Red Wing Athletic Association

The 6th Grade Winger boys basketball team played great basketball for more than 2.5 games, but couldn't close out the Winger Invite Title as Northfield stormed back from 7  down to win the Championship Game at Red Wing High School.  

The Wingers were poised to claim the Championship with a smothering defense and very good offensive execution, but turnovers let the team down and the game slipped away from a very good Northfield team.   

The Wingers earned their way to the Championship with a 41-10 win over Kasson-Mantorville and then had one fo their best games of the year with a very strong performance over Stewartville.  

The Wingers scored 35 points in the first half and frustrated the Tigers players with their strong defense.   It was a performance that will raise expectations for this group over the summer.  

The Wingers close out their season with a tournament in Boyceville this weekend.  

The 6th grade Wingers boys had a perfect day as they split the squad for the first six games of the day with a group going to Prescott and another to Zumbrota-Mazeppa.   The Wingers played extremely hard and executed the offense very well in Zumbrota with wins over Rochester Century, Pine Island and a competitive game versus Zumbrota-Mazeppa in the Championship.   

The group in Mazeppa inclued Derek Alpers, Sam Kelly, Jevon Evans, Nathan Carlson, Grant Rolen, Jack Kelly and Isaac Galle.   Grant Rolen had a big day dominating the paint throughout the day.   Grant did a great job of rebounding the ball and was an offensive threat.    It was a very pleasant surprise to see the aggressiveness come out of all of the kids in this tournament.   Isaac Galle was strong on the boards, Jevon Evans played great defense and scored his first points of the year, Derek Alpers was strong on defense and had many fast break points, Nathan Carlson ran the offense and went to the basket hard all day, and both Jack and Sam Kelly showed hustle that could only be applauded by everyone in attendance.   It was a sight to see to see the Kelly's literally flying around the gym which included crash landings that made their coach cringe each time they landed.  It was fun to watch all of the players step up their game and run the offense very well.

The group in Prescott for the first 3 games included Sam Gonsior, Lincoln Bryan, Tre Moore, Teddy Tauer, Seth Yeatman and Coby Castner.   After a big 44-8 win over  Menomonie they ran into a very physical Eau Claire Eagles team and perservered in a very hard fought 45-35 win.   They learned the better you get the more teams want to beat you.   It appeared they were a little drained in their last pool game of the day as they narrowly defeated Eau Claire Regis.   Regis appeared to be very quick on the court, but the Wingers found a way to close the game late and after hearing more details of the previous game was proud that they fought through some injuries and wanted to close out their day strong. 

In the Championship Game of the Prescott the teams were brought together and the Wingers played a very good game versus Prescott.   Both teams played hard and well on offesne and the Wingers outlasted the Cardinals 50-44.    Prescott shot the ball well from the outside to gain a 26-22 halftime lead.   In the second half, the Wingers pounded the ball inside and did a great job finishing their shots.   Coby Castner had a big offensive day scoring 22 points and Grant Rolen finished his day with another strong rebounding game.   Nathan Carlson played tough defense throughout on Prescott standout Peter Brookshaw.   It was a very good Championship game as both teams have great respect for one another.  The win for the Wingers closed out a perfect 7-0 day.  

***More info to come in the Game Summary section in the next couple of days.  Didn't have the book on me. 

The Red Wing 6th Grade Wingers won the Consolation Championship at the GNBL League Championship.   The Wingers finished the tournament going 4-2 overall and found out they more than belonged in the tournament.   Their two losses came to the teams who finished 3rd and 6th in the tourney.   Red Wing had wins over the following ranked teams in the GNBL:  No. 3 D.C. Everest Green,  No. 15 Elk Mound, No. 17 Stillwater Red and No. 22 Assumption.   The Wingers were one of only 6 teams out of the 32 invited to lose 2 or fewer games on the weekend.  

The Wingers averaged nearly 43 points a game and really shot the ball from the outside.   They were a team that played with great confidence.  It was a joy to watch whether it was Sam's great help defense and enthusiasm for his teammates, Derek's tremendous energy and "runners,"  Tre's solid shooting or between the legs dribbling, Coby's perserverance after taking shot after shot to the head and then coming back and making a big play, Isaac's silky smooth jump shots, Grant's inside prscence with blocked shots and rebounding,  or Seth and Teddy literally taking over games with their scoring via fast break layups or 3 point shooting,  

There is no question this was a great experience and a great measuring stick to see where they stand amongst the elite of the GNBL.   It also provided a great measuring stick of what this team wants to become and how they want to improve.   The players were extremely beat up physically after 6 very hard fought games in 27 hours.  

The Red Wing 6th Grade Wingers used a strong defensive performance and held their four opponents to a combined 55 points to claim the Eau Claire Tournament title for the second year in a row.   The Wingers won by an average of 23 points to claim their third consecutive title of the season.   They have run their record to 11-0 heading into the Great Northwest League Championship Tournament.   The Wingers will face #18 Merrill, #15 Elk Mound and the #1 overall seed in the Great Northwest Basketball League Onalaska in their pool.   The tournament will be take place in Marshfield, WI.  

The Red Wing 6th Grade Wingers won their second consecutive tournament to start the season.  This time they won 4 games in Menomonie to claim the title.   The Wingers averaged 43 points a game as their offense came to life over the weekend.   There were important contributions throughout the weekend by all players.   Highlights include knocking off the #20 seed in the GNBL Prescott and then #15 Elk Mound in the Championship game.  The Wingers improve to 7-0 on the season and travel to Eau Claire next weekend where as 5th graders they won their first tournament.   

Red Wing 6th Grade Wingers went to Tartan and came away with wins over St. Paul, Tartan and Bloomington Kennedy to take home the Tartan Titan Classic Title!   The Wingers won with tough defense and great rebounding to win the Championship.   The Wingers are 3-0 to start the season and start Great Northwest League play when they travel to Menomonie on December 3rd.  They open the tournament against a very good Prescott team.