themselves right back on near the top of the basketball world.

White was a huge contributor to that. He was the only player in the nation (in Division I) to lead his team in points, rebounds, blocks, steals and assists. It seemed like this guy did it all. While that may bot be completely true, what is true is that if White were still in Minnesota, the Cyclones would not have gotten as far, and wouldn't have come close to winning those big games that led ISU to the NCAA Tournament.

White made the right decision in leaving Ames for bigger aspirations. If he had waited around, there were many risks -- most dominantly to prevent injury. White is slated to be a late pick in the "lottery" round where he can contribute with almost any uniform he puts on. If he can develop a high post game and enhance his mid-range jumper, White will be a force to be reckoned with in the Big Show.

However, what if White had stayed in Ames for one more go-round?

Iowa State would have the firepower to make a long run to the Sweet 16 or even Elite Eight and would have new guys in Kenny Luscious coming in to help things out. Iowa State would instantly become one of the favorites to challenge Kansas for the Big 12 title and would join the class with Baylor and Missouri as top in the Big 12.

Nonetheless, White is off to the NBA and Iowa State will be just fine. The stake has been placed once again. The Cyclones are once again the leader of college basketball of the Hawkeye State. Even though that's a small accomplishment, there's plenty more to come for ISU.

Simpson Storm Coaches Show with Ben Blake

Here is the latest edition of the Simpson Storm Coaches Show featuring Head Baseball Coach Ben Blake: