Lady Knights and Knights lose doubleheader against Fighting Saints

The Knights’ Aiden Wichmann drew the attention of five KMS players as he put up a shot in the lane Friday evening.

By Jim Kopel
Tribute Sports

It was one ugly night for the RTR basketball teams as the KMS Fighting Saints came away with both wins. The scores were 55-42 for the first game and 58-39 for the second encounter, the boys game. There was a nice crowd at Tyler as both teams were involved also in a fundraiser for cancer. For RTR fans that was the one positive the whole evening.
The RTR girls kept the game close early. Both teams were cold from the floor. The score at the half­way point of the first half was 10 to 9 for the Saints…
The RTR boys probably had the worst shooting night I have ever seen by any Tyler, RT or RTR team in the 50-plus years I have witnessed basketball. Good shots were available the whole evening, but very few of these shots found the bottom of the net.
Meanwhile, the KMS boys were getting the same good shots and find­ing points on the RTR floor. Hayden Gravley of the Knights would hit a bucket early to tie the game at two. That was the only time the Knight fans saw their team in a tie game or a lead. With nine minutes left in the first half, the score was 20 to 6 for the visitors….

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

Kalleigh Carr puts up a shot over a KMS player during Friday evening’s loss to the Saints.

Knights drop conference tilt

By Jim Kopel
Tribute Sports

The Dawson-Boyd Blackjacks took over the RTR gym last Monday and went home with a solid 65-47 win over the Knight boys. The Jacks used their quickness and experience to overwhelm the young Knights. Two Blackjack seniors, Zach Durfee and Romell Horton, scored 22 and 21 points, respec­tively, to almost outscore the entire Knight scoring output.
The Knights could find only five players score points the entire night. Three of them were in double-digit scoring as Aiden Wichmann, Hayden Gravely and Payton Hess had 15, 12 and 10 points, respectively. Corbyn Sitz­mann added eight points.

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

Lady Knights fall to LqPV

By Jim Kopel
Tribute Sports

The RTR girls traveled to LqPV last Thursday to battle the Eagles in Camden Conference action. The Lady Knights scored the first 13 points in the game, playing some of their best ball of the year. However, the Eagles would recover by scoring the next 11 points to trail by only two.
A bucket by Allie Chris­tianson saw the Lady Knights with a 16 to 13 ad­vantage at the nine-minute mark of the first half. Kal­leigh Carr would drain a 3-pointer to give the visiting Knights a seven-point lead when the score was now 25-18. There were six min­utes remaining in the half.

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

RTR Middle School boys continue winning ways

By Jim Kopel
Tribute Sports

The Canby Lancers trav­eled to Russell last Thurs­day to battle the RTR Mid­dle School teams in some roundball action. The boys of RTR, both the seventh and eighth graders, saw fit to take home the honors of winning both games. The scores of the games were 41-16 and 36-28, respec­tively.
The seventh grade of RTR led at halftime by a score of 16 to 8…

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

Skol Vikings!

Students at RTR Elementary School showed their colors last week, dressed in Minnesota Vikings purple and gold before the Vikings’ divisional playoff game against San Francisco.

KC free throw shooting crowns nine champions

Pictured are free throw champions from last week. From left to right in front are Gavin Schreurs, Makayla Hesse, Lincoln Schreurs and Lane Wichmann; in back are Cassie Reese, Laken Baartman, Blake Christianson, Morgan Tommeraasen and Levi Tommeraasen.

By Jim Kopel
Tribute Sports

The annual council level of the Knights of Columbus free throw championships was held last Friday in Ty­ler. There were only 23 par­ticipants this year, down al­most 50% from last year.
Lincoln Schreurs won the division for the 9-year-old boys by making three free throws. All contestants shot 15 free throws at the council level of shooting. There were no other boys shooting. There were also no girls in this age group.

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

Girls fall to SWC

Kalleigh Carr puts up a shot over an SWC defender.

By Mark Wilmes
tributeeditor@gmail.com

The RTR Knights girls gave Southwest Christian all they could handle on Thursday evening in Ty­ler. The Knights trailed by two at the half, 32-30 and stayed within striking dis­tance throughout before bowing by seven, 72-65.
Kalleigh Carr had a big night for RTR, leading the team in scoring (21 points), rebounds (10), steals (6) and assists (4)…

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

RTR gymnists compete at Marshall

Coach Steph Ekema with daughter Katie.

The first-year RTR gymnastics team competed Saturday at the Marshall Invitational. Team scores were 1. Willmar – 136.700, 2. New Ulm -134.875, 3. Redwood Valley – 134.625, 4. Benson/KMS – 134.300, 5. Marshall – 126.950, 6. Windom/MLA – 123.275, 7. Pipestone – 122.925 and 8. RTR – 110.200. No individual scores were available when the Tribute went to press.

For more photos, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

Jacie Jorgensen

Knights fall to Lakers 79-55 in conference play in Cottonwood

Logan Lamote puts up a shot in the lane during last week’s matchup with Southwest Minnesota Christian.

By Jim Kopel
Tribute Sports

The RTR boys traveled to Cottonwood last Thursday to start the 2020 part of their basketball schedule. The Lakeview Lakers were not that great of hosts as they would use their ex­perience and size to over­whelm the Knights.
The Knights actually started the game on the right foot as Darrick Baart­man hit a free throw to give the visiting Knights a lead of 1-0. The Lakers would then score the next eight points to grab a lead they never saw fall below four points.

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

Knights fall short against Springfield

By Mark Wilmes
tributeeditor@gmail.com

The RTR Knights girls’ team held their own against a tough Springfield Tiger team last week at Southwest Minnesota State University. The girls kept it close until the end, fall­ing by seven points, 63-56. RTR held the lead several times in a back-and-fourth first half, with Springfield taking a five-point lead into the intermission. The Knights held a one-point lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the game, but Tigers stemmed the Knights’ momentum and pulled away for the victory.
Shawna Thomsen and McKinley Schreurs led RTR in scoring, with 13 and 11 points, respectively…

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.