Basketball: Four Park Rapids grads contribute at collegiate level

Four Park Rapids high school graduates competed for collegiate basketball teams this winter.

Nick Michaelson played in 22 games as a reserve center/forward for the Mayville State University men’s team, Julia Harmon played in 13 games as a reserve center for the St. Catherine University women’s team, Noah Morris played in 25 games as a reserve guard for the Central Lakes College men’s team, and Noah Larson started all 27 games as a guard/forward for the Oak Hills Christian College men’s team.

MAYVILLE, N.D. – Michaelson averaged 3.5 points and 2.1 rebounds for the Comets this season.

The junior scored 78 points and grabbed 47 rebounds in 182 minutes with eight steals, four blocked shots and two assists. Michaelson made 38 of 62 shots (61.3%) and 2 of 8 free throws while playing 8.3 minutes a game.

Michaelson’s best games were 14 points in a 94-64 win over Canadian Mennonite University on Nov. 16; a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds in 23 minutes in a 78-73 win over Minnesota-Morris on Dec. 3; 12 points in a 99-76 win over Haskell on Dec. 30; 22 minutes in an 81-71 win over Bellevue on Feb. 1; and 8 points, two blocks and two steals in a 118-60 win over Providence University on Oct. 27.

Mayville State went 9-6 to finish third in the North Star Athletic Association Conference standings. Dickinson State won the conference title with a 12-3 mark with Jamestown following at 11-4. Trailing Mayville State were Valley City State at 5-10, Bellevue at 4-11 and Dakota State at 4-11.

Dakota State, the No. 6 seed, upset No. 3 Mayville State 86-75 in the first round of the NSAA Conference tournament on Feb. 26 as the Comets closed the season with an 18-11 record.

ST. PAUL – Harmon averaged 0.8 points and 0.8 rebounds for the Wildcats.

Contributed / St. Kate's athletics

Harmon made 2 of 10 shots and 6 of 9 free throws in scoring 10 points while grabbing 11 rebounds and having two assists in 52 minutes. The sophomore scored 3 points in a 76-41 win over Minnesota-Morris on Dec. 31 and had three rebounds in a 74-45 loss to Hamline on Jan. 18 and in an 81-54 win over Carleton on Jan. 22.

St. Kate’s posted an 8-9 record in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play and went 13-12 overall. Bethel and Gustavus tied for first in the conference standings at 17-1 with Hamline (13-5), Concordia (11-7), St. Benedict (11-7), Saint Mary’s (11-7) and St. Scholastica (9-9) following. Trailing the Wildcats were Macalester (7-11), Carleton (2-16), Augsburg (1-17) and St. Olaf (1-17).

BRAINERD – Morris averaged 1.2 points and 1.2 assists a game for the Raiders.

The freshman made 11 of 27 shots, including 1 of 11 3-pointers, and 7 of 19 free throws in scoring 30 points while dishing out 29 assists, grabbing 22 rebounds and making 18 steals in 9.4 minutes a game. Morris scored 9 points in an 89-66 loss to Masabi Range on Feb. 1, had six assists and five rebounds in 22 minutes in a 111-85 win over Leech Lake Tribal on Dec. 21, and made four steals in an 88-78 win over Itasca on Feb. 19.

Contributed / Jeff Collins Photography

CLC won the Minnesota College Athletic Association’s North Division title with an 11-1 record. Rainy River went 10-2, Mesabi East and Vermillion finished at 5-7, Itasca and Hibbing went 4-8, and Northland finished at 3-9 in the North Division standings.

The Raiders opened the National Junior College Athletic Association playoffs with a 78-72 win over Rochester Community and Technical College in the quarterfinals on Feb. 28 before being eliminated with an 80-62 loss to Riverland Community College in the semifinals on March 1. Riverland, the No. 2 seed in the South, improved to 29-3 while CLC ended at 20-10. Morris played 14 minutes against Rochester and had an assist in 5 minutes against Riverland.

BEMIDJI – Larson posted 10 double-doubles while leading the Wolfpack by averaging 18.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.5 steals a game.

Larson made 235 of 585 field goals (40.2%), including hitting 45 of 152 3-pointers, and 82 of 115 free throws (71.3%) in scoring 507 points. Larson also grabbed 234 rebounds, had 68 steals and dished out 42 assists with two blocked shots while averaging 34.4 minutes a game. Those numbers earned Larson National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association North Region honorable mention honors.

The freshman had five straight double-doubles: 17 points and 11 rebounds in an 88-61 loss to Northland on Dec. 5, 23 points and 13 rebounds in an 82-68 win over Turtle Mountain on Dec. 5, 13 points and 10 rebounds in an 87-46 loss to Minnesota-Morris on Dec. 7, 16 points and 13 rebounds in a 52-50 loss to Itasca on Dec. 10, and 28 points and 11 rebounds with six steals in a 90-26 win over Free Lutheran Bible on Dec. 13.

Contributed / Kris Harris, Oak Hills Christian College athletics

Larson also had 28 points and 13 rebounds in a 104-84 win over Leech Lake Tribal on Jan. 17, 16 points and 10 rebounds in an 81-72 win over Canadian Mennonite on Jan. 24, 33 points and 10 rebounds to go along with five assists in a 97-11 win over Free Lutheran Bible on Feb. 6, 22 points and 11 rebounds in a 73-57 win over St. Boniface on Feb. 14, and 16 points and 11 rebounds in an 82-68 win over St. Boniface on Feb. 15. Larson, who scored in double digits in 26 games, scored 26 points in a 69-62 win over Northland on Nov. 5, 29 points in a 68-65 loss to Providence-Manitoba on Jan. 11, and 31 points in a 91-87 win over Leech Lake Tribal on Jan. 18.

Oak Hills finished fourth in the Northern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings with a 10-5 record. Trinity Bible won the conference title at 16-0 while Canadian Mennonite went 12-4 and Sisseton Wahpeton ended at 9-4. Trailing Oak Hills were Providence at 9-7, Leech Lake Tribal at 6-7, Turtle Mountain at 8-11, Boniface at 2-13, Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish at 1-10 and Free Lutheran Bible at 0-12.

For the NCCAA North Region Tournament in Ankeny, Iowa, Oak Hills lost to Trinity 87-70 on March 3. Larson scored 13 points and had seven rebounds in that game. The Wolfpack ended the season with an 11-16 record.