MBB: American Rivers Conference

[John Gleich]

Has anybody taken a look at the IIAC in terms of a general non-conference record? 

I know that the IIAC is 2-3 against the WIAC with 3 to play, as the IIAC squeaked out two against Platteville in the last possession.

[coebball70]

Nice to see Buena Vista knock off Denison in a close game in Daytona Beach.  Wes Nordquist has a career game at 29 points and 15 rebounds!  Hopefully, other IIAC teams will bring home some Holiday Tournament victories.

[coebball70]

Buena Vista 70, St. Scholastica 55.  Nice way to end the year.  The Beavers are developing some momentum for the conference race.  Hopefully, these two solid defensive efforts will set the tone for the remainder of the season.
The team enjoyed a well-balanced offensive effort led by Troy Ticknor who shot well from beyond the arc (7-13) totaling 24 points.  Go Beavers! 

Happy New Year to the IIAC board!

[Titan Q]

http://www.newstrib.com/articles/sports/todays-n-t-sports/default.asp?Article=24906&aname=Baxter+to+transfer%2C+but+destination+not+set

The North Dakota State announcement said that Baxter was transferring to Division III Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa.

Baxter said that is inaccurate, and he has not decided on his destination.

He is making a visit to Loras on Sunday, and he will then visit Illinois Wesleyan on Monday.

"I'm kind of 50-50 at this point. There's some stuff we have to figure out at the meeting," Baxter said. "I have a great relationship with both coaches at both schools. It's definitely going to be hard to tell one of them, 'No.' I got to do what's best for me."

Baxter said that both Loras and Wesleyan will give him the chance to return to playing point guard, which is the position he played last year when he earned all-state honors and the NewsTribune Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

This is now a done deal - 6-5 PG Taylor Baxter (formerly of D1 NDSU) is heading to Loras.  Baxter averaged 16.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, and 5.6 apg as a senior at Fieldcrest H.S. (Minonk, IL) last year, leading his team to a 29-1 finish.  He was named to the IBCA Class 1A/2A 1st Team all-state.  Last school year he was pursued aggressively by a host of strong Division III programs, had a lot of Division II and NAIA interest and, of course, accepted a full scholarship to NDSU.

Loras is getting a very good player with incredibly unique size and athleticism for a D3 PG.  Some links below...


Video - 2010 State Farm Holiday Classic championship (at IWU)


Video - 2010 dunk contest


Video - Fieldcrest vs Peoria Manual, Class 2A Sectional (3/3/10)


"The Perfect Pair - Ropp & Baxter guiding Fieldcrest to dream season" (2/4/10)


2009-10 IBCA Class 1A/2A all-state team


Video & story - News Tribune Player of the Year (3/18/10)


2010 Pantagraph all-area team (3/28/10)


Chicagohoops.com mention (4/20/10)


North Dakota State announcement of signing (4/26/10)


"Area trio sparks 1A/2A North comeback win" (6/26/10)


"A better Baxter - Fieldcrest star putting in summer work as he readies for DI hoops" (7/27/10)


Video - WDAY YV, "The new guys" (NDSU feature)
   

[IntramuralChamp]

So Baxter will have to sit this semester and be eligible to play next year if he signed a letter of intent to play at NDSU and they released him following first semester?

[IntramuralChamp]

Conference play resumes tomorrow with some key match ups. Many used the holiday break to take a trip and gain some confidence by winning some non-conference games. Central and Luther remain atop of the conference as of January 5, however I expect things to change by  February 1st.
In the game of the night, Buena Vista travels to Duhawk country where both teams are coming off two non-conference wins. Many thought this would be for the conference race lead, however early problems have both teams down in the standings.
 Buena Vista's young guys continue to grow up and they take care of the ball and make free throws down to stretch win a big road game 74 to 68. Loras plays alot better then the first semester, but still has their spurts throughout the game that cost them. VanHaaften gets one more win closer to his 300th.
 In the game that features the only two remaining undefeated teams in the league, Central travels to Luther. Luther controls the tempo of the game with their style of play and uses home court advantage to move to 3-0 in the league for the first time in a long time. In a defensive battle Luther wins 64 to 56.
Coe travels to Dubuque where Taylor Blum has no trouble scoring and therefore losing. Dubuque wins 70 to 61 behind a great all around game by Blum.
Cornell uses a big 2nd half to fight off a young and pesky Simpson team and picks up a big home win against the Storm 73 to 64.

Tomorrows match ups set up what should be a great start to the 2nd half conference race.

[Titan Q]

So Baxter will have to sit this semester and be eligible to play next year if he signed a letter of intent to play at NDSU and they released him following first semester?

He is eligible immediately. 

[Klompen]

I think Titan Q is right, since he is not going to a school at the same NCAA level, he is eligible to play right away and, if he gets playing time this early in his Loras experience, it may well propel Loras to a win over BV tonight. 

I, Dutch fan that I am, believe that the game of the night is between the two teams currently undefeated in the conference instead of the expected teams that got tripped up early.  Central has not played for awhile and that could be a problem, but I really don't see any team holding them to less than 60 points.  I think the Dutch could eek out a win at Luther.  The higer the score, the more likely Central wins, the lower the score, the odds move in Luther's favor. 

I think Coe-UD and Simpson-Cornell could be a toss up.  If I had to guess, I would pick UD and Cornell to win, but would not be surprised to be wrong.  Coe has the better chance of winning on the road if I had to guess with a road win over BV already to their credit. 

Good luck to all and stay healthy.  That goes double for the Dutch!

[Klompen]

Not sure what the situation is but Brock Caves and James Chapline, two starters for Central are not playing.  I don't know if they are there or not or why they are not playing.  The semester is over, but I don't believe either of these two should be having academic problems.  Would love to know what the reason is that they are not there -- academics? injury? rules?

The difference is showing early and could be a game changer for the Dutch. 

[Klompen]

Forgot to mention illness as a possible reason we are sitting two starters.  Right now, Luther is ahead by 5 with the ball and the scoring is low.  Given the previously unknown player situation, I reserver the right to say that the lower the score, the better Central's chances and the higher the score, the better Luther's chances.  Completely the opposite of what I expected.  But then, with two decent scorers out and players I have not seen play varsity for Central now getting playing time, the situation has changed.  Sadly, they don't seem to be playing well together, but I guess that shouldn't be a big surprise under the circumstances.

[Klompen]

Halftime in Decorah with Central, amazingly, up 24-21.  I was surprised when Central knocked off Loras at Loras, but if Central can win this game on the road tonight with two very solid starters sitting out, I will be stunned.  And I would reiterate my thought that Boschee is continuing to make a good case for COY consideration even though there is tons of season to be played.  I know, I know, my red glasses are on, but I really can't begin to tell you what a major difference the absence of these two players is.  I would have expected Luther to be taking it to us, and they still might, I'm sure their coach thinks they should be doing better.

[doolittledog]

I can't get the video to load for the UD/Coe game

[Klompen]

I think Luther's coach got his point across at the half.  Central is now behind by 10 and they are looking weak by comparison.  No rebounds at all for the Dutch this half. 

BV is up on Loras 60-45.

[Klompen]

I couldn't find the Coe-UD game either.  Too bad when other teams don't show the games the way they are supposed to. 

[Klompen]

Dutch lost 53-48.  Not sure how I feel about this.  Proud of how the players that did play responded, will be really upset with the players that didn't play if they did something stupid to prevent them playing as I feel like we would have blown Luther out if they had been in there.  There were points where it was very clear that the players on the court were not used to playing with each other and that was understandable and should never have happened if Caves and Chapline didn't get to play because of a rules violation.  If it was a case of injury or illness, it is just a case of bad timing. 

I do not see Luther as a championship team if we were able to play them as well as we did tonight.  No offense to the Norse.  I listened to all but the first few minutes of the game because it must have started a shade early and I didn't tune in early.  I never once heard the announcers mention that Central was playing without two of the starters, and they didn't seem to realize it as the game went on.