Area Male Athlete: C-I's Gindorff making presence known

Noah Gindorff

Year: Sophomore

School: Crosby-Ironton

Sport: Basketball

Position: Center

Highlights: Leads Rangers with 17.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per game

Noah Gindorff might be the most imposing sophomore the area has seen in awhile.

Standing a sturdy 6-foot-5, Gindorff has been the anchor of the Crosby-Ironton Rangers' defense, which is holding opposing teams to 47.4 points per game.

The two-year varsity player is doing it on both ends for the Rangers. Gindorff led the Rangers with 17 points in a 58-56 victory over Nevis Feb. 20 to help C-I finish the regular season at 19-7.

Gindorff tallied 14 points and 10 rebounds to help the Rangers to a 71-46 victory over Aitkin Feb. 17.

During a 56-22 North Subsection 8-2A quarterfinal win, Gindorff led the Rangers with 13 points.

"We were counting on Noah to have a good year and he's certainly delivered," said Rangers head coach Dave Galovich. "His confidence has continued to grow and I think that's a product of him being a three-sport athlete. He had varsity experience as a freshman in all three of his sports. He's become more and more comfortable in the varsity setting."

Gindorff isn't afraid to take over games, like he showed in an 81-73 loss to Staples-Motley Jan. 30. With senior post Daniel Hudrlik on the bench with foul trouble, Gindorff rattled off 30 points on 12-of-13 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds, seven blocked shots and three steals.

"I was getting frustrated because we weren't playing very well so I got a little angry," Gindorff said. "Daniel was in foul trouble and coach called a timeout and just told us in the huddle that we needed to step up. I knew I had to do more because Daniel was on the bench."

The tandem of Gindorff and Hudrlik, a 6-foot-3 senior forward, has been a dominating duo in the paint. Galovich said the two work very well together on both ends of the floor.

"A lot of time people will maybe concentrate a lot on Daniel and this year he's playing extremely unselfish - almost too unselfish," Galovich said. "But they each distribute the ball very well from the high and low post.

"Defensively it's an overall team concept that we have. It's about five people communicating and working together, but there is no doubt Noah is our anchor on defense. He's the one that shows his presence in the lane. The fact that he has the ability to jump straight up and block shots without fouling, that's been huge."

During the regular season, Gindorff led the Rangers with 17.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. The second-year varsity player is shooting 61 percent from the field, 74 percent from the line and 33 percent from 3-point.

"I worked on my outside shot, plus my free throws, too, last offseason," Gindorff said. "We just played in a lot of tournaments this summer and even just our sophomore team. We won the Minnesota Invitational tournament (MIT) championship this summer as sophomores. Then I would just go to the open gym. I got a lot of work in.

"Last year, I wasn't confident with my outside shot. But I've worked on it enough during the summer where I have the confidence now. Plus, coach said I could shoot them as long as I keep making them. It helps a lot because it forces defense to come out on me and then I can drive it to the hoop when they do that."

Gindorff is third on the Rangers with 49 steals (1.9 per game) and leads C-I with 88 blocked shots or 3.4 per game.

"He's a big reason why we're holding teams to 47.4 points per game," said Galovich. "Just his inside presence. You have to shoot over him and that's not easy."

Gindorff said his biggest improvement has been rebounding this season. He said he's just playing more aggressive this season and knew he had to be a good rebounder after the graduation of Riley Jacobs.

He added that he didn't set a lot of goals for himself this season except one big one.

"I wanted to make my 3s, but I really wanted to dunk in a game," he said. "I got one (Thursday night), but apparently I stepped out of bounds. It was off of a steal and I guess I stepped out of bounds before I went up."

Gindorff will hopefully have a few more games this season and two more years to check that off his to-do list.

Other notable performances:

Basketball: Andrew Israelson, Staples-Motley, scored 25 points against Pequot Lakes and 20 against Osakis.

Nathan Davies, Aitkin, finished with 31 points, eight assists and six rebounds against Hinckley-Finlayson.

Evan Edmundson, Crosby-Ironton, scored 23 points against Aitkin.

Lee Quick, Pillager, finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds against Henning.

Wrestling: Axel Lange, Little Falls, captured the 152-pound individual title in the Section 8-3A tournament.

Brandon Ortman, Kolton Eischens, Brett Kapsner and Austin Gall, Pierz, won individual titles in Section 7-1A tournament.

Dan Nordean and Noah Landrus, Aitkin, won individual titles in Section 7-1A tournament.

Eric Lisson and Alex Erpelding, Staples-Motley, won individual titles in Section 6-1A tournament.

Nick Gravdahl, Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus, won the 160-pound individual title in Section 8-2A tournament.

Anthony Kern, Holt Truax and Dillon Card, Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale, won individual titles in Section 6-1A tournament.

JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at 855-5856 or jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeremymillsop .