12 minute read
Parker Fraki
While many athletes were looking forward to the spring, Henning senior Parker Fraki was looking forward to completing a winter season that saw the Henning boys’ basketball team return to state and the opportunity to defend their Class A state title. Fraki spoke about the “what if” and what he will miss most about his senior class. Q : The Hornets basketball team won the section title this season just to find out the next day MSHSL had canceled the state tournament, how did you handle hearing the news?
A: I was pretty sad. I was actually on my way down to the cities to watch the girls play in the state tournament with coach Randy Misegades and a couple of teammates. We were all disappointed to hear the news.
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Q: How do you feel about not being able to defend the state title and how does this affect the team’s legacy?
A: I feel like we’ve shown, throughout the season, how good we really are. We had some good competition and some major wins, so I don’t think it affects the legacy at all. New year. New story.
Q: I know it’s a little too early to tell but do you think personally you’ll ever have closure, or will this season be something that always leaves you questioning “What if ...?”
A: I’m sure as I grow older I will always remember this and it will definitely be something that’ll bother me forever.
Q: What has been the consensus between coaches and your teammates on the basketball team about how you ended your season?
A: It is a very unique situation. There was an understanding before our sec tion final game that it might be our last one ever. So we were happy to end the season with a win.
Q: What is substituting your time instead of sports and are you doing anything to stay ready in case the state order is lifted?
A: I’ve been spending my time mostly doing homework or going for walks. I got my basketball hoop set up outside and to pass time, I’ll go outside when it’s nice and shoot. Sometimes I bring my sister out to shoot with me.
Q: What has been the highlight of your senior year both academically and athletically?
A: One highlight for me this year academically is being nominated to be a part of National Honor Society. Sports wise the highlight was when a fellow senior Jessee Keonen was awarded a varsity jersey to play on senior night. He got his jersey right after we won the conference.
Q: Having your senior year cut short what will you miss most about your se nior class and high school sports?
A: Some things that I will miss the most is messing around in the library with my friends when we were supposed to be do ing our online classes. Sports wise, I’m going to miss out on a second chance at state which is quite saddening. I’m just thankful for the opportunity that we got last year.
Q: After going through coronavirus, distance learning, a delayed spring season, what would you tell upcoming class es, and what have you taken away from this whole ordeal?
A: I would have to say to any underclassmen, don’t take anything for granted. You may not know when something is going to be taken away from you. Cherish every mo ment that you get and don’t waste anything.
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HENNING VOLLEYBALL SURPRISE TEAM OF THE YEAR
When looking at the landscape of sports in the area in 2019-20, there were several teams and individuals that were expected to do amazing things and possibly advance to state meets and tournaments. After going through several teams and the fall and winter season, e Daily Journal decided that Surprise Team of the Year went to the Henning volleyball team.
Beginning the 2019-20 season, the Henning volleyball team was like many others with high hopes and goals to improve on last year. But as the season unfolded, the Hornets proved that the season would be a special one as they nished with a 20-7 regular season record, won the Section 6A
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championship and went on the Class A state tournament. e regular season started out great for the Hornets as they won their rst 10 matches in the season including all four matches at the Browerville/ Eagle Valley Tournament. e start was consistent with the success of the team the past two seasons as good starts help build the team to 20-plus win seasons. What wasn’t was that the Hornets did not allow an opponent to win a set during that time.
With 10 wins in their pocket the Hornets traveled to Wadena to take on the Wadena-Deer Creek Wolverines, one of the section’s annual favorites. e game was battled back and forth, but it would be the hosting Wovlerines that took home the 3-2 victory. e road would not get easier as the Hornets traveled to Burnsville for the Class A Showcase tournament. e tournament did not start out well for the Henning girls as they were swept in their two pool play games by Kittson
County Central (2-0) and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (2-0) and fell in the rst round of the Silver Bracket 2-1 to Kenyon-Wanamingo. e losses saw the Hornets drop four consecutive games in three days.
But perserverance is what makes a championship squad and the Hornets picked themselves up winnin the next two games in the tournament. ese would be two-set sweeps over Barnesville and New Life Academy. e Hornets would return to dual match play and add four more victories and did not allow a set win from any of the teams. People began to recognize that Henning would be a force to be reckoned with in the sectoin tournament coming up.
In their next challenge, the Hornets traveled to Perham to compete in their third regular season tournament of the year. e tournament would start out like the last as the Hornets could not get in their groove in pool play.
Henning would take on three Class AA teams in Roseau, Mel
rose and Pequot Lakes. In their first match, the Hornets were swept by Roseau (2-0), while their next two pool play matches saw splits with Melorse (1-1) and Pequot Lakes (1-1), eventual Section 8AA champ. Although they only won two sets out of six, the higher level of competition would prove valuable this late in the year. To close out the tournament, the Hornets took on Highway 210 rival Underwood for the bronze title. In their first meeting, the Hornets swept the Rockets and this match would be no different as Henning won in two sets 25-19, 25-7.
Another rejuvenation, the Hornets would go on a tear to finish their regular season. Henning would win its last three games against Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley (3-2), New York Mills (3-0) and Verndale (3-0). This would propel the Hornets to having the top seed in the Subsection 6A South.
With the momentum going their way, the Hornets wasted little time manuveur ing through the section tournament as they swept through Hancock (3-0), Breckenridge (3-0) and Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley (3- 0). This would set up a match with Wade na-Deer Creek for the section championship and a trip to the state tournament.
The match would take place in Perham as the Hornets and Wolverines took the court. Wadena-Deer Creek was looking to return to the state tournament after taking a hiatus last season, while Hennning was looking for its first-ever state berth. Learning from the prior matchup, the Hornets would cruise through the game winning 3-1 and punch ing their ticket to the state tournament.
In the state quarterfinal, the Hornets fell 3-0 to Waterville-Elysian-Morristown and played a tight matchup against Bel grade-Brooten-Elrosa dropping the game 3-2. Although the team fell in both their matches of the state tournament, they made school history with their first state appearance.
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SECTION 8AA GIRL’S BASKETBALL FINAL
The Daily Journal Game of the Year was an easy choice as it pitted two of the best girls’ basketball teams in the area vying for a section champi onship and state playoff berth.
After posting an undefeated 25-0 re cord during the regular season, the Pelican Rapids Vikings looked to prove to doubters that they were the real deal. The Vikings would continue their suc cess in the first three rounds of the playoffs as they defeated Barnesville (50-39), Crookston (49-44) and Hawley (51-42).
In the other corner, the Fergus Falls Otters, a team that won the Section 8AAA title the prior year and compet ed in the state tournament. The Otters schedule rarely saw Class AA foes and even saw the team take on Class AAAA teams. While not going undefeated, Fergus Falls blew out most of their competition and seemed destined for a return to the state tournament. The Otters outscored their three prior play off opponents 234-152 with wins over Wadena-Deer Creek (63-42), Park Rap ids Area (82-51) and Roseau (89-59), last year’s section champion.
The showdown would take place at Concordia College in Moorhead. Both teams had played their prior two games at the school with neither having an is sue with the neutral court. The game was highly anticipated with several side stories including Otters head coach Brad Strand being a former Pelican Rap ids boys’ basketball head coach.
The Otters would open the game with the first basket, but the tide quickly turned as the Vikings muscled their way under the hoop to grab the lead. Fergus
Falls remained close and even regained the lead 13-11 but with 30% field goal percentage in the first half, Pelican Rap ids went into the break with a 21-17 lead.
In the second half, the Vikings con tinued to control the pace of the game pushing their lead to eight. The Otters, playing from an unusual standpoint, battled back into the game and tied the contest 41-41. Pelican Rapids possessed the ball with under a minute to play but
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a charge call on Greta Tollefson gave Fergus Falls the ball back with 31 seconds to play.
Moving the ball to midcourt, the Otters would call a timeout with 14 seconds re maining to set up what many assumed to be the final play. After an inbound, the Ot ters attempted to drop the ball down low but the pass was out of reach and went out of bounds. This gave the Vikings the ball back with 5.6 seconds left to play and the entire length of the court to go.
The Otters would need to play a soft defense as any foul would send the Vikings to the line.
Pelican Rapids would inbound the ball to senior guard Maddie Guler. Guler sprinted down court and with time expir ing, heaved a shot at the hoop and watched it bank in sending the Pelican Rapids crowd into a frenzy. Guler was swarmed on court after the shot as the Vikings cap tured the section title and punched their ticket to state.
The Vikings saw the majority of their points come from Tollefson (18) and Anna Stephenson (16), while the Otters were led by Ellie Colbeck (22).
The Otters finished their season with a 25-5 record.
The Vikings season would conclude with a trip to the state tournament where they fell in the opening round to Waseca (32- 22), but won a consolation over Concordia Academy (59-45). The tournament would be cut short due to the coronavirus pan demic.
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