Grady Gallagher | Blogger
And just like that, another school year is in the books. Amazing how fast it goes, really. I can’t wait to get out on the golf course or in the water somewhere. A HUGE thanks to everyone that has read these blogs, day after day, week after week. After the end of the year, you know you have to count down the top plays. So here are my Top Five plays of this school year. Obviously I’m biased toward basketball because I was there. Any problems can be taken up with my agent.
FIVE – BVU Men’s Tennis with best season since 1997- The Beavs finished fourth in the regular season conference standing and finished fifth overall after the conference tournament. I’ll be the first one to tell you, the amount of heart, determination, and sheer will these guys displayed on the court was nothing short of phenomenal. I mean, how often do you see six guys that treat every match like it’s the French Open? It was something special. Honorable mention goes to my dude Kyle Weeden when I watched him play the six spot in an epic battle against Luther. I swear I watched him for 10-15 minutes and did not see him score a single point. Now if that doesn’t get you going, you better check your pulse.
FOUR – BVU Men’s Basketball wins the Conference Title- Two moments stick out in my mind about the basketball season this year. The first was Wes Nordquist absolutely dominating future “Conference MVP” Tyler Wedemeier in Sieben’s Fieldhouse. I remember sitting next to the bench at the beginning of the game, and Joe Frost says to me, “Who is Conference MVP?” I immediately replied, “Wes, no question.” He then said, “I don’t know, Wedemeier. Kinda good.” I then said, “We’ll see.” Wes went on to have 21 and 10 in 23 minutes. We also won by 30. The next memory is Mike Kaufmann hitting the game winner at Simpson, where only a year before, he had made the dumbest foul I had ever seen. Redemption in its sweetest form. I asked Mike how he felt after the game. His response, “I wonder if Norris Cole has heard of me now.”
THREE – BVU JV Men’s Basketball- C’mon, just the title tells you something big is coming. I must speak about two things. The first is the rim rattling fury that is Tyler Kastintin at Dordt College. Just the night before we had invented the Sunday SeshTM where T-Kast began rising and found his true calling: Punishing the rim of the basket. The opening tip was directed toward Tyler. He caught the ball at the top of the key. Turned to drive down the lane and found an opening. What happened next I did not expect. Number 3 took flight and sent the ball through the hoop with outstanding force and an emphatic, “MYYYYYYY HOUSEEEEEEE.” Before that point, I had not known T-Kast formerly lived in Sioux Center. Nice. Honorable mention here is Cole Darrow (finally) throwing down a big jam against Dubuque at home in the last game of the year. I remember I was sick for that game but I was watching the live stream. I remember saying, “Dats right, Cole!” The other JV moment that stands out is Sam Lipps (@SlippyBeaver) scoring 21 second-half points at Briar Cliff. He was not afraid to let it go; he didn’t care what the haters said. Personally, I’ve never seen anyone with worse field goals attempted to assist ratio. It’s literally impressive.
TWO – BVU Softball makes the Conference Tournament- One of the more intense battles I’ve seen on the diamond in a while. Both Loras and BV playing for their spot (the last spot) in the conference tournament this year. Backs against the wall, the Beavs had just surrendered the first game in the top of the 6th by giving the Duhawks (What’s a Duhawk?) three runs to win 3-2. The second game of the double header was nothing short of a primetime drama on TNT (They know drama). With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, bases loaded, down 3-0, Brooke Berkey came to the plate and swung at the first pitch. The rest is history. (Pause) Ok, that’s not how it went down, and if it was, how could this only be number two on the list? It was a really exciting and intense game in which the Beavers prevailed. Gatorade baths all around.
ONE – J Hen goes 88- A beautiful Saturday of college football in Storm Lake, Iowa. What more can you ask for? I think this was the best play of this school year. Here’s the setting: Beavers deep in their own territory against Luther and needed a big play. “Hometown” Bobby Brown takes the snap and begins to drop. He realizes (freshman) Jalen Henningsen has man coverage on the outside. Bob looks left and lofts the ball perfectly about 35-40 yards down the sideline. By this time, Henningsen has a step on his man and begins to look back for the ball. He knows if he catches this, he’s gone. With no safety in sight, J Hen corrals the ball and begins his dash to the goal. Fortunately, I had a timer in hand when he caught the ball at the 50 yard line. I pressed start and stopped it as he crossed the goal line. 3.34 seconds. I kept this to myself all this time. Now maybe I’ll be able to sleep at night. The crowd was going crazy, and it was definitely the most memorable play for me this year. Hopefully next year we can see a lot more of the same.
Well jeez, I guess this is it. Hopefully they let me do this again next year. It’s been a blast. Have a fantastic summer everyone. Thanks so much for all your feedback, comments, and chuckles. Remember to follow @Gdeuce1two! Peace out!
#MuchLove
Photo by Makensie Brown
