PAYNESVILLE — Paynesville boys basketball head coach Rick Hendrickson introduced the term "Mudita" to his Bulldogs and it has helped define their successful season thus far.
Mudita derives from Pali and Sanskrit translation. And while it has no direct English translation, it can be defined as the unselfish joy of happiness of others .
"It is a teaching point for us," Hendrickson said. "It's something we speak quite frequently of just making sure — whether they're on the floor or on the bench — that they're taking a lot of joy in everybody else's success and all the hard work that they've put in and how they deserve to have that success."
Hendrickson came across the term when he attended a Central Minnesota Conference meeting in November at Paynesville. He adopted the term from Lake City boys basketball head coach Greg Berge.
Berge, whose Tigers rank No. 2 in Class AA with a 17-1 record, spoke at the meeting and made an emphasis on the use of Mudita within his program.
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The word of wisdom from Berge stuck with Hendrickson, so he quickly introduced the word into his program at Paynesville.
"I thought it was perfectly fitting for us because we have so many good players and are a deep team," Hendrickson said. "There's only so many minutes and shots to go around, I thought that word would be perfect for us because it means you're taking joy in other people's successes."
Paynesville's varsity roster is composed of all upperclassmen — six seniors and seven juniors — who bring a lot of experience. Alongside Athmann, the group includes but is not limited to: Blayke and Brayden Pung, Grayson Fuchs, Bryce VanderBeek, Gus Johnson and Eli Nelson.
Nelson, a senior guard, will miss the remainder of the season due to a non-contact injury he suffered in Paynesville's 62-41 win against New London-Spicer on Friday, Jan. 27. He tore his ACL and meniscus as well as an impact fracture to his femur.
"He'll attack recovery the same way he attacks everything in his life — with a ton of energy and focus," Hendrickson said. "I'm sure it's eating at him to be sitting on the sidelines and not on the court, but he'll be there for his teammates and I know they're going to be there for him."
With their deep roster and focus on Mudita, the Bulldogs' unselfish play has led them to a 15-4 record this season, including a 7-1 record in the Central Minnesota Conference, and a No. 18 rank in Class AA.
"I think (Mudita) has really brought out the best of us this year," Paynesville senior guard Max Athmann said. "It has showed us that it doesn't matter who's scoring as long as we're playing well and giving praise to other (teammates) who are playing well."
Since the new year, Paynesville is 10-2. The Bulldogs are finding their stride down the stretch and are currently riding a seven-game winning streak.
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Over their winning streak, the Bulldogs' defense has been getting the job done. No opponent has scored more than 50 points and Paynesville is averaging 70.6 points per game.
"We shoot a lot of 3-pointers and it's came down to our defense. We've been playing really well defensively,' Athmann said. "That's been a key factor to our success."
Hendrickson and Co. put emphasis on their defense entering the season. In the past, Paynesville had been getting out-rebounded and out-worked defensively, according to Athmann.
The Bulldogs wanted to get better defensively and their work ethic toward that goal is showing up.
"We've been playing well lately. It's all credit to our defense and our rebounding. We've been playing really hard on both ends of the floor," Hendrickson said. "Once you play hard in one area, it translates over to the other areas.
"When everybody sees one guy who's willing to dive for a loose ball, it's contagious."
Paynesville boys basketball has never made the state tournament, but this veteran Bulldogs group has an opportunity to re-write history.
The Bulldogs are second in Section 3AA-North at 5-2. Only three teams in Section 3AA have QRF values over 80 points. West Central (4-0, 15-4) leads at 85.0 and Paynesville and Eden Valley-Watkins tie at 83.3.
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"I think this year we're very capable of going on a run and making it to that state tournament and that's our goal," Athmann said. "We just got to make sure we're playing our best basketball at the end of the season when it really matters."
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