Irish boys basketball season ends in playoffs

By Brenda Erdahl

Sports Editor

The Irish boys basketball team honored parents and seniors in the last regular game of the season Friday, March 1 at home against Dassel-Cokato.

Parents received a rose and a card and seniors mementos before the start of the game. Seniors Jonathan Carl and Joseph Warner started for the first time to feature the team’s five seniors.

With their help, the Irish claimed a 5-4 lead early. Things were looking good when Senior Pablo Manzanedo went down with an ankle injury and was out for the game.

“We took a hit with Pablo going out, but the guys did their best in his absence,” Coach Bryan Schleif said.

Sophomore Bowen Walton led scoring with 15 points in the 75-32 loss.

The Irish kicked off the Section 5A Tournament with a 56-37 loss to St. John’s Prep at St. John’s University on Monday, March 4.

St. John’s shot the ball well from behind the arc and the Irish couldn’t defend it. The Irish trailed 34-10 at halftime.

“We came out of halftime with the mentality we could comeback and we did just that getting the lead down to eight. We turned up the intensity in the second half and we hit some big shots and also pressured them, and it was working. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it any closer than eight, but the guys really worked hard out there and didn’t give up,” Coach Schleif said.

All Irish seniors, except Pablo who was injured, played Monday night to finish out their careers at Maple Lake.

The Irish honored its seniors last week. They are, from left, Jonathan Carl, Gus Riviere, Pablo Manzanedo, Joseph Warner, Nick Lind and Coach Bryan Schleif.