Watertown-Mayer reigns supreme in Land of the Giants

<p>That creepy old television show "Land of the Giants" went off the air nearly 40 years ago, but it was back in prime time Saturday afternoon in Minnetonka, and this was no work of B-grade science fiction. The battle was real as giant posts <strong>Monika Czinano</strong> and <strong>Yokie Lee</strong> went toe to toe at the Breakdown Invitational. The 6&#39;2" Czinano of Watertown-Mayer and the 6&#39;6" Lee of Byron matched strength for strength, power for power, and size for size as they banged their way through 36 minutes of black and blue. In the end, the two giants basically nullified each other&#39;s presence, leaving the game largely in the hands of the little people.</p> <p>On this day, Watertown-Mayer had the edge, especially on defense. Czinano scored twice in the final minute of the first half to stake the Royals to a 26-17 lead at the break. The second half was tight as Watertown led 41-39 with under five minutes left. That&#39;s when the Royals threw away the keys to the drawbridge and locked the castle up tight, allowing Bryon just one more basket all the way home. The Bears missed on a trio of open-look threes and a pair of jumpers but could do no more as Watertown-Mayers departed with a 49-41 victory.</p> <p>As Lee and Czinano went searching for some ice bags, they were no doubt aware this would not be the last meeting of the massive. Next fall, Czinano (#12 in the senior class) will wear the black and gold of the Big 10 Iowa Hawkeyes, while Lee (#3 in 2018) suits up for Kansas State of the Big 12.</p> <p><strong>Player of the game:</strong> Monika Czinano, Watertown-Mayer</p> <p><strong>Individual Scoring</strong></p> <p><strong>Watertown</strong> <strong>–</strong> Monica Czinano 20, Maggie Czinano 11, Elizabeth Heilmen 8, Grace Knutson 4, Emma Ragner 2, Shelby Mueller 2, Emma Maas 2</p> <p><strong>Byron – </strong>Yokie Lee 13, Lexi Glynn 8, Allison Connelly 8, Josie Bisgard 6, Hailey Braaten 4, Erika Smith 2</p> <p><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Mountain Iron-Buhl had two not-so-small advantages against LQPV</strong></span></p> <p>Size matters, just not so much in small-school ball. That was evident Saturday afternoon at the Breakdown Invitational in Minnetonka as two of the best 1A programs in the state – Lac qui Parle Valley and Mountain Iron-Buhl – met on the big stage at a big school. The Eagles of LPQV have little guards – lots and lots of little guards – who all look they rolled off an assembly line at Santa&#39;s toy factory. The best of the bunch is super senior <strong>Kelsea Lund</strong>, a scholarship-level talent who stands all of 5-foot-3. Then there&#39;s 5&#39;3" sophomore <strong>Sidney Gerdes</strong>, who runs and handles the ball so much like Lund that it&#39;s hard to distinguish them on the court. Add to the mix 5&#39;3" junior <strong>Haley Wollschlager</strong> and 5&#39;4" junior <strong>Isabel Schirm</strong> and you can see where we&#39;re going with this. No wonder they work so hard to get the ball inside to 6-foot junior <strong>Grace Hegland</strong>.</p> <p>One glance down the Mountain Iron-Buhl roster and it becomes obvious they don&#39;t have much vertical either. Among the 14 players listed for the Rangers, there is a 5-footer, one player at 5&#39;3", three at 5&#39;5" and three at 5&#39;6" C&#39;mon, are there no protein shakes up North? I guess that&#39;s what makes MIB&#39;s two bigs that much more noticeable, and why 5&#39;11" forward <strong>Mary Burke</strong> and 5&#39;10" forward <strong>Allie Negen</strong> may be the most important Rangers of all. They definitely were on Saturday as Negen and Burke used their advantage to advantage, combining for 31 points, a ton of rebounds and a whole lot of success.</p> <p>MIB started slowly before going on a healthy run later in the first half. That took the Rangers from four down to five ahead at the break. In the second, Burke and Negen began to assert their dominance, a spurt launched when Burke cashed in on consecutive steal-and-score plays. The Rangers&#39; usual defensive excellence also kicked in with LQPV limited to long bombs for the most part. That enabled MIB to stretch their margin to 10, fend off a comeback, and head north with a 67-57 win.</p> <p><strong>Player of the game</strong>: Mary Burke, Mountain Iron-Buhl</p> <p><strong>Individual Scoring</strong></p> <p><strong>LQPV</strong> <strong>–</strong> Kelsea Lund 19, Grace Hegland 8, Lindsay Kranz 10, Sidney Gerdes 6, Haley Wollschlager 6, Macie Lund 5, Isabel Schirm 3</p> <p><strong>MIB – </strong>Mary Burke 23, Macy Savela 16, Madisen Overbye 9, Allie Negen 8, Mattison Bennett 5, Jacie Kvas 6</p>