Coming on strong

Ryan Rausch’s walk back to the bench after a halftime locker room chat with his New Hampton boys basketball team was a slow one on Monday night.
Not that he needed to hurry his gait, but the season opener versus Turkey Valley had provided its challenges in the first half for the Chickasaws.
While there was no anger or frustration readily apparent from Rausch’s face as he strolled back onto the court, there was a tinge of concern emanating from his general demeanor.
It didn’t take long for that expression to be all smiles in game No. 1 of the 2020-2021 New Hampton hoops season.
“We just needed to get out there and make some things happen,” said Rausch.
New Hampton exploded and came on like gangbusters in the second half to lay the hammer down against the visiting Trojans, rolling to a come-from-behind 54-44 victory that wasn’t even that close.
Whatever was said at halftime by Rausch sure seemed to work.
“They played okay and we really didn’t and we’re only down two. My charge to them at half was to crank up the pressure and be able to do it without fouling. We did a better job of changing their pace. We didn’t let them catch it and shoot it,” said Rausch. 
— For more on this story, see the Dec. 8 Tribune