Coach's philosophy to play for 36 minutes

With five minutes left in the game, Blooming Prairie was up by 20 and sending in the substitutes for some varsity playing time. The Medford Tigers, on the other hand, were still trying to win. With a full-court press, and their best shooting in the night, the Tigers managed to pull the game within eight points with over a minute left. Blooming Prairie was forced to send their varsity back in to stop the improbable comeback. The varsity managed to maintain the eight-point lead, securing the 67-59 victory, but the Medford boys were the ones smiling and patting each other on the backs. 
“One of the main goals of this season is playing 36 minutes of basketball and not stopping,” said Tigers Coach Rich Powers.
While some fans stated their disapproval of Powers’ style of coaching so late in a game, Powers stood behind his decision to keep playing hard to the final buzzer.
“The philosophy of playing the game for 36 minutes and fighting and making that statement - that’s big for us,” said Powers. “I don’t think we’ve done that at Medford in the past.”
Unfortunately for the Tigers, three seniors sat on the bench Tuesday night. One of those players, Luke Peterson, was instrumental in the Tigers previous game against Maple River, scoring about half of the team’s points. Nick Olson was out with a high ankle sprain and Ben Borash sat due to a concussion. 
“I’m proud of them,” said Powers. “We didn’t give up. We played to the end.”
With Peterson gone, Wyatt Volkmann stepped up for the Tigers, scoring 29 of Medford’s 59 points. 
“He’s had a couple of game’s where he’s gone off,” said Powers. “He’s capable; that’s for sure. I’m sure he felt the burden more tonight since we were short-handed.”
Powers admitted that despite the lack of starters, he would still like to see the team improve on rebounding. 
Sitting 0-9 in the conference and 4-14 overall after a loss to New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva at home, the Tigers are still playing hard and keeping their heads held high.
This week Medford will host both United South Central and Triton. The Tigers suffered a 70-49 loss earlier this season to USC. They have not yet faced Triton. Both the Tuesday, Feb. 3, and Thursday, Feb. 5, games will begin at 7:15 p.m.