As the basketball season enters February and the beginning of the playoffs, Cannon Falls is set for a promising end of the season. Although the Bombers have been far from perfect recently, they rebounded with a blowout win against Randolph, and Coach Davisson is extremely proud of how the team has played this season.
Although the Bombers lost 3 games in a row: Zumbrota 90-88 in overtime, to Goodhue 81-69, and to Stewartville 77-73 in January, Coach Davisson had high praise for how the team had played against some of the top teams in the state. Davisson explained that against Zumbrota, it is difficult to guard them due to their having multiple players standing over six feet five, some of whom can hit from deep. About Goodhue, Davisson stated that he was happy with how the team played overall against the one-seeded team in our section, although he expressed that their defense needed to be better if they hope to beat teams like Goodhue.
The Bombers’ offense has been exceptionally good this year, but through the losing streak, it seemed slightly dormant. After the Stewartville loss, Coach Davisson explained that he has confidence in their offense but that “defense will carry you from night to night.” Furthermore, he said that the team’s rebounding needs some slight improvement, along with defense, when asked about what improvements were needed to go into the playoffs.
These changes were obvious in the Alumni Night Battle of Byllesby between Cannon Falls and Randolph in which the Bombers were dominant and carried themselves to a 90-56 win over the Rockets to forcefully snap the losing streak.
When asked about his seniors this year, Coach Davisson had nothing but praise for them and attributed much of the team’s success to them. He especially expressed gratitude for how the team has retained players from this year’s class and the addition of team manager Andrew McGeough, saying, “they have just been great to be around.”
Entering the final stretch of the season, the Bombers are ranked fourth in Section 1AA by the Minnesota State High School League. The Bombers have critical games this month if they want to move up in the section rankings: Zumbrota-Mazeppa at home on February 6th, in Lake City on February 12th, and at home against Caledonia on February 20th in the last game of the season. Cannon Falls has never made it to the Boys State Basketball Tournament, but this could be their year.