Seniors Andrew Hempeck and Cody Klassen members of winning Red Rock team
Sixty basketball players from the Red Rock Conference and the Tomahwak Conference participated in the Tim Orth Foundation Jamboree basketball game, held in the Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop Public School in Fairfax on Friday, March 28.
The All-Jamboree teams consist of only senior athletes from the conferences. The boys and girls basketball games are held in conjunction with the Tim Orth Memorial Foundation’s annual event. This year, Mountain Lake Public High School senior Andrew Hempeck and Mountain Lake Christian senior Cody Klassen, participated in the event, representing the Mountain Lake Area Wolverines boys basketball team – as well as the Red Rock Conference.
The Red Rock Conference boys team – coached by Shawn Naas from Mountain Lake Area and Derrick Jenniges of the Westbrook/Walnut Grove Chargers – topped the Tomahawk Conference by 20 points, winning 73 to 53.
In addition to Hempeck and Klassen, the Red Rock boys team consisted of Cole Dierks and Josh Ramerth of Fulda; Dylan Gehrke of Hills/Beaver Creek; Clayton Huisken and Nate Pfeifle of Southwest Minnesota Christian-Edgerton; Johnathon Kramer, Drew Cheskie and Mitchell Leuthold of Ellsworth; Zach Ostman of Murray County Central; Nick Reyne of Adrian; Alex Knutson and Shane Buchman of Westbrook/Walnut Grove and Austin Mertens of Edgerton Public.
Playing for the Tomahwak boys were Micah Schwecke and Alex Howe of Gibbon/Fairfax/Winthrop; Cooper Scheffler and Nick Runck of Springfield; Juan Montemayor of Sleepy Eye Public; Brady Kerkhoff of Cedar Mountain/Comfrey; John Brandl of Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s; Chad Lease, Nate Wong, Nick Dewanz and DeAndre Parker of Minnesota Valley Lutheran-New Ulm and Neil Eichten, Matt Zeug and Tanner Bock of Wabasso. Dave Blank of Wabasso and Rob Brandl of Cedar Mountain/Comfrey, were the coaches.
Red Rock Conference girls team players included Myah Holinka, Melissa Gehl and Dani Hermeling of Fulda; Shelly Loosbrock and Bailey Grussing of Adrian; Taylor Wingert and Megan Westrum of Hills/Beaver Creek; Macey Zeinstra of Southwest Minnesota Christian-Edgerton; Dayna Comnick of Westbrook/Walnut Grove and Melanie Kedl of Red Rock Central. Coaching the Red Rock girls was Denise Nerem of Southwest Minnesota Christian-Edgerton.
Representing Tomahwak Conference girls teams were Karlee Pfaff, Kristin Mohr and Linsday Simon of New Ulm Cathedral; Chelsey Guetter, Erin Liebl and Karlee Eichten of Wabasso; Jamie Marti of Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s; McKenzie Elder, Korinne Schuette and Alexis Jensen of Gibbon/Fairfax/Winthrop; Charlotte Pfingsten and Alexa Alfred of Minnesota Valley Lutheran-New Ulm; Karliana Kelly and Beth Schumacher of Cedar Mountain/Comfrey and Therese Roiger of Springfield. Ryan Jacobson of Gibbon/Fairfax/Winthrop and Neil Dolan of Wabasso coached the Tomahawk girls.
The profits from the this event are given to individuals with major medical expenses that have been chosen by the Tim Orth Foundation. This year’s recipients are Valoree Stevenson, daughter of Keith an Karolyn Stevenson of Lakefield, Konnor Mathiowetz, son of Kris and Sarah Mathiowetz of New Ulm and Ethan Alfred, son of Dean and Kathy Alfred of New Ulm.
A number of special events were held during the games this year. A 3-point shooting contest for the boys and girls was held – with Hempeck winning the boys competition – and a number of professional team mascots were on hand, including Crunch from the Timberwolves, TC from the Twins, Goldie from the Minnesota Gophers, Prowl from the Minnesota Lynx, the Bear from the Utah Jazz and Blaze from the Portland Trail Blazers. Also returning were the Alexander Acers, a young group of ball handlers from the Alexandria (Minnesota) Area who performed their basketball skills. The Southwest Concept School’s Flag Squad also performed, as well as the Budweiser Dare Devils.
The mission of the Tim Orth Memorial Foundation is to assist, financially or otherwise, children in the West Central Minnesota area who are facing substantial medical expenses incurred as a result of a serious accident or illness Volunteers invest countless hours organizing, soliciting and conducting the event. Because of this, were are no administrative costs – which ensures that 100% of the proceeds are used to help the selected recipients.
Tim Orth, the Foundation’s namesake, was a BOLD (Bird Island/Olivia/Lake Lillian/Danube) high school student and athlete when he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Tim is remembered for his courageous fight against the cancer that claimed his life on February 14, 1997.
Following are some photographs from the evening’s “Jam the Gym” activities, snapped by Kim Naas: