6th grade Boys at the Pacesetter MIT on Saturday, June 30th

St. Joseph, MN – The field was set in the largest MIT field in the history of the Pacesetter program, 17 teams from across the state converged on Clemons Fieldhouse on the campus of St. Benedict’s, just 5 mins west of St. Cloud. The boys were fresh off an early morning swim at the team headquarters, Best Western Kelly Inn, downtown St. Cloud. Subway was the choice for breakfast to get some energy for the hot day in the gym with 8 players on the roster.

First up was Caledonia, a team I had faced 2 weeks earlier with the 9th gr boys. This team came storming out of the gates with some nice fast breaks and used the height advantage to control the boards. The boys were caught off guard and were down 5-23 at the half. In the 2nd half we got going led by Jaden Woods 10 second half points, including two big 3’s, and Kaleb Pemberton grabbing 8 of his 11 rebounds against some much taller kids. We had cut it to 10 points with 9 minutes to go, but couldn’t get any closer. The final score was 25-44. Caledonia did go on to the Championship game, but we had left before their 7:30pm game.

Next up was a team we had previously beat in area tournaments, Fertile/Beltrami. The game was close throughout in a fairly even matchup, the score at the half was 12-15 them. In the 2nd half the game stayed close, but they pulled away at the end and had a 9 point lead with 56 seconds left before a timeout to set up the press. It immediately caused a turnover that led to a score for us, followed by another turnover that led to another score! More turnovers led to them fouling us which put us in the bonus and we hit 1 of the 2 on three trips. With 9 seconds left Fertile/Beltrami inbounded up 2, but Trent Beaulieu intercepted the long pass at halfcourt and was fouled putting him at the line with 7.6 seconds and down 2! He calmly stepped up and swished the first shot, the gym was intense as they had way more fans, and Trent followed his normal routine and shot the ball and drained it for the tie! However, Fertile/Beltrami did not hesitate and travelled the length of the floor and got off a shot that beat the buzzer and went it for a 31-29 win! What a range of emotions! Despite the loss, we felt good about the comeback and the huge free throws that were made at the end. Jaden Wood and Aaron White led with 9pts each, Kaleb Pemberton had 6 rebounds. We missed 13 free throws as a team in this game and they proved to be crucial.

We had a 3 hour break in between the next game, so I decided to take the crew swimming at the beach on St. John’s University in Collegeville, 5 minutes west. I also showed them the Prep School that I had attended and when we were at the beach some nice lady rented some equipment for the boys to use as we beat the 90 degree heat by playing in Lake Sagatagan.

Princeton was our final opponent of the day in the 6pm game. From the looks of things we were overmatched due to our lack of height on this team, the tallest kid is 5’ 3” and most teams have at least one 6 footer, but we make up for it in speed and that is what helped us as we battled with them for a 16-17 halftime score. In the 2nd half they went to their big man who scored at will, the final score was 26-35 in this one.

The team was made up of Aaron White, Jaden Wood, Trent Beaulieu, Jamie Cook, Kaleb Pemberton, Cole Cobenais, Cyras Whitefeather, Patrick Tahawah. They are a good team, but lack the size to compete with these big kids we run into in these big tournaments. However, they have a real good full court press, and can handle the ball and shoot the 3! Chi Miigwetch to the Donations Committee and Tribal Council for funding, and Chem Health for transportation, none of these great experiences would be possible without your support!