Hopkins Stretches Win Streak to Eight
By Matt Thomas (From 12/31 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)

With two legitimate division one players and a host of role players who are more than filling their roles, the Hopkins girls basketball team has now won eight straight as they head into their conference schedule.
After suffering a 41-36 loss to Breck in just the second game of the season, the Royals have been all business. During the eight game winning streak, the Royals have outscored their opponents by almost 24 points a game.
The Royals recipe for success has been a heavy dose of consistency from superstars Jordan Barnes and Leslie Knight and strong play from players like Kaitlyn Lillemoe, Abby Greene, Renee Parker and Annie Isler.
It was Greene who sparked the Royals in the first half of their game with Champlin Park in the quarterfinals of the Apple Valley Shootout on Dec. 27.
The freshman guard scored 14 first half points including 4-5 from three point range as the Royals built a 30-7 lead after the first quarter.
“We are far from a two-man team in Jordan Barnes and Leslie Knight,” Cosgriff said. “We made a concerted effort to have our role players score a little more this year.”
While the Royals offense seems to be clicking on all cylinders, it’s the team’s defense that has been its hallmark the past three seasons.
The Royals continued to force steals with relentless full court pressure the entire first half and the result was a combination of open shoots and easy lay-ups.
Lillemoe scored six points in the second quarter on 3-3 from the field as the Royals took a 52-13 lead into halftime.
Barnes and Knight got their share of points as well. Barnes led all scorers with 18 points, while Knight and Greene finished with 16 apiece.
By games end the Royals had a 78-47 victory after shooting 52 percent from the field and connecting on 66 percent of their three point attempts in a dominating performance.
The Royals advanced to the semifinals to face Stillwater and came out with a 56-46 victory.
Knight led the charge with 22 points, while Barnes and Lillemoe added 15 and ten respectively.
While Knight and Barnes are unquestionably the leaders of the team, Lillemoe’s early season performance has opened some eyes.
“Kaitlyn shoots the ball really well,” Cosgriff said. “The thing about her is that she has a lot of poise on the court and you don’t find a lot with sophomores so we’re real pleased with her effort so far.”
At the end of last week, the Royals were ranked fifth in class 4A. Barnes was in the top ten in scoring in the metro area at 17.8 points per game. Knight is not far behind at 16.5 points per game.
The Royals will get a good test when they open their conference season at Edina on Friday, Jan. 3.
After the conference opener the team goes back outside the conference to face Chaska and Prior Lake on Jan. 4 and 7.

Tonka Girls Striving For Consistency
By Matt Thomas (From 12/31 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)

With four experienced seniors in the starting line-up for the second consecutive season, Minnetonka girls basketball coach Bart Inniger is hoping his team can get over the hump.
The team won six games two seasons ago and upped its win total to 11 last year. The team is currently 5-5 this year after consecutive losses to Blaine and Cretin-Derham Hall in the Apple Valley Shootout.
Despite a 57-48 loss to Blaine, there were some good signs for the Skippers. The Bengals are a top ten team with a 7-2 record and the Skippers held their own for 24 minutes.
The Skippers looked ready to knock the Bengals off in the first quarter as they jumped out to a 16-10 ten lead behind strong play inside and outside.
Senior forward Heidi Steinkraus did the dirty work inside while junior Jessica Donovan went 3-3 from the perimeter to give the Skippers the early lead.
The Skippers went cold in the second quarter, but held Bengals star Stephanie Reiter in check to stay in the game. Reiter went just 1-9 from the field in the first half as the teams went into halftime tied at 22.
The teams went back and forth for most of the third quarter, until the Skippers got hot from three point range.
Seniors Christy Ludemann and Heather Davis along with junior Leslie Anderson all hit three pointers in the third quarter to give the Skippers a 41-39 lead.
With the score tied at 44, the Bengals went on a 6-0 run to take a 50-44 lead. It turned out that was all they needed as the Skippers never got closer than four after that.
The Bengals went 9-14 from the free throw line in the final quarter to seal the victory and hand the Skippers another close loss.
“That’s a top ten team in Blaine and its just getting over that hump,” Inniger said. “We’re really close, but we need to win one of those for us to really start believing. We’re capable of doing it, we just need to go out and finish the job.”
Steinkraus finished the game as the Skippers top scorer with 14 points, while Davis added 11.
“It’s been nice for us because every game we’ve had someone different step up for us,” Inniger said. “Heidi had a great game tonight, but we need to be more consistent. We need to have more people score in double figures every night and that will help us down the stretch.”
The Skippers followed their gritty performance against the Bengals with a disappointing 55-42 loss to Cretin-Derham Hall.
The Skippers will now head into the conference season against a team in Armstrong that is struggling to find consistency as well.
The 4-5 Falcons and 5-5 Skippers will meet on Friday, Jan. 3 at Armstrong.
“There’s no question that Hopkins is the front runner,” Inniger said. “With the way we’re playing we’re right in the mix with Edina, Armstrong and Wayzata and I think those are the teams that will be fighting for second, third and fourth.”

Back To The Stores

After waiting for years for the Back To The Future trilogy to come out on DVD, it finally arrived under my Christmas tree yesterday. I was so excited that I actually watched the original movie after all the gift opening and caroling had been completed. So you can imagine my disappointment when I find out today that Universal Studios will be recalling the DVD set because of poor framing on parts two and three. For those of you in the same boat as me, click here for details on this debacle and the recall procedure.

God Fixed The Powerball?

In a story of the rich get richer, 55-year old contractor Andrew Whittaker, Jr. won Wednesday's record setting $314.9 million jackpot. The most disturbing part of the story is that Whittaker apparently believes that God handpicked him to win the money. "I just want to thank God for letting me pick the right numbers - or letting the machine pick the right numbers,'' Whittaker said.
While I think Whittaker's idea to give $17 million each to three different pastors is noble, I think his notion that God controls things like the lottery is ridiculous.

Smith leading the way for Blake
By Matt Thomas (From 12/24 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)

Last year the Blake girls basketball team was missing a true scorer. Somebody who could be counted on to score in double figures night in and night out. Somebody who they could go to when they needed a last second shot. That somebody was junior Abby Smith.
Smith decided to sit out last season for personal reasons, but her return to the court this season has been key to the Bears 4-2 start.
“She’s our leading scorer and she’s made all the difference in the world,” interim head coach Colleen Hagerty said. “She’s a great kid with an awesome attitude and she’s really turned the attitude on our team around.”
Despite strong shooting from the outside in the second half, Smith couldn’t turn around a 29-17 deficit that the Bears put themselves in during the first half against St. Bernard’s on Dec. 20.
The Bears never led in the game and every time they seemed to get close, the Bulldogs pulled away.
As the third quarter neared an end, Bears sophomore guard Kendall Boyd converted a three-point play to cut the lead to two. The Bulldogs countered just before the quarter’s end with a three pointer to stretch the lead back to five.
Smith cut the lead to 43-41 with a lay-up midway through the fourth quarter, but another three pointer padded the Bulldogs lead once more.
Senior Erica Gray cut the lead down to two on two separate occasions including one time with 1:25 left in the game.
The Bulldogs made their free throws down the stretch, however, and closed the game on a 6-1 run for a 54-47 victory.
Smith led the way with 13 points on 5-11 from the field, while Boyd added nine for the Bears.
“We needed to take better care of the ball,” Hagerty said. “We had 12 turnovers in the first half and 14 in the second half; that’s the ballgame right there, we just didn’t take care of the ball.”
The Bears did turn around the next day and top Southwest Christian 52-29. The Bears came out of the gates with intensity as they led 31-10 at halftime.
Gray, Smith and junior Katie Grudnowski led the way with 14, 13 and 12 points respectively.
The Bears are off now until January 7 when they host St. Croix Lutheran. The layoff over the holidays means head coach Kathy Sandven will return to the sidelines the next time the Bears take the court. Sandven has missed the past four games due to the birth of her son.
The team went 3-1 in Sandven’s absence and will look to keep up their intensity as the conference season starts to pick up.
“We’ve picked up our defensive intensity a lot since our first game,” Hagerty said. “We just have to take care of the ball, because the two games we’ve lost have been because of turnovers.”

Prep Wrap
By Matt Thomas (From 12/24 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)

The 30-point club
Wayzata senior Joey Klein nailed eight three pointers on his way to scoring 36 points in the Trojans 65-48 victory over St. Agnes last week. The Trojans fell 59-53 to Hill-Murray later in the week.

Minnetonka senior John Manley scored 39 points just one week after returning to action after suffering a sprained ankle. Manley’s performance helped the Skippers to a 76-73 victory over St. Paul Arlington.

Orono star Ross Devor continued his strong play with a 38 point performance in the Spartans 77-72 loss to Hutchinson. Devor added 19, while Bobby Innes scored 21 in the Spartans 77-45 victory over Brooklyn Center.

Royals Rolling
Four of five starters scored in double figures as the Hopkins girls basketball team topped St. Paul Central 70-46. Senior Jordan Barnes scored 18 to lead the way. Barnes scored 22 and Leslie Knight 18 in the Royals 82-60 victory over Minneapolis Edison. Sophomore Kaitlyn Lillemoe scored 15 points in both contests.

Break-out Game
Wayzata junior Allie Rivard scored a season high 20 points as the Trojans had no trouble with Tartan in a 47-27 victory.

The Brothers Ferguson
Armstrong brothers DaWon and DeAnte Ferguson scored 14 and 11 points respectively to lead the Falcons past Rochester John Marshall 58-44.

Big Win For Blake
Andrew Schremp and Sean Gallagher both scored critical third period goals as the Blake boys hockey team topped Benilde St. Margaret’s 4-3. Coming into the game, the Bears were ranked second in Class A while the Red Knights were ranked seventh. Junior Justin Kowalkoski made 17 saves in goal for the Bears.

Spartans Fall to 7-1-1
The sixth ranked Orono girls hockey team suffered their first loss of the season, falling 7-1 to second ranked Benilde St. Margaret’s.

Dynamic Duos
The Armstrong girls hockey tandem of Courtney Horsch and Kelly Crandall continued to thrive last week. Horsch scored two goals, while Crandall scored one goal and two assists in the Falcons 6-2 victory over Osseo.

Kristina Johnson and Kathryn Moos continued their stellar play for the Blake Bears last week. Moos had two goals and one assist, while Johnson had one goal and two assists in a 8-1 victory over the St. Paul Stars.

Another Game Winner
Wayzata junior Whit Graft has defined the word clutch this season. Graft scored another game winning goal this week as the Trojans topped Cretin-Derham Hall 3-2 in non-conference action. The ninth ranked Trojans are 10-3 on the season.

Undefeated
The Orono boys hockey team remained undefeated at 8-0 with victories over Minnehaha Academy (5-2) and St. Michael-Albertville (9-2).

Matt's Moron Of The Week

This week's winner is Star Tribune television critic Neal Justin. The Strib might as well replace the word critic in Justin's title with the word "whiner." If you read Justin's column for a month you'll pretty much get the idea that Justin hates watching television because none of the shows on air are up to his standards.
Justin made this extremely clear in his latest column entitled, "All I Want For Christmas is...Better TV!" In the column Justin pleads with networks to air a Saved By The Bell High School Reunion and suggests that Ozzy Osbourne should be made host of Family Feud.
Neal: Let me clue you in on a little secret commonly known to us humans these days. If you have cable television you have almost 100 channels to choose from. Most people today have satellite dishes meaning they have hundreds of channels to choose from.
If you can't find something you like on television in today's world you should probably lock yourself in your bedroom with a copy of Thoreau's "Walden."
Another reason I can't stand Justin is because I had the unfortunate luck one time to be present at Kieran's Irish Pub Quiz in Minneapolis at a table next to this pompous know it all.
Apparently Justin finds himself to be some sort of idiot savant, because when his answers were announced as incorrect he argued for endless minutes with the host that he was indeed correct.

Pederson leads Armstrong over Orono
By Matt Thomas (From 12/24 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)

When a team is struggling to find some consistency, it usually helps to have a go-to player. The Armstrong girls basketball team is without a go-to player, so head coach Patti Weldon looks for different players to step up each night.
In a turnover plagued defensive battle, senior Katie Pederson was the lone player to score in double figures as the Falcons grinded out a 37-27 victory over Orono.
“We’re getting ready for conference play, so we’re ok,” Weldon said. “We’re trying to take away our mistakes and turnovers, we just need to find someone to shoot the ball.”
Pederson opened the scoring in the first quarter with a three-pointer and proceeded to score eight points in the second half to help the Falcons pull away.
Both teams struggled mightily in the first half as the Falcons made five field goals to just four for the Spartans.
“We’re still just trying to find a rhythm and I’m playing everyone pretty evenly right now,” Weldon said. “I’ve got eleven bodies I want to get out on the floor, so we’re still trying things and trying to work out the kinks.”
Orono ended the first half on a 5-0 run to cut the Falcons halftime lead to 13-11.
Nothing changed in the third quarter as the Falcons outscored the Spartans 8-7 behind six points from Pederson. Pedersen went 3-4 from the field in the quarter, while the rest of the team went 0-8.
Pedersen made a mid-range jump shot with four minutes left in the game to put the Falcons up 27-22. The Falcons never led by less than five after that point.
A three-point play by junior center Holly Siverling with 3:09 left in the game gave the Falcons their biggest lead of the game at 30-22.
Seniors Katie Oxborough and Lisa McAtee along with junior Cassy Bethke combined to go 7-8 from the free throw line in the final two minutes to seal the victory.
“In the second half we came out and made our free throws, concentrated on our shots and tried to run our offenses a little more,” Pederson said.
Pederson’s 11 points led all scorers, while senior captain Jessie Dooley added six for the Falcons. The Spartans, who shot 19 percent for the game, were led by Kati Hilbelink’s nine points.
The one aspect of the Falcons game that looked polished was their patented defensive pressure which consistently forced turnovers.
“We’ve been focusing on our defense and hoping that our defense creates our offense,” Weldon said. “We’re also focusing on changing things up a lot and hopefully getting the other team off track a little bit.”
The Falcons saw their record drop to 4-3 with a 60-58 overtime loss to Hill-Murray on Dec. 19. Oxborough and Pederson led the Falcons in scoring with 13 and eight points respectively.
The Falcons are now looking forward to the Alexandria Holiday Tournament on December 27-28.
“I think we need to focus on actually running our offenses all the way through and taking good, quality shots,” Pederson said. “I think our defense is doing good, we need to focus on the offensive part of our game.”

Hopkins cruises behind Coleman, Humphries
By Matt Thomas (From 12/24 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)

If you like to attend NBA basketball games to see slam dunks, you can now save about twenty dollars. Pass on the Timberwolves tickets and attend a Hopkins boys basketball game for four dollars.
The talented Royals, who feature three division I recruits, got past a slow start to run, shoot and slam dunk past the Benilde St. Margaret’s Red Knights 67-45 in non-conference action on Dec. 19.
The Red Knights used a patient offensive approach in the first quarter to limit the Royals offensive opportunities. Despite that, Darren Clarke, Dan Coleman and Mitch Henke all hit three pointers in the early going to give the Royals a 15-11 lead.
Coleman started the second quarter by scoring the first six points including an athletic tip-in off a Royals miss.
Duke recruit Kris Humphries scored six of the next eight Royals points as the Red Knights started to unravel.
Clarke stole a perimeter pass and ran down for a lay-up and Humphries followed with a steal and slam dunk on the Red Knights next possession.
The third quarter was all Royals as a dunk by Coleman started a 19-4 run to open the second half.
The Royals had four dunks in all as their size and strength proved too much for the Red Knights.
Humphries finished with a game high 21 points on 9-17 from the field. Coleman added 17 on an impressive 8-10 from the field. Clarke, who has transitioned into the team’s starting point guard finished with 15 points.
The Red Knights were led by senior guard Andrew Thomas’ 16 points, while Seborn Yancy added 12.
With the victory, the Royals are now 5-0 and undoubtedly the team to beat in Class 4A.
While nobody within Minnesota has been able to top the Royals thus far, the team must now try it’s luck elsewhere. The Royals are headed to Lewes, Del. over the holiday break to play in the Slam Dunk To The Beach Tournament.

Trouncing Transfers
Transfering from one high school to another for athletic purposes has been an ongoing problem for years in Minnesota. Star Tribune reporter John Millea hit the nail on the head in his commentary in the December 20 edition. Among other things, Millea reveals that the Minnesota State High School League has had 1,074 transfer requests for athletic purposes since the beginning of the school year.

Lott's Comments Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg
Trent Lott decided to step down today as Senate Majority Leader due to reaction to the racially insensitive comments he made at Strom Thurmond's recent birthday party. While Lott's comments sparked major protests and outrage, I wasn't that surprised.
It's been my opinion for years that many conservatives have racist and disciminatory beliefs towards minorities and homosexuals among others.
Unfortunately it's usually only the religious conservatives like Pat Robertson and Jerry Fallwell who are ignorant enough to stick their foot in their mouth on a national stage.
When Robertson and Fallwell made appalling remarks after September 11th, there wasn't enough pressure or criticism placed upon conservative viewpoints, most likely because Robertson and Fallwell aren't politicians.
Now that we know what Lott truly thinks about minorities I think it's time we ask ourselves a question. Does the apple really fall that far from the tree when it comes to Republicans and their views on minorities?
Do you think Lott's comments were an honest mistake and that he really thinks highly of minorities? Or is it more likely that Lott despises minorities and after years of covering it up in order to win elections, it finally slipped out?
Who's to say this isn't the case for all republicans? We need to demand more from our politicians including the truth concerning their beliefs on minorities.

Byrnes stars as a freshman for Big Ten champion Gophers
by Matt Thomas (From 12/17 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)

Success just seems to follow certain people and Jessica Byrnes is no stranger to it. But nobody thought she would burst on to the national scene at the University of Minnesota like she has.
At Minnetonka High School, Byrnes was all-everything in volleyball including a three-time Classic Lake All-Conference selection. In 2001 she earned first team all metro honors as a senior. She also owns Minnetonka’s school record for career kills with 1,087.
When Byrnes made the switch from blue and white to maroon and gold, some people thought it make take a year or two before the six foot, two inch middle blocker made an impact on one of the best volleyball teams in the nation.
Apparently Byrnes didn’t get the memo. She quickly stepped into the starting lineup and played in 119 of the teams 124 games.
“Of course you always want the chance to play,” Byrnes said. “I knew I would have to fight hard to get into the line-up and things have just worked out.”
She is third on the team in kills with 325, second on the team and seventh in the Big Ten with a .319 hitting percentage. Her 103 total blocks are third on the team and she recorded 74 digs and 16 service aces during the regular season.
The Gophers won the Big Ten Championship with a 17-3 conference record and a 30-5 overall record. Byrnes was named to the Big Ten All Freshman Team and the Gophers received the highest seed in the NCAA tournament in school history.
“Every weekend there seems to be a new highlight,” Byrnes said. “But when we won the Big Ten at home that was so exciting.”
Yes, things are good for Byrnes and the Gophers who made it to the sweet 16 before falling to 12th ranked Arizona in Palo Alto, Calif.
“I am thrilled with my decision to come here,” Byrnes said of her decision to attend the University of Minnesota. “When you decide where to go you never really know what it’s going to be like. Every day I am so honored to be around who I’m around.”
Byrnes says she is surrounded by talented players who have become more like family to her and a coaching staff that she showered with complements.
“We have so much fun together and there isn’t anyone who doesn’t get along,” Byrnes said. “Our coaching staff is so knowledgeable, it’s amazing the things I’ve learned since being here.”
Byrnes is currently living with two other freshman on the volleyball team, Paula Gentil (Fortaleza Ceara', Brazil) and Athena Mallakis (Simi Valley, CA).
“It’s been really fun…they are both from warm climates so I’ve had to explain some things like windchill to them,” Byrnes joked.
While volleyball has been a huge part of Byrnes’ freshman year, she is taking a full load of classes and thinking about going into nursing.
A typical day for Byrnes starts with class early in the morning and ends by 1:30 in the afternoon. She gets to the gym around 2 p.m. for any necessary treatment from team trainers and then takes part in a one to three hour practice depending on the day.
The scariest aspect for Big Ten opponents is that Byrnes is just a freshman and will be gracing the court at the University Sports Pavilion for three more years.
The Gophers seem to have found a road to success that has put them among the elite volleyball teams in the nation. With Byrnes on their side, they might have found someone to lead the pack for the future.


Athletic Spartans top Delano
By Matt Thomas (From 12/17 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)

When you play the Orono boys basketball team the first thing you might notice is that they do not have a tall center anchoring the team’s offense inside the lane. What they do have is five athletic starters with considerable speed and strength who make up for their lack of size with hustle.
The Spartans came out of the gates on fire from the field and eventually pulled away from visiting Delano for a 64-54 non-conference victory.
While seniors Ross Devor and Matt Roybal have led the way in the scoring column for the Spartans early in the season, it was senior Bobby Innes who got the Spartans on track in the first quarter against the Tigers.
Innes ran the floor extremely well and was the beneficiary of several fast break lay-ups in the first quarter. Innes scored eight first quarter points on 4-4 from the field to help the Spartans to a 19-17 lead.
“Bobby is our sleeper because I don’t think people know much about him,” Spartans head coach Mike Blanski said. “We have Ross Devor who everyone is looking at and they were double teaming him in the first half and that left Bobby open. Bobby’s a good player and he goes to the basket as well as anyone I’ve ever coached.”
Things remained tight in the second quarter until the Spartans ended the first half on a 10-2 run.
Roybal converted a reverse lay-up while being fouled and made the free throw to put the Spartans up 35-25. After a Tigers basket, junior Jared Reynolds hit a three-pointer with three seconds left to put the Spartans up 38-27 going into halftime.
While Innes, Roybal and Reynolds gave the Spartans a spark at key moments in the game, it was Devor who consistently gave the Tigers fits when the Spartans had the ball.
Devor, a six foot, three inch forward and an all-conference performer last year, scored a game high 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. His nose for the ball on the boards is crucial for the Spartans who lack a big and physical presence down low.
“We like to post [Devor] up because he seals so well down there and we expect that from him,” Blanski said.
The Tigers eventually cut the Spartans lead to nine with five minutes left in the game, but the Spartans scored nine straight points to ensure the victory.
Roybal hit a three from the outside and followed it with a traditional three-point play on a lay-up and free throw. On the Spartans next possession, senior guard Ryan Tims hit a three pointer of his own to extend the lead to 64-46.
The Spartans shot 43 percent from the field on 26-60 while holding the Tigers to just 35 percent on 18-51.
Innes finished the night with 16 points on an efficient 7-10 from the field while Roybal and Reynolds added 15 and ten points respectively. Senior Aaron Swenson led the Tigers with 14 points on 4-10 from the field.
The Spartans raised their overall record to 3-0 on the season with a 64-49 victory over Prior Lake on Dec. 13.
Upcoming games for the Spartans include a road game at Hutchinson on Dec. 17 and the team’s conference opener at home against Brooklyn Center on Dec. 20.
The Spartans figure to be in the thick of things atop the Metro Alliance Conference this year if they can remain injury-free.
“Benilde is certainly going to challenge us and St. Anthony and Fridley should challenge us as well. The conference is definitely up from last year,” Blanski said.


Bears withstand rally for 6-4 victory
By Matt Thomas (From 12/17 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)

The Blake boys hockey team has the pressure of going for their third straight and fifth conference championship in the past seven years. If last week’s game against St. Louis Park is any indication of how the Bears handle pressure, they should be in good shape to win another Tri Metro Championship.
The Bears showed why they are considered one of the best Class A hockey programs in the state with smooth offensive execution and the ability to withstand a rally.
The Bears jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and every time the Orioles looked like they were creeping back into the game, the Bears shut the door. The end result was a 6-4 victory against a formidable non-conference opponent.
After the Orioles got within a goal just fifty seconds into the second period, Blake’s Brendan Kennedy stretched the lead back to two.
Just one minute and ten seconds after the Orioles goal, Kennedy got the corner on an Oriole defender and beat goalie Ben Levy for his second goal of the game.
After Blake took a 4-1 lead on a goal by Doug Holm, the Orioles made it 4-2 before Blake struck back again.
Less than one minute after the Orioles second goal, Blake’s Jeremy Robert got behind the Oriole defense for a breakaway goal to give the Bears a 5-2 lead.
A goal in the opening minutes of the third period by the Orioles cut the lead to 5-3, but the Bears didn’t wait long to pad their lead once more.
Junior Will Engasser parked himself in front of the Orioles net and stuffed home a rebound off a shot from Rob Page.
The Orioles scored a shorthanded goal with 3:49 left in the game to cut the lead to 6-4, but the scoring ended at that point.
Senior captain Dan Feinberg recorded his third win between the pipes on the season and made 25 saves in the effort. Levy made 23 saves for the Orioles.
Kennedy finished the game with his fifth and sixth goals on the season and also added an assist on a first period goal. Engasser’s goal was his fourth of the season to go along with his four assists.
The Bears followed the victory with a 5-1 decision over Duluth Marshall on Dec. 14. Andrew Schremp sparked the victory with two goals and one assist.
Junior goaltender Justin Kowalkoski earned his third victory of the season by making 15 saves in the contest.
The Bears are 6-0 on the season and looking forward to a non-conference showdown with Benilde-St. Margaret’s on Thursday, December 19 at the St. Louis Park Recreation Center. The Bears will return home on Saturday, December 21 for another showdown with Rochester Lourdes. Both games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. start times.


'Tis The Season To Be Braggy
by Matt Thomas

Yep, it's that time of year again. I'm not talking about eggnog and reindeer, menorahs and sleigh bells or Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas." I'm talking about receiving those obnoxious, arrogant, god-awful christmas letters.
You know, the ones that must be drafted by a pair of overly proud parents with way too much time on their hands. Apparently all the holiday decorations are perfectly in place because they find the time to write down a bunch of sweet nothings about their own family and send it to everyone they know.
As I became seriously ill while reading one of these letters from a friend of the family, I decided enough is enough. So here is your all-purpose guide to writing a holiday letter without sounding a complete idiot.
1. Do not include the fact that your children are on the school honor roll. First of all, in most middle schools half the school is on the honor roll. It's not that great of an accomplishment. Secondly, the only people more obnoxious than the ones who include this information on a holiday letter, are the one's who plaster the information on their car's bumper.
2. Sticking with the educational theme, it is not necessary to include your child's college grade point average on a holiday letter. If your child graduated from college, that is a worthy accomplishment to include on such a letter. It is not relevant, however, to point out that little Suzy got a 3.56 taking Psychology 101 and a bunch of other remedial classes her freshman year.
3. The common car reference. Some people like to give highlights of their year such as purchasing a new vehicle for example. All you need to say in this case is that you bought a new "car." It is unnecessary, however, to say "Jack just loves cruising around in his new and fully loaded BMW."
4. The summer's review. Another common reference in Minnesota (my home state) holiday letters is to say how you had a relaxing summer up at the cabin. That's exactly what it is: a cabin. Some people however like to exaggerate a little and refer to it as "the lake home." They try to make it sound as if the property is surrounded by palm trees and a state of the art yacht. In reality the only accommodations at "the lake home" are an outhouse in the back yard and a Lund fishing boat from 1974.
5. If you belong to a country club, don't reference it. Some people's biggest concern of the year seems to be the fact that their golf handicap went up two strokes. Most people, however, spend their days at WORK so they can pay the bills! They don't want to hear about your birdie putt on the 18th hole that secured the best round of your life.
6. The new baby or grandchild. Another common holiday letter mistake occurs when a new child is brought into the world. While this is the most exciting event of the year for many people, try to avoid referring to the baby as "the most beautiful and precious thing alive." Everybody thinks their own children are the cutest; leave it out of the letter.
While following these guidelines won't ensure you of sounding like an egotistical moron in this year's holiday letter, it can't hurt. The best advice I can give you is to not write a letter at all. People seem to enjoy a simple card and family picture much more.