Otter Girls Basketball Awards
The Fergus Falls girls’ basketball team celebrated their 18-4 season with a modified awards banquet this past week. The varsity roster was comprised of seniors Logan Strom, Katie Strommen, Paige Pearson, Anna Anderson, Emily Nuss, MaKayla Huus, Laci Strom (manager) and Madison Longtin (manager), and juniors Tori Ratz, Hannah Polejewski, Ainsley Hansen, Ellia Soydara and Ellie Colbeck, along with sophomore manager Katie Anderson.
“This was a fantastic group of girls to coach this season,” said Head Coach Brad Strand. “They came to practice each and every day ready to work hard with super attitudes. We had great leadership on the court, in the classrooms, and around our community. They worked hard to improve every time they stepped on the court for a practice or a game. We will miss our 6 seniors a great deal next year. This team accomplished a great deal, as they were Co-Champs of the CLC conference with Alexandria, and runners-up in Section 8AA. They earned the academic gold award by having a combined TEAM GPA of 3.81!”
“This was a fantastic group of girls to coach this season,” said Head Coach Brad Strand. “They came to practice each and every day ready to work hard with super attitudes. We had great leadership on the court, in the classrooms, and around our community. They worked hard to improve every time they stepped on the court for a practice or a game. We will miss our 6 seniors a great deal next year. This team accomplished a great deal, as they were Co-Champs of the CLC conference with Alexandria, and runners-up in Section 8AA. They earned the academic gold award by having a combined TEAM GPA of 3.81!”
PHOTO PROVIDED
Ellie Colbeck was named to the Minnesota AA All-State team. She was joined by Paige Pearson and Tori Ratz on the Central Lakes Conference All-Conference team. Honorable Mention members include Hannah Polejewski, Logan Strom and Anna Anderson. Colbeck led the team with 451 points, 130 assists, 128 rebounds and 58 steals. She also had the best free throw percentage at 80.2%. Ratz had the best 3-point field goal percentage of 43.1%, and Polejewski had the best 2-point field goal percentage of 64.5%. Academic All-State awards went to Pearson, Anderson, Strommen and Nuss.
Individual awards went to Colbeck (Outstanding Team Member – Otter Culture), Anderson (Best Practice Player/6th Player of the Year), Ratz (Ms. Defense), Polejewski (Most Improved), Nuss (Miss Hustle) and Huus (Best Practice – “Scout” – Player).
Strand was named the Section 8AA Coach of the Year and the Central Lakes Conference Coach of the Year. Assistant Coach Josh Steer was the Section 8AA Assistant Coach of the Year.
“Our JV and 9th-grade teams had good seasons with improvement as the year progressed and we anticipate a number of girls working very hard in the off-season (this will be on the driveways and on backyard hoops, weight room, and in the gym working on skills/strength/teamwork,” added Coach Strand. “A few thank you's need to be acknowledged. Thanks to our parents/family/fans for your support in such a difficult year with limited fan attendance. Thank you to our school board, administration, managers, bus drivers, Craig Olson Sports, Fergus Falls Journal, Leighton Broadcasting radio coverage, Eric Strom (all the photos), and our fans! The Fergus Falls community has the absolute BEST Basketball FANS! We can't wait to get back in the gym and see all of you again next season! The goals will be extremely high again in 21-22!”
Strand concluded by acknowledging his coaching staff, “I would also like to thank my assistant coaches (Josh Steer, Alyssa Huseby, and Anna Monke-Gervais)! This is a remarkable group of coaches and they understand the importance of how to serve, teach, build relationships with the players, and coach the game. I am also very thankful for our middle school coaches; Matt Lemke, Andrew Gunther, and Heather Schultz.”
