The Andale Indians have been off to a hot start this season winning 6 of their 7 games (6-1). The Indians success has came from lots of teamwork and leader Austin Baalmann. The 6 foot 3 junior has been having an incredible season, having a career high of 24 against Haven and 19 in a big win over Collegiate.
The junior has started off the season averaging 15 points per game and has developed into a key player for the Indians. When asked about where his success came from he said ¨I worked on basketball everyday during the summer and fall getting ready for the season. Id be at the YMCA 3 times a week shooting and playing pick up games during summer¨. The Indians had a tough weekend placing 2nd in the Rupp Tournament after losing to Cheney in OT.
When asked what its like to be around Austin,¨He’s fun to be around and works super hard,¨ said teammate Bo Kaiser. Baalmann and the Indians have been playing their best ball these past few weeks, When asked about what he thinks the team can accomplish he said ¨I think we have a shot to win the state title, if we play like we know we can we will very hard to beat¨. When asked about his role from last year compared to his role this year he said ¨I’ve became one of the guys people rely on to score, last year I was just a sub for Wyatt or Tegan if they needed a break, I’ve improved a lot since last year¨.
Austin sounds like him and his team can go very far this year and are hoping to make it to the State Tournament. The Tournament will be held at Tony’s Pizza Event Center in Salina, KS on March 7th through the 9th. We encourage the whole town of Andale and the surrounding communities to come support our men as they push towards their first ever state title.
