Grady Gallagher | Blogger

Sup sports fanatics?

This week I’m going into an intense debate. If you cannot handle it, leave now. I’m not talkin NBA, NFL, or even NHL. No, no, no. Today’s topic is something a little more close to home. I apologize now if things get personal, or even a little emotional, but it has to be done. I can’t continue on any longer. So, this is it. It’s time to prove who had the better ball club in 2011 (my senior year): THEE Woodbury Central ballers or the “Dream Team” at Storm Lake St. Mary’s. So, let’s get it!

Top 5 Reasons why the Woodbury Central Wildcats would have beaten Storm Lake St. Mary’s (in no particular order):

First, before this gets serious, I want to express how much I love writing this blog each week. Not many places would let me publish this (cough… garbage) week after week. And, in no way am I trying to embarrass or belittle the St. Mary’s team. They won the state title. They were good. I get it. Anyway…

#5: Statistics: Both teams had seven guys that played the bulk of the minutes (at least 2.5 quarters per game) during the year. St. Mary’s averaged 64 points per game with shooting splits of 51.3 %, 32.2 %, and 63.2% from the field, three, and the line, respectively, via quikstatsiowa.com. The Wildcats averaged 65.8 PPG on splits of 44.6%, 32.4%, and 61.2%. St. Mary’s had three players average double figures, while Woodbury Central (WC) had two. St. Mary’s record was 27-1, while the Wildcats’ record was 21-4. Both teams were regular season conference champs; St. Mary’s lost no conference games, while WC lost one. So, as you can see, these teams were pretty even. So, what’s my point here? With the stats I just revealed, let’s get an expert opinion on this, my Grandpa. So Don, you live in Storm Lake and have two grandsons that play for the Wildcats. Who wins this game? His response: “It’d be a great ball game.” Thanks Gramps, back to you Grady.

#4 Pressing: What I’ve heard from people that watched St. Mary’s live and during the state title game, they could generate several points off their infectious press. Their stats would agree as they averaged 20.28 steals per game. Compare that to the 13.4 turnovers per game surrendered by the Wildcats. That’s 14 points that the Panthers would never see while playing Woodbury Central. Also, this goes without saying, but running an effective press against the G Bro’s back in the day, unheard of (Sorry, got cocky there).

#3 Competition: St. Mary’s opponents yielded a total record (no team is recorded more than once) of 200-193, a winning percentage of .51. The Wildcat opponents had a record of 226-192, a winning percentage of .54. These are stats people. Also, the Wildcats had only one opponent score less than 40 points in a game, and they did it twice. Panther opponents failed to score 40 points EIGHT TIMES!!! St. Mary’s once played a team that scored NINE POINTS THE ENTIRE GAME!!! I get it, there is such a thing as a tough defensive team in basketball. There are teams that should not be playing basketball. Somehow they all ended up in the Twin Lakes Conference.

#2 Basketball- A Brotherhood: So, I’ve given you two statistical points already, but sometimes there’s more than just the stats. In this case, let’s take a closer look at the team rosters to see if we can find some more evidence. First, for St. Mary’s we see Drey, Lenhart, Richardson, Lenhart, Ivey, Drey, and Lenhart. Little do you know, none of these people share the same household (C’mon, you’re pulling my leg, G). No, yet I have no idea how there are no brothers on this team in which FIVE people share the same last name as someone else. Now, let’s look at the flipside. For WC, we see Wright, Gallagher, McElrath, Crichton, Gallagher, Wright, Christiansen and Haberl. Well, would you lookie here, some more cousins! Wait, what? You mean people on this team that share last names actually live in the same house? Astounding. I’m giving the advantage to the Wildcats here.

-St. Mary’s people everywhere: “Well Grady, you’ve convinced us. We’ll drop off the state championship trophy some time later this week.”

#1 X Factor: Well, I really appreciate it guys, but you see, I’m not done. There is one point I want to make that will seal this deal, and I don’t even have to leave campus to do it. The key to this battle lies with a man that resembles the HuHot mascot and smells of macaroni: Greg Siebnaller. Long ago, this man was the only hope held by the Westwood basketball program. Westwood was the only team to successfully defeat Storm Lake St. Mary’s in the 2010-2011 basketball season. Westwood, a proud member of the Western Valley Conference (same as Woodbury Central), beat the Panthers 47-44. Greg had 17 and 14 in the game, and I found a quote of his in the paper the day after the game. “They just couldn’t handle me, and there’s no way they will win the state championship.” The question asked to which that answer was formulated, I will never know. What I do know is that Woodbury Central beat Westwood 62-51 that same season, and Greg was held to 15 points and 8 boards. Somehow, I found that following day’s paper and this was what Siebnaller had to say, “Woodbury Central is good. Like, really good. Like, Dallas Cowboys good.”

Well, there ya have it folks. I can’t always just tell everyone what they want to hear. Is it necessary? No, probably not. But is it important?… That’s a different story.

Thanks for reading. #Deuces