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Otters still finding their way
Published 1:24am Wednesday, December 23, 2009The Fergus Falls boy’s basketball team has a long way to go this season.
But its getting there.
After Tuesday evening’s 67-48 Central Lakes Conference loss to Rocori, it’s apparent that the Otters have a number of things that need to be cleaned up before they can sustain any type of winning streak.
It wasn’t all bad though.
Despite shooting just 33 percent from the field, turning the ball over 24 times and going seven minutes without a field goal in the second half, the Otters displayed a grit and determination that will no doubt be at the foundation of this team’s turnaround — whenever that may happen.
“Patience,” Fergus Falls coach David Rund said outside the locker room after the game. “That’s what I told the guys. We are going to go through some growing pains, but we need to stick together. This will get better.”
According to Rund, Fergus Falls is implementing a “new” style of play that emphasizes an intense trapping style defense to set up a transition-oriented offense.
“It’s new in the fact that last season we were a little more laid back in practice and this season we are much more intense, regimented and everything is timed,” Rund said. “The guys are embracing it for the most part. It’s going to take a little while for everything to work smoothly. But there is going to be a time where we can’t blame the new system on losing games.”
The 1-3 Otters are also playing without their only returning regular from 2008-09, Adam Schueller, who is still nursing a severe ankle injury he sustained in Week 2 of the football season.
“We have a tone of inexperience right now in the fact that we have guys that are new to varsity,” Rund said. “This team doesn’t have a lot of depth at the post with Adam gone, so we are playing a lot of four-guard sets.”
Against the 5-1 Spartans, the Otters went toe-to-toe for most of the first half, pulling within two at 21-19 with 3 minutes, 1 second on the clock.
That would be as close as Fergus would get as Rocori responded with an 11-0 scoring spurt that was stopped when Darin Stanislawski drained a 3-pointer from the right wing as time expired in the first half to make it 32-22 at the break.
Early in the second half, the Spartans manufactured a back-breaking 17-1 run that extended a 39-30 lead to 56-31. The five minute scoring burst included two 3-pointers, four free throws, one technical foul, two lay-ups by Rocori and several missed shots by the Otters, many of which came within a few feet of the basket.
“That was really tough to come back after that,” Rund said.
Despite trailing by 23 points, Fergus didn’t throw in the towel. Instead, the Otters finished strong, out-scoring the Spartans 15-9 in the game’s final 5 minutes, 51 seconds.
After back-to-back 20-point performances against state-ranked Little Falls and Willmar last week, Darin Stanislawski was held to 13 points for the Otters. Teammate Spencer Kidder netted a team-high 18 points.
Stanislawski snared a team-best seven rebounds.
Talented 6-foot-5-inch swingman Scott Willenbring led all scorers with 23 points for Rocori.
Notes: The last three opponents for the Otters have a combined 16-1 record…The Spartans shot 48 percent from the field and collected 12 offensive rebounds…The Otters accumulated 34 total boards…The 9th-grade team beat Rocori 38-34 and was led in scoring by Austin Rund’s 10 points.
