Eventful week
Miles apart, there’s a lot going on for the Wilbers
Last week was an eventful one for the family of a Heron Lake-Okabena-Lakefield graduate.
Each of the three sons of Lindsay (Voss) Wilber and her husband, Matt, play on the Hanson High School boys golf team that qualified for their state team tournament and two are advancing to the state tournament’s individual competition as well.
And while that was taking place, Matt, is an assistant coach with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury that has won three games and lost two to start its season with one of those wins coming over the two-time defending league champion on its home floor.
At the Region 4B tournament at Mitchell’s Lakeview Golf Course, Hanson had a total of 247 to win the team title. In South Dakota Class B golf, teams have four players compete with three included in the team total.
Twins A.J. and Ben qualified for the state tourney as individuals. A.J. finished second with a 74 and Ben was seventh with an 83. They are juniors.
Nathan, a sophomore, is also a member of the team. The state tournament will be held June 2-3 at Brookings Country Club.
Meanwhile, Matt joined the Phoenix Mercury this season as a member of new coach Nate Tibbetts staff.
Matt had been the head men’s basketball coach at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell for 11 seasons, compiling a record of 224-115. The Tigers made six appearances in NAIA national tournaments.
The two are longtime friends and are former co-owners of the Tibbetts Instructional Basketball School in Sioux Falls.
Another assistant coach on the Phoenix staff is former South Dakota State standout Megan Vogel, who is a native of St. Peter.
Apparently one of Matt’s duties during practice is to guard 6-foot-9 Brittney Griner, as detailed in this post by Ryan Deal of 605sports.com:
The eight-time WNBA All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist has not played this season due to a fractured toe.
Another mainstay in the Phoenix lineup is Diana Taurasi, the number one overall selection in the 2004 WNBA Draft.
Taurasi is a three-time WNBA champion, 10-time All-Star, five-time Olympic gold medalist and a six-time Euroleague champion. She was the WNBA MVP in 2009.
Taurasi has high praise for Tibbets and the Mercury coaching staff.
“Coach came in with a certain mindset and certain style of play,” Taurasi said to Shane Young of Forbes Sports. “You can only get to that point when you really teach the principles well and he’s been able to do that. There are certain things he wants from us, and we’ve responded well to it. Obviously, he wants to play fast and shoot a lot of threes. And to push the pace on both ends. I think he gives us a lot of energy.”
The Mercury played at the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces twice in its first three games.
After an 89-80 loss in Vegas in its opener, Phoenix won three in a row, beating Atlanta 88-85, Las Vegas 98-88 and Washington 83-80.
The Mercury did lose their most recent game, falling 107-92 at home to Dallas Saturday and is 3-2 on the season.
The Mercury will play three road games in four nights this week, concluding the trip in Minnesota.
Phoenix is at Connecticut Tuesday and New York Wednesday. Both of those games start at 6 p.m. Minnesota time and will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
The Mercury will be at Target Center to face the Minnesota Lynx at 8:30 p.m. Friday. That game will be televised on Ion.
Lindsay is the daughter of Tub and Amy Voss of Jackson.