Fourteen of the fifteen girls on the Thief River Falls basketball roster were sick Thursday. Had school not been canceled due to inclement weather, Prowlers girls basketball coach Jeff Loe likely would have canceled practice due to a lack of players.
And yet, the Prowlers bounced back to sweep Hibbing 70-35 and Grand Rapids 83-64 over the weekend.
"We were a little concerned," Loe said. "Some of the girls still weren't looking good Friday. And we could see Saturday that they were tired and feeling worn down. But we got through it."
Neither illness nor opponent has stopped Thief River Falls girls athletes this winter. And that's in hockey as well as basketball.
The two Prowlers girls teams enter the week with a combined 33-0 record. Thief River Falls is 14-0 on the basketball court and 19-0 on the ice going into its game Monday night against Crookston.
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Thief River Falls is the lone unbeaten girls hockey team remaining in the state. Also, the Prowlers are ranked No. 1 in the latest Minnesota state Class A poll.
There are 13 unbeaten girls basketball teams. Only three of those are in Class AAA - the Prowlers, Fergus Falls and Albany, all of whom are in Section 8AAA.
"It's pretty neat," Loe said. "I know the whole school is pretty excited about how the teams are doing
"If somebody had told us at the beginning of the season that both of us would still be undefeated at this point, I would have been surprised.''
But success is no shock, not with the recent successes both programs have had.
The Prowler girls hockey team didn't have a senior on last season's team that won 19 games for the second straight season. Juniors Emily Bergland and Sylvia Marolt are fifth-year starters. Several others are fourth-year varsity regulars.
The balanced offense is led by Bergland (25-18--43), Brandi Malwitz (16-14--30), Marolt (12-16--28) and Kora Torkelson (9-16--25). And in goal is Frances Marshall (.952 save percentage, state-best 0.84 goals-against average). The Prowlers have nine shutout wins and have given up as many as three goals in only one game all season.
Still, Prowlers hockey coach Corey Poole said, "At the beginning of the year, I never thought we'd go this far into our schedule without a loss. I knew we'd be strong. But we play a quality schedule. And we've had some games where we didn't play very well, but still found ways to win.''
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Loe returned four starters from last season's 25-3 team in Brooke Yaggie (20.6 ppg, 4.6 spg, 3.7 apg), Meleah Biermaier (11.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 3.8 apg), Madison Brekke (11.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.6 bpg) and Courtney Amirayan (5.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 3.4 apg). Sophomore Jenna Tadych (11.5 ppg, 7.6 rpg) has stepped into the fifth spot.
"We felt that, if everything fell into place, we could be as good as, or better than, last year,'' Loe said. "We have above-average athleticism and we have above-average height. It's a good combination.''
Why the success? Loe sums up the bottom line in two words. "Good athletes,'' he said. "And we have a group of girls coming through that isn't afraid to put in the work.''
Beyond the natural athleticism, Poole said, "we've had good coaches at the youth levels. And the girls have bought into the idea that they have to do the extra things, being in the weight room and doing the offseason things, to be successful. Obviously, it's paid off for them.''
Success isn't limited to winter sports.
Thief River Falls won the Section 8AA volleyball title in 2012 and was runner-up last season. Biermaier is a past state track hurdles champion. Many of the winter-sport athletes are three-sport athletes.
"It's a closely-knit group,'' Poole said. "You see the girls going to each others' events.''
There are still challenges along the way for both programs.
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The hockey team plays St. Cloud (15-2-1) on Friday and Sartell-Sauk Rapids (13-3-2) on Saturday. Thief River Falls wraps up its regular season Jan. 31 at East Grand Forks Senior High. The lone loss for the 19-1 Green Wave is a 2-1 setback to the Prowlers.
The Prowler basketball team has had only two games in which it has beaten an opponent by less than 18 points, wins of 53-46 against Hawley and 54-51 against Detroit Lakes. Thief River Falls plays at Detroit Lakes on Jan. 30, and is at Fergus Falls on Feb. 8.
Poole and Loe both take a one-game-at-a-time approach. Both say they don't talk about the unbeaten status with their teams.
But, Poole said, "When you think about it, it is pretty incredible.''
DeVillers reports on sports. Call him at (701) 780-1128, (800) 477-6572 ext. 1128 or send e-mail to gdevillers@gfherald.com .
