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Packers Smother Winona

16 Jan

The Austin Packers used pressure defense to run their season record to 13-0 with at 63-38 win at Winona on Tuesday.

The Packers held the Winhawks to their season low point total, allowing just 20 points in the first half and 18 in the second. See the Winona Daily News recap and the Austin Daily Herald coverage. Here are the highlights:

Tom Aase led the Packers in scoring with 17 points, while Ajuda Nywesh had 12, Zach Wessels 11, Bret Lukes 7, Joe Aase 6, Collin Weisert 4 and Gach Gach and Nik Gasner 3 each.

Next up for the Packers: the first-place showdown with Rochester John Marshall, currently 12-2 overall and tied with the Packers atop the Big Nine at 7-0.

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Northstar Hoops Report Highlights Packer Players

3 Jan

NHR front pageNorthstar Hoops Report has rapidly established itself as one of the top independent authoritative sites covering boys high school and AAU basketball in Minnesota. Its subscribers, including many college basketball programs, get the inside scoop on Minnesota players and teams, and its rankings are closely watched by the basketball community.

As a recruiting service for college coaches, Austin native Ryan James, one of the site’s founders, ranks the top players in each graduating class in terms of their potential as college players, with updates of the rankings done on a quarterly basis. Among the current crop of seniors (Class of 2013), Austin’s Joe Aase and Tom Aase both currently rank in the top 30 statewide, with Joe at #6 and Tom at #28. Zach Wessels is #14 in the 2014 class.

Bret Lukes was cited earlier this week for “giving Austin another scoring option” based on his average of 11 points per game. Ryan highlighted Wessels in September, saying “Zach’s ability to go middle and create at a constant rate for himself and others is what so many people love about him. What’s scarier for future opponents is that he’s getting better.” In ranking Tom Aase #6 statewide among 2013 power forwards, Ryan cited Tom’s defensive toughness and rebounding as well as his improved scoring.

In his column today, Ryan lists Joe Aase as one of the “Top Contenders” for Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball behind early front-runner Quinton Hooker of Park Center. The Mr. Basketball Award is given each year to the top senior boys basketball player in the state as chosen by the Mr. Basketball Committee, which is completely separate from Northstar Hoops Report, but here’s what Ryan said about Joe in listing him as one of the top three candidates:

Joe Aase is scoring 20 a game, averaging a double-double, has his team at second in state and undefeated, and playing against the state’s top interior defender (Reggie Lynch) Joe scored a big 27 points impressing the metro area basketball fans.  Over the holiday break Joe led his team to back-to-back wins over New Prague (with 24 points and nine rebounds Joe out did Paul Friendshuh) and Eastview (Joe got the better of Ben Oberfeld as Joe had 21, Ben scored 11).

In another just-for-fun element of the Northstar Hoops site, they’re conducting an unscientific online poll of site visitors, asking them to vote for a Mr. Basketball front runner. So, if you’re so inclined, go here and cast your vote.

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Thanks Scott Kolb for Packer Coverage!

29 Dec

The Austin Packers haven’t lost yet this season on the court, but with the Rochester Post-Bulletin discontinuing publication of its Austin edition at year-end, the Packer basketball program loses one of its top media supporters, as Austin native and 1979 AHS graduate Scott Kolb will no longer be covering the games and writing his weekly column.

Austin has been blessed for more than a decade with two daily newspapers, with both the Austin Daily Herald and the Austin Post-Bulletin, and Scott has been covering the local sports beat. In his final column, he looked back on highlights of 2012, and so the Packers’ return to the state tournament led the way. Here’s what Scott had to say:

Highlight of year

When I attended the state tournament games back in the early 1980s to see the Austin Packers boys basketball team, it never dawned on me that three decades would elapse before another trip to the promised land. That dream finally came true last March when the Austin boys once again went to state.

After winning the Big Nine Conference title before a packed house on the final night of the regular season, the Packers were the No. 1 seed in the section tournament. They destroyed the first two teams at home, but then came the finals and a trip to the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.

For most of the game, the Packers didn’t shoot real well and it looked like the might fail against the New Prague Trojans. It was tied in the final seconds, when coach Kris Fadness called a time-out and drew up what now must be the most famous play in school history.

Packers point-guard Zach Wessels brought the ball up the floor for the decisive possession. Off to the side, Goliath Oboyo set a back pick for Tom Aase. With the clock winding down, it initially looked like Wessels was firing up a long prayer of a shot. Instead, it was a perfect pass to Tom Aase, who dunked home the winning basket and sent Packers fans into a state of delirium.

The boys made it to the state tournament and I got the chance to sit courtside at Williams Arena, where I used to watch Minnesota Gophers games decades ago. The Packers didn’t win their tourney opener and they were eliminated from state, but the good news is the team is even better this season and their fans are looking for a return trip to the big city.

Read Scott’s whole column, and join us in thanking Scott for his years of service to the Austin community in the comments below

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Packers Ranked 2nd in Class AAA Preseason Poll

28 Nov

The Austin Packers are ranked second in the state to defending champion DeLaSalle in the first NorthStar Hoops Report poll of the 2012-13 season.

See the complete Top 10 rankings.

The Packers open their season Saturday, Dec. 1 at Kasson-Mantorville (varsity tips at 7:30 p.m.), and then face Edina, ranked #4 in Class AAAA, on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. in Minnetonka at the Breakdown Sports Tip-Off Classic.

The Edina game figures to be one of the Packers’ stiffest tests of the year, as two of the Hornets have signed Division I scholarship tenders. For high school basketball fans, the day-long Tip-Off Classic is second only to the State Tournament, as it features all of the top 10 Class AAAA teams and four of the top eight Class AAA schools, as well as some top A and AA teams and two strong Wisconsin programs.

If you want to see a day of great basketball, make plans now to attend the Tip-Off Classic.

 

 

 

 

 

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Joe Aase and Tom Aase Sign National Letters of Intent

20 Nov

The Austin Daily Herald, Austin Post-Bulletin, KIMT-TV and KAAL-TV all were on hand Monday for the signing ceremony, as Joe Aase and Tom Aase sealed their deals with Davidson College and University of Sioux Falls.

Family members looking on couldn’t help remember Joe and Tom as Kindergarten YMCA teammates:

… as well as their First Grade YMCA action:

Moving forward 10 years, here are highlights from their state tournament appearance last March:

After the ceremony, the Aase cousins and their teammates began their bid for a return trip to Minneapolis in March with their first practice of the season. The Packers’ first regular-season game is Saturday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Kasson. See their whole schedule.

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