Bemidji's Keith Salscheider has headed overseas once again to continue his professional basketball career.
In his first game he led his Devon Dynamos to a 98-80 win over Wellington hitting 23 points.
Former Duke star Nick Horvath, a one-time Mr. Basketball in Minnesota from Mound View, paced Wellington with 24.
The Dynamos are located in New Plymouth in the southwest section of the northern New Zealand island.
Salscheider played for several seasons in the Western Australian League and with several American minor league teams.
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New tourney begins
Jamie and Nate Haskell have begun action in the new two-person World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships at Vierumaki, Finland.
Twenty four teams are split into three eight-team pools with Haskell opening against Wales yesterday. Others in the pool are China, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Poland and Switzerland.
Jamie Haskell won the Gold at the 2002 World Junior Championships, the only Gold at that level for the U.S. and a silver at the 2005 World Women's Championships. She is a two time U.S. Junior National champion, 2005 U.S. National champion and 2006 Olympic Trials winner curling with her sister Cassie Potter.
Nate Haskell began curling only a few years ago and plays on a competitive men's team headed by two-time junior national champion and 2003 men's national champ Eric Fenson, brother of 2006 Olympian Pete Fenson.
BASA meeting
The first meeting of the Bemidji Area Softball Association will be held Tuesday at the Bemidji City Hall at 7 p.m.
Teams wishing to play in the men's or women's leagues this summer should have a representative at the meeting at which time important information regarding the summer season will be discussed.
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Spring sports
The first five of the seven spring sports at Bemidji High will begin practices tomorrow.
They are boys and girls track, boys and girls golf and softball.
Baseball drills will begin next Monday and tennis starts March 24.
Athletes may not begin practice until the have on file at the activities office a physical exam file required once each three years.
Also needed are a parental eligibility form required once each year, an athletic insurance waiver, also required once each year the activities fee of $60 for all 9-12 grade athletes.
Baseball Coach Mike Fogelson has called his parent-athlete meeting for tomorrow at 5:30 in the Commons for all players in grades 9-12.
Anyone unable to attend that meeting should contact Fogelson at 556-7181.
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Jeff Nelson and Eric Niskanen will return to the girls and boys girls teams, Fogelson and Brad Takkunen to the baseball and softball squads, Scott Engelstad to tennis and Chris Lehman to girls track.
Ryan Aylesworth will move up to head the boys track program succeeding John Deden, now in Afghanistan with his National Guard unit.
Winter banquets
The next three BHS winter sports banquets have been set.
They start tonight with the gymnastics banquet at the Country Club starting at 4.
The wrestling Awards Night will be at the Commons March 18 and the boys hockey banquet at the same site March 20.
Still be to be announced are the boys and girls basketball and swim banquets. Sponsors are asked to coordinate dates through the activities office to prevent any two from being held on the same night.
Thielen No. 1
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Senior Matt Thielen became the all-time Detroit Lakes career basketball scoring leader Feb. 26 when he sank his 11th point in a 66-57 win over Perham.
He surpassed the former record of 1,.211 held by Andrew Leitheiser.
Thielen went on to hit 38 points in the game and up the record to 1,239 with three regular season games remaining.
The former three-point scoring star, has expanded his game this year to take the ball to the hole. He has also become a prolific free throw shooter.
He scored 23 and 29 in his two games against Bemidji High this winter.
Erickson honored
Grand Rapids hockey star Emily Erickson who will play for BSU next winter, capped her fine career at Grand Rapids High by being named the Herb Brooks Award winner for Class AA following the state tournament.
She played a major role in leading the Grand Rapids-Greenway Lightning to the 7AA title.
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The Award, named for former Gopher and Olympic Coach Herb Brooks, goes annually to the most qualified hockey player in each class who strongly represents the values, characteristics and traits that defined Brooks' career.
The Lightning finished 25-4-2 bowing to Eden Prairie 5-3 in the state title game.
She ended her senior year with 45 goals and 35 assists for 80 points.
She was a finalist in the Ms. Hockey Award earned by her namesake Sarah Erickson of Bemidji.
The award was presented after the final by Brooks' daughter Kelly.
The North made it a complete sweep when Ashley Holmes of Alexandria was named Herb Brooks Class A winner. She followed teammate Abby Williams who earned the honor in 2007.
CLC sweeps region
Central Lakes Community College of Brainerd won both men's and women's Region 13 cage championships to earn berths in the national Division III CC tournaments at Delhi (men) and Utica (men) N.Y. March 10-15.
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The men stopped Vermillion 77-53 in the title game while the women won over Northland 60-58.
The men carry a 21-8 record to the nationals. The women, who began their yea 2-14, are 14-20.
Ruley steps aside
NDSU women's basketball coaching legend Amy Ruley has stepped aside from her coaching career to assume a new role to take on a fund raising position with the Bison athletic department.
The new move has been in the works for a few months.
Her cage legend dates for 29 years during which time she has amassed a record of 671-198 posting 20 seasons of 20 or more wins including four topping 30.
The 52-year-old Ruley went out in style when the Bison toppled Centenary College of Louisiana in her final game. That completed the Bison's five-year probationary period in Division I enabling them to be eligible for post season play in 2009.
They had their best year in Division I this year finishing 17-11.
Ruley coached two national Division II title teams, the last in 1996.
She will join former men's basketball coach Erv Inniger in an athletic development position. Inniger moved into that role in 1992.
Record breakers
Martin Wind of Cass Lake-Bena and Jay Cary of Hibbing are the latest record breakers on the court.
Wind topped the 1,000 point mark in the Panthers 99-74 win over Walker-Hackensack-Akeley Tuesday. He joined fellow sophomore Nolan Toft of Nevis who topped the four figure mark earlier this year, something that is being done more and more frequently by younger players in the age of 25 game schedules and three point baskets.
Cary broke the 59-year-old Hibbing career scoring mark of 1,492 held by legendary Milan Knezovich who went on to stardom at Mankato State.
He also holds the single game mark of 49 also set this year.
The 6-3 senior guard is averaging 21 points a game.
He was led out of a scoring slump at midseason by his Coach Joel McDonald, who topped the 3,000 career total while playing at Chisholm. He advised Cary that the only way to end a scoring slum p is to keep shooting.
Cary is being recruited by BSU, UMC and Superior but is as yet undecided.
Like Wind, Cary has become far more than a three point threat this year developing into an all around scoring threat.
Bowling champ
Bemidji native Lance Kingbird won the Masters title at the 45th annual B.I.A. Bowling tournament at Aberdeen, S.D.
He took the title 199-178 over fellow Minnesotan Herb Snow after a 234-156 win over Deon Foorhorn of North Dakota in the semifinals.
