Sports Memories by Tom Jones

50 years ago

• Brothers Neil and Harold “Gabby” Pierce of the First National Bank team finished first and second in the YMCA basketball league scoring race. Neil collected 207 points with a 25.9 average, with Harold finishing with 163 points, averaging 23.3.

• The Lea College men’s basketball team initiated its new portable floor at the Lea College Fieldhouse (now City Arena) with a 63-62 win over William Penn of Oskaloosa, Iowa. The floor was purchased from Chicago Stadium for $12,500.

• An estimated 500 people watched the Albert Lea boys’ judo team defeat Owatonna, 4-1. Preceding the match, the Albert Lea and Owatonna girls’ judo teams put on a judo and karate exhibition.

25 years ago

• Aron Atig, Jamie Jensen and Chris Beese were the three Albert Lea wrestlers who qualified for the state wrestling tournament that was to be held at the St. Paul Civic Center.

• Kris Johannsen of the Alden-Conger boys’ basketball team surpassed the 1,000-point mark as the Knights defeated Medford, 70-53.

• The Tiger City Sports C Bantam team won one of three games in the Faribault B2 tournament. After losing their first game to Minnetonka, they bounced back to defeat Rochester No. 3, before falling to Apple Valley in the consolation finals. The team’s record stood at 20-5-1 on the year.

10 years ago

• The Albert Lea boys’ hockey team defeated Mankato West 3-0 to win the first round of the Section 1A playoffs. Tyler Prihoda, Tyler Brackey and Jordan Prescher-Smerud all scored for the Tigers, who were slated to play Red Wing in the next round.

• The Albert Lea girls’ basketball team only shot 14 percent on the evening, as they were defeated 37-18 by Winona. Abbey Arends led the Tigers with nine points.

• Marek Zidlicky scored his 10th goal of the season and Dan Fritsche added his fourth, but it was not enough, as the Minnesota Wild were defeated by the Vancouver Canucks, 4-2.

This year

• Brandon Antl, a 2009 graduate of Albert Lea High School is in his second year as a graduate assistant coach for top ranked Benedictine College in NAIA Division 1 men’s basketball. His duties include scouting, film breakdown and analytics for the Ravens, who are based out of Atchison, Kansas. Before joining the college ranks, he was the girls’ varsity coach at Alden-Conger for two years. He is the son of Brad and Michelle Romer, and played his high school basketball under coach Chad Feikema.