Record comes with Win!

Friday night was a pretty special night. Without taking away from the overall team effort of winning our sixth straight game against Forest Lake (W 67-55), it should be pointed out that Jordan Van Eps tied a school record (Cole Christenson, 2009) by making eight 3-pointers during the game. There have been a lot of great shooters that have played for Mounds View over the years....It's a pretty special accomplishment. Congrats Jordan.

In avenging the earlier loss to the Rangers, the Mustangs moved to 8-6 in the Suburban East Conference and 10-11 overall. The win marks the third conference win in row over a team that we lost to the first time through the conference schedule. Tuesday night brings the opportunity to extend that streak to four as we head to Cretin-Derham Hall to take on the Raiders. Game time is 7:15pm. We hope to see you there!

Monday JV/Varsity Practice Still at 3:30pm

We will still have practice today at MVHS at 3:30pm. Please drive safely.

Being a Teammate

This was forwarded to us by former Mounds View baseball coach, Mark Downey, who is now coaching at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.

He forwarded to us as a great example of a Mustang alum actually living out what is so often talked about by coaches. Most people acknowledge that being a member of a team...at least a healthy one...requires some self-sacrifice. Unfortunately, acknowledging it and living it can be two very different things. Also, it applies to EVERYONE. No one escapes this from top to bottom...for the superstar it might be giving up individual statistics (see the second-half of Michael Jordan's career) but on the other end of the spectrum, it might be a role player letting go of individual frustrations of not playing to support teammates along the way. (This, I would argue, is probably THE most difficult thing to do as a member of a team.)

That brings me to the inspiration of this post.

Pat Delahunt was one of our captains in 2006-2007. In all reality, as a ninth grader there is no way anyone would have predicted that he would even be a varsity contributor based on his natural ability. However, he is one of the most goal-orientated, tough minded and hardest working players I've ever come across. (Garrett Ganske, a high school teammate from 1995 will probably forever hold the #1 spot in my mind!) He literally WILLED himself into being a player. He spent countless hours working on his game...often times alone. Pat in the truest sense is a gym-rat. A lot of people play basketball, but there only a handful that are basketball players. Simply stated, he LOVES the game. It took time, but by his senior year he was starter and in the process earned the respect of his peers to be voted captain.

His high school career was statistically average at best, but his legacy as a student, teammate and person stand out among the best to ever wear a Mustang uniform.

Pat was cut from the St. Olaf squad his first two years. And now, his senior year, despite the thousands of hours he's put in the game, he's only played 15 minutes all season. But he continues to be an outstanding student, teammate and person. In Coach Kosmoski's words:

"Pat became a part of our team last year as a junior. I have been able to count on him every single practice with his consistency and effort on the court. His positive energy is inspirational and has not only made himself a better ballplayer, but he has made those around him better as well. Pat has only been a positive asset to this team these past two years. There is a reason that we are a better team today than last year, and Pat has been an integral part of this growth."

I have no doubt the lessons Pat has learned through playing basketball are going to lead him to great things as he moves on to the next stage of his life. It was a privilege to coach him..for many it has been a privilege to call him a teammate and friend..and for those that don't know Pat De La Hunt, I can only hope you have people in your lives like him.

Tough Four Game Stretch: Part II

Just over a month ago, I blogged about a tough four game stretch against four of the strongest programs in the Suburban East Conference. We went 0-4 during that time.

As we go through the conference schedule a second time, we've arrived at the same stretch once again....Only this time, with our 67-49 win over Stillwater on Tuesday night, we've already notched more W's than the first time through.

Tuesday night was arguably the best combined effort of our Varsity and JV teams all season. Both teams adjusted well and played very efficiently on both ends of the floor.

Friday night should be another great test in our rematch against Forest Lake. Our January game at Forest Lake was one of our ugliest games of the year....However, our team has grown a lot in the last 4-5 weeks. Having won 6 of the last 7 games, I'm excited for our guys to get another chance to take on the Rangers! We hope to see you there!

Coach Has His Own Dance?

After coaching at Mounds View for over 44 years, Coach's legacy on the basketball court speaks for itself, but at the Sno-Daze pepfest last Friday, it was taken to another level. Apparently, he's also an accomplished dancer. (Check out the last seconds of the pepfest video.) Check out the lyrics written by Liv Rosin.



Our captains (Blake Anderson, Jordan Van Eps, & Matt Kruger) also had some fun....at our expense! Ha!...if people only knew how much I harass Coach Leiser about his red sweater!

Mustangs at the Target Center!

On Saturday, February 12th, the Mustangs boys basketball team will play St. Anthony at the Target Center. Game time is 1:00pm.

Due to our agreement with the Timberwolves, tickets are a combination package; they will not be available for just the Mounds View game.Tickets are $15 and can be used for the TIMBERWOLVES game against Philadelphia that evening at 7:00pm.

Click here for more information about tickets.

Watch the Mustangs take on the Raiders LIVE!

Once again, CTV North Suburbs will be going LIVE on channel 20 with tonight's Mounds View vs. Roseville boys basketball game. Along with that, it'll be web-streamed starting at 7 pm.

http://www.ctv15.org/schools/mv/sports/basketball/mvhsboys.html

The cities that will see it LIVE on channel 20 are Arden Hills, Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Little Canada, Mounds View, New Brighton, North Oaks, Roseville, Saint Anthony and Shoreview.