The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1939-12-28

W IL. In fourteen games tQey
can get a lot better, or they
can go completely to pieces. i.
But I have 1t from player who
ought to know that a team has
less chance by far Of going stale
on a hard schedule than it does
with intermittent games and long,
practices. Keep that
in mind. may be out on a
dead limb, on the wrong side of
the saw.
Long Prairie may be figured
strong this year. I believe they
have some returning veterans
but the issue I looked at Of
the Leader Is strangely silent.
=. But there's peculiar quail
ity about Long Prairie. They
play their heads of, and they're
tougher than all get out In
tournament play. And they
want that title bad. For
two years they've been in the
swim. And for two years they
burned out under their own
pace while Sank Centre went
on to win. It's fact that
Long Prairie's style is the most
picturesque, featuring race
horse action-but it's fact too
THAT they have burned out.
$50
Grey Eagle, the boys from the
small town to the east, have a re-
turning line of vets. But you can't
figure them as dark horses. They
had trouble with Browerville, IA
to IL, to win their first Of the sea-
son. And their schedule is usual
ly handicapped by lack of real
competition. ..
I've no dope on Upsala, but
last year those boys had a few
players who were going pretty
well. I remember they were
sophomores. They may not
figure heavily in the race, what
with some other teams so much
improved, yet they may pitch
somebody over the boards in
the sub-district at that.
&x#
Our neighbors to the south, Mel
rose, are really in the race. They
lost one game in five starts. That
was to Sank Rapids 26 to % in a
dead heat inning. But the an
gle is that Sank was topped by
the Tech B team by a narrow mar
gin. Melrose turned around to beat
the Tech seconds 80 to 20 in a
spectacular march. >.
*%s
Osakis has gone berserk, the
towns basketball mad. Without
q district look-in for some
years, they gave Alex q tussle
last year. This season with a
returning crew of veterans
they've mOpped up with six
straight games including (heh,
heh) Alex. Here's some
thing to go by, Osakis running
wild, beat Upsala "a to FL. But
look at the scoring possibilities
of that Upsala crew. OH.
s. has scores like. 80 to Z over
Brandon, 20 to IL over Alex,
1 believe and others. Janu-
airy 18th they get a chance to
see what they can do against
Sank Centre. It's a club to
Alex is wearing its customary
modesty. Bill Williams, it's coach.
caught the spirit when he announc-
ed to the press that Alex looked
pretty fair. Pretty fair? He in
timated they were strong in the
district. They won their first game
against Fergus. But Alex is in
this situation. They play tough
er pre-holiday schedule than Osa-
kis and the others. Theirs is COM
parable to Sank Centres. And
Williams is smart enough to know
that he doesn't want his boys to
come too fast. And Glenwood isn't
to be ruled off the track. . In
cidentally Alexis crew is the same.
nearly, as were runnersup last
year in the tourney. Sank Centre
them in the most classic
of basketball these tired
old eyes have shot a glance at. Il.
So there it is. A mad scramble
looks to me. Melrose, Osakis,
Long Prairie, Glenwood
and Sank Centre, without paying
any attention to order, look pref
tv fair
DOWN KING PIN ROW