The Tigers are coming off a great 2023-24 season where the team finished 20-10 overall. The TIgers were just one of four teams to win at least 20 games last year in a tough West Central Conference. MACA finished with a 9-5 conference record to finish in fourth, behind Sauk Centre, Montevideo and the champions West Central Area.
MACA earned the fourth seed in the Section 3AA North playoffs. The Tigers went on a run and took down fifth seed New London-Spicer, first seed Montevideo and second seed Eden Valley-Watkins to advance to the section finals as the fourth seed. The magical run came up one game short of the state tournament when MACA lost to Jackson County Central in the Section 3AA championship game to end their season. “Last year we battled through lots of adversity with some ups and downs playing a tough schedule and played our best basketball come playoff time,” head coach Jake Torgerson said.
The team lost one key player from last year’s roster. Owen Anderson graduated last season and did a lot of the dirty work for the TIgers, including leading the team on the defensive end and rebounding the ball from the guard position.
While they did lose a starter, the TIgers have a ton of returning experience coming back to the team this year. The returning letter winners include seniors Tyler Friesen, Drew Huebner and Charlie Hanson; juniors Riley Asmus and Jack Kehoe; and sophomore Alex Asmus.
Riley Asmus led the team in multiple categories. He led the team with 15.4 points per game, 6.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.2 steals. Drew Huebner and Hanson both averaged double-digit points last year. Drew Huebner was second on the team with 11.8 points per game and Hanson was third with 11.6.
Head coach Torgerson also has his eye on a number of players who are set to step up and contribute at the varsity level for the first time this season. Juniors Tyson Grove, Jonah Huebner, Ozzy Jerome; and sophomore Ben TIernan will all have chances to get on the floor for varsity minutes this season.
“I think a strength of ours is our experience we have returning that will lead us. Despite adding a few newcomers, these kids practiced almost entirely with the varsity last year, so I am hoping they adjust to the speed of the varsity game sooner than most newcomers might,” Torgerson said.
With many of the same faces returning from a section runner up team, the TIgers have their sights set high this season. “I think we will be able to shoot the ball better than in previous seasons, which will allow us to play a little different style than in season’s past. Our goals would be to improve each week of the season and play our best ball in March, like we did last season. Tangible goals would be a conference and section championship,” Torgeron said.
MACA will play a pretty tough schedule this season in a competitive West Central Conference and Section 3AA. Along with the Tigers, Montevideo, West Central Area, Sauk Centre and Melrose should be the top teams in the conference this year. In the section, Montevideo, Paynesville, Redwood Valley and Jackson County Central will be the teams MACA will have to contend with if they would like to get back to the section finals.
The boys open their season with a home game against New London-Spicer in Morris on Dec. 3.
