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Column: Area coaches talk about the shot clock

Of six local high school basketball coaches polled — two of them girls’ head coaches — only one favored a shot clock.

Head boys’ basketball coaches Steve Foley of New Ulm High School, Alan Woitas of New Ulm Cathedral, Craig Morgan of Minnesota Valley Lutheran, and Lance Larson of Springfield along with head girls’ basketball coaches Brian Batt of New Ulm High School and Bruce Woitas of Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s answered four questions posed to them.

The first one was adding a shot clock and while Foley, Morgan, Alan Woitas, Bruce Woitas and Lance Larson opposed it, Batt was in favor of it.

“I understand there are cost issues up front and it also creates the need for an additional person at the scorer’s table to run the clock,” Batt said. “But a shot clock will eliminate stalling tactics and increase scoring opportunities. People come to games to see the ball put through the hoop, not passed around with no intention of trying to score. It also eliminates the five-second call [or] “closely guarded” call.”

Larson of Springfield said that his team played with a shot clock in a game this season.

“I do not think it was ever an issue of going off,” Larson said. “Plus the challenge of having a person to run one is definitely a challenge.”

Morgan, who is also the Athletic Director at MVL, said that you would need a specially trained worker to know the procedures and rules with it and another official who’s job it is to watch it to make sure it gets reset.

Bruce Woitas felt that there is no need for a shot clock and also echoed Morgan’s concern about needing another worker and the cost.

Foley thought that a shot clock “would take away from the strategy of the game to some extent. We have enough to work on as high school coaches and this would add more stress onto players and the teachings of the game at this level. I believe that it would take away from teaching the fundamentals of the game and the team concept.”

Regarding favoring halves or quarters, Batt was the lone proponent of going to quarters.

“College for girls’ basketball went to quarters several years ago so it makes sense for these girls who are moving on to play at the next level to play by the same rules in high school,” Batt said. “It also gives coaches a couple of extra timeouts every game. And when they use quarters, it changes team fouls to 5 per quarter. Any fouls after that automatically puts a team into double-bonus and does away with 1-and-1 free throw situations, which is one of the worst rules high school basketball has ever adopted. I think that teams should be punished for fouling to much.”

All of the rest of the coaches felt that playing halves gives the game more of a flow.

“It has been a number of years that we have been using halves versus quarters and when the change was made I did not care for it,” Bruce Woitas said. “But over the years halves have worked out just fine and I would feel fine staying with them.”

Larson, Foley and Batt said they would like to see a ‘charge’ circle implemented into the high school game.

“I believe that would benefit both players and officials,” Foley said. “An offensive charge is such a subjective call and this would create a clearer definition of a “charge” for both players and officials.”

Batt agreed with the addition saying that “a defensive player should not be rewarded for standing right in front of or under the basket. Again, colleges use it for both men and women so why is high school different.”

Batt added that if high schools stick with halves, he would like to see the 1-and-1 rule eliminated and double bonus shot on every team foul after the sixth in a half.

And as for any rule change they would like to see, Larson said he would “like to have the 3-point line hidden for elementary and junior high levels. I really think that having that (3-point line) at the younger levels messes up the mechanics of their shot as they are not strong enough to shoot from that far away so they just throw it up there.”

Morgan would like to see the home team go back to wearing white uniforms and “no coaching in the off-season. Let kids be kids.”

1,000 point scorers in New Ulm: This past basketball season, four players from three high schools in New Ulm joined the career 1,000 Point Club bringing the total to 39 who have cracked that barrier.

Senior Connor Foley and junior Joey Batt of New Ulm High School along with junior Jake Kettner of Minnesota Valley Lutheran and senior Nate Hauser of New Ulm Cathedral all hit for their 1,000 career point.

Foley ended his season as the all-time leading boy’s scorer at NUHS with 1,359 points and is 12th overall while Batt, a junior and who is already 7th on the City career list, has 1,623 career points going into her senior year. Batt needs just 220 points to break Reinhart’s NUHS record of 1,842 and needs 431 points to break Galen Holzhueter’s city record of 2,053.

Kettner became the 19th MVL player to join the 1,000 point club and is currently 17th on the All-Time scoring list for New Ulm schools.

Hauser netted his career 1,000th point and ended up 24th on the all-time scoring list.

And there are some unusual facts for some of the 1,000 point scorers.

Tim Merseth and sister Jessica Merseth are the only brother and sister to break the mark.

Galen and brother Greg are the only brother combination in the 1,000 point club and together they scored 3,103 points.

Mitch Lewis and Maria (Boettger) Lewis are the only husband and wife to each score 1,000 points.

And Kettner joined his father, Kory, in the club as Kory scored 1,000 career points for Nicollet High School.

Here is the list of 39 who have scored 1,000 career points here in New Ulm:

CITY OF NEW ULM CAREER 1,000 POINT SCORERS

(through the 2018 season — players in capital letters are juniors)

1) Galen Holzhueter (MVL) 2,053

2) Meleah Reinhart (NUHS) 1,842

3) Steph Klaviter (CHS) 1,694

4) Dan Unke (MVL) 1,662

5) Tim Merseth (MVL) 1,640

6) Jessica Merseth (MVL) 1,637

7) JOEY BATT (NUHS) 1,623

8) Dave Begalka (MVL) 1,588

9) Anna Munsen (MVL) 1,508

10) Mike Wilfahrt (CHS) 1,480

11) Naci Melzler (MVL) 1,440

12) Connor Foley (NUHS) 1,359

13) Aaron Bauer (MVL) 1,300

14) Martin Klinkhammer (CHS) 1,282

15) Kayla Altmann (NUHS) 1,250

16) Nick Fischer (MVL) 1,245

17) JAKE KETTNER (MVL) 1,239

18) Jake Firle (MVL) 1,230

19) Luke Schmidt (NUHS) 1,211

20) Jesse Ahlbrecht (CHS) 1,204

21) Lisa Gronholz (MVL) 1,184

22) Karissa Kramer (MVL) 1,155

23) Nate Siemers (MVL) 1,149

24) Nate Hauser (CHS) 1,133

25) Mitch Lewis (CHS) 1,131

26) Dan Haack (CHS) 1,115

27) Tom Wolf (Holy Trinity) 1,096

28) Will Moeller (CHS) 1,095

29) Scott Hansen (NUHS) 1,093

30) Ev Christensen (Holy Trinity) 1,081

31) Kirsten Prunty (CHS) 1,079

31) Jake Hoffman (MVL) 1,079

31) Erin Czer (MVL) 1,079

34) Sam Dengerud (CHS) 1,076

35) Tom Herbeck (CHS) 1,069

36) Brandon Meyer (MVL) 1,051

37) Greg Holzhueter (MVL) 1,050

38) Maria (Boettger) Lewis (CHS) 1,022

39) Amanda Burk (MVL) 1,001

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