MMCRU’s historic boys basketball season ended on Thursday night to Marquette Catholic in a Class 1A state semifinal by the score of 65-56.
The Royals made history with their first-ever state tournament appearance and won their first-ever state tournament game this week. Senior Kamden Bork reflected on all this team has done and says it was a tremendous season even if it did not end in a title.
The locker room after the loss was pretty emotional for the Royals. Head coach Cam Kuchel says it was a very special group to have to say goodbye to.
The offensive side of the ball was a struggle for the Royals who could only make two threes throughout the game. Michael Schmillen, who hit one of those threes, says they just were not falling for the team.
Coach Kuchel says the struggle on the offensive side was unfortunate because he liked the looks his team was getting.
The one consistent presence on offense for MMCRU was Bork who finished with 20 points in the loss. He says his teammates did a great job of creating scoring chances for him.
With the offensive struggles piling up, that turned into a rough go on the defensive side. Schmillen says the missed shots prevented the Royals from getting into their pressure on defense.
Once Marquette had gotten the stop they needed on defense, they were getting out in the open court and creating quick scoring chances. Coach Kuchel says it was very similar to how his team wanted to play.
The Royals were able to stay in the game thanks to some great second chance opportunities finishing with 13 offensive rebounds. Kamden Bork had six of those and says he wanted to make sure that the Royals gave it every ounce of energy they had.
As the Royals were trying to stage a comeback, the big sticking point was their struggles on offense. Coach Kuchel says the inside game was being taken away leaving his team with few options.
The loss ends the basketball careers of eight seniors on the MMCRU squad. Michael Schmillen, who closed his career with a 14-point performance, says the guys were motivated after a great football season to come out and close their basketball careers on the biggest stage.
For a group that started their basketball careers at the varsity level with a 6-16 record, they made quite the turnaround. Coach Kuchel says they were a great group to have and will do great things beyond high school.
Now that MMCRU has been here once, the hope is to keep the success flowing and make it back here again. Bork says the classes coming up will have to carry the torch from here.
MMCRU closes with a final record of 26-2 while Marquette Catholic advances with a record of 25-2. They will play St. Edmond of Fort Dodge in the Class 1A championship on Friday at 5:00 PM.
