John’s Journal: Special Moments Make For Special Tournaments

 

There are always lots of special moments and scenes when state championships are decided. Athletes hit big shots when it matters most. Winners raise their trophies high as fans cheer loudly, then pose for photos with that treasured piece of hardware.

And then there are quieter moments that can be just as special and even more meaningful. During the postgame ceremony after Russell-Tyler-Ruthton defeated New Life Academy 59-49 in Saturday’s Class 1A boys basketball title game at Target Center, we saw moments like that.

New Life had been in a big hole for most of the game, trailing for the full 36 minutes. The RTR Knights led by 18 points at halftime before the Eagles went on a 10-0 run to cut the margin to three points with 7:28 left in the second half. RTR led 52-49 with 4:42 left and the Knights (31-1) finished the game with a 7-0 run.

The players from New Life (26-6), which is in Woodbury, were of course crushed with the outcome. Coming so close to your goal and your dream but falling just short? Come on, that’s a tough deal.

As the teams lined up on their respective free throw lines for the awards ceremony, second-year New Life coach Robbie Whitney took a step or two forward, looked at his players standing in a line, smiled, said a few words, clapped his hands a couple times and stepped back into line.

The Eagles then individually received their silver medals, hanging on red ribbons. Then the Knights leaned their heads down as gold medals on blue ribbons were placed around their necks. Both teams posed with their trophies as their fans cheered and applauded.

In the postgame interview session, Whitney was asked what he said to the players in that moment.

He grinned again and said, “I told them to smile and keep their heads up. You know, it's never fun ending the season on a loss but man, taking second place at state? This is something that these guys are going to remember for the rest of their lives.”

He was sitting at a table with three of the team’s nine seniors: Gavin Bertram, Maxwell Briggs and Erick Reader. Whitney was the only one of the four at the table who was still wearing his medal. On the wall in the media room, silent TVs were replaying highlights from the game via the KSTC-TV broadcast.

As he talked about what the Eagles had accomplished, Whitney leaned forward and looked down the table to the three players sitting to his left and spoke directly to them.

“You don't get to state championships every year,” he said. “You don't get to play in these games very much. So just the ability to soak it all in, I just wanted them to remember that. You guys have done something special this year that no one in our school has done before. And even though we're 10 points short, whatever it was, I want you guys to soak it in.”

There was another moment, this one happening immediately after the postgame ceremony ended. Whitney, wearing that never-ending smile, walked toward the RTR fans who were sitting behind the New Life bench. He said a few words, gave them a wave, and the folks in the stands smiled, waved back and applauded.

What was that all about?

“I told them they made me a little upset because they're pretty loud,” said Whitney, still smiling (of course). “They're good at what they're doing. Every time there was a timeout, they started screaming a little bit louder when I started talking. So I just wanted to give them props. You can tell that team means a lot to that community. That’s special to see, especially to play teams like that when you get here. All the towns coming together and they're screaming, I love it. That's what high school basketball is about.”

(You can read more about Whitney here: https://www.mshsl.org/about/news/johns-journal/johns-journal-new-kid-block-vs-seasoned-veterans )

The quote of the day came from New Life’s Reader, who said, “You just can't give up. You can never give up. It doesn't matter, the score or the time, you can never give up.”

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton is no stranger to state championships. The 2023 title is their fourth, the others coming in 2004, 2005 and 2018. The Knights’ only loss came against Dawson-Boyd in the last game of the regular season, but they defeated the Blackjacks in the Section 3 title game. They finished sixth at state last year.

“I thought we had the capability to at least return here and then once you get here, you know, there’s a chip, a chair and a chance and you go out and just play hard. And we've done that all year,” said RTR coach Daren Gravley.

A year ago, New Life finished third at state. The Eagles also played at state in 2003 and 2004.

Albany Wins First Class 2A Crown

The Albany Huskies made history by winning their first state championship, defeating Minnehaha Academy 72-65 for the Class 2A title. The Huskies (31-1) previously played at state in 1971, 1981, 1997 and 2015.

The Huskies’ only loss this season was against Holy Family, the team that Minnehaha Academy (23-9) beat in overtime in Friday’s semifinals.

Minnehaha made its 11^th appearance at state. The Redhawks were champions in 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.

Honoring Officials

Eight longtime MSHSL officials were honored at halftime of the Class 1A championship game with Distinguished Service Awards. The honorees were: Jim Christensen of Northfield, Rick DeGardnerof Vadnais Heights, Duane Hoecherl of Bloomington, Wes Knutson of Crookston, Barry Langen of Kennedy, Tom Madura of Apple Valley, Pete Vrieze of New Richmond, Wis., and Frank White, of Woodbury. Read about them here: https://www.mshsl.org/about/news/awards/2023-officials-distinguished-service-award

Celebrating Chisholm History

Members of Chisholm High School’s 1973 Class A state championship team held  a 50-year reunion at the state tournament. That team won the first of the Bluestreaks’ three state titles under legendary coach Bob McDonald; the others were in 1975 and 1991.

75 Years Of State Tournament Radio

This year’s boys basketball tournament marks a broadcasting milestone that’s unmatched in Minnesota. KDHL Radio 920 AM in Faribault is providing its 75th year of baseline-to-baseline coverage.

The Mighty 920 went on the air in 1948. During the one-class era, KDHL broadcast all tournament games. In recent years, 16 total games have been broadcast each year, including all semifinal and championship games in each class.

Gordy Kosfeld has been part of the tournament broadcast team since 1988 and he has been joined by Roy Koenigsberg in recent years. Other legendary broadcasters of state tournament games on KDHL include Tom Bachrach, Tom Hartman, Steve Skogen, Gordy Hinck and Mike Morrissey. 

Congratulations to everyone at KDHL.

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org  

John’s Journal: The New Kid On The Block Vs. The Seasoned Veterans

 

It would be easy to forgive New Life Academy boys basketball coach Robbie Whitney if he felt just a little bit intimidated when he looked at the coaching staff from Spring Grove before Friday’s Class 1A state semifinals at Target Center.

Spring Grove is led by giants in the profession. Wade Grinde has coached in 732 games as a head coach, with a career record of 539-193. Assistant coach Tim Vix spent 33 years (and 913 games) as head coach at Rushford-Peterson before stepping away from that job in 2018.

Vix’s career record as a head coach was 684-229 and he took 16 teams to state tournaments (the only boys coach with more appearances is Ken Novak Jr. of Hopkins with 18). Rushford-Peterson won state championships in 1989, 2015 and 2017. Vix was inducted into the Minnesota High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2008.

So between Grinde and Vix, they have been involved in 1,645 games as head coaches.

And then there’s Whitney. Saturday’s game was his 64^th as a head coach. He took the Eagles to state last year as a rookie head coach and will carry a career record of 55-9 into Saturday’s state championship against Russell-Tyler-Ruthton.

New Life defeated Spring Grove 51-35 Saturday, and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton held off Cherry 61-57. RTR is the No. 1 seed in the 1A field and New Life is No. 2.

New Life is one of the tallest teams in the tournament, with starters standing 6-8, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 and 6-0. The Eagles had 20 more rebounds (41-21) than Spring Grove, which is at state for the first time since 2019.

Whitney would never argue that he outcoached the legends from Spring Grove, because he has nothing but respect and admiration for the Lions leaders.

“It’s not necessarily intimidating, because I'm pretty confident in myself as a coach, but I respect Wade so much,” he said. “I met him this summer at a Breakdown event in Hayfield. We drew Spring Grove in the first game and they just smoked us because it was summer and I did no research.

“I respect what Coach Grinde does over there and between him and Coach Vix, I mean, that's who you aspire to be as a high school coach.”

Whitney graduated from St. Francis High School in 2016 and played basketball at Bethel University in St. Paul. He didn’t grow up wanting to be a coach.

When he was a senior in high school, his father, Mike, said to him, “I could see you being a coach.” Robbie wanted no part of that.

“I said, ‘I'll never be a basketball coach. It’s too stressful.’

“And then I got to Bethel and I was always kind of in that seven-eight-nine (off the bench) range in my sophomore, junior and senior years. And so I would play every position at practice and always be ready to go. Sometimes I would get in the games and sometimes I wouldn't. But I realized that my biggest asset to that team at Bethel was helping the guys on the court see what I was seeing and in the right way.

“I think I realized that I love coaching, I love helping guys, I love connecting. And then I always had a passion for mentorship, so I knew I wanted to come back and mentor high school and middle school kids. My heart goes out to those ages, because I remember how it's such a pivotal time. It's crucial.”

Asked to describe the coach, New Life’s Erick Reader, a 6-8 senior who had 11 points and 15 rebounds against Spring Grove, said, “He’s Robbie to us. Officially he’s Coach Whitney, I guess, but we also think of him as a friend.”

Last season, the Eagles finished third in the state tournament with a record of 28-4.  New Life won eight games in each of the three years prior to his arrival.

“We talk to him outside of basketball, too,” said senior Tyler Huebsch. “He’s not just a coach, he’s a friend.”

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton’s Daren Gravley is also in his second year as a head coach; his career record is 49-7. The Knights are at state for the second year in a row; they finished sixth in Class 1A a year ago.

If there’s a team that wished it had made it to state, it’s Dawson-Boyd. The Blackjacks defeated both Russell-Tyler-Ruthton and Spring Grove during the regular season. They beat Spring Grove (the Lions’ only loss prior to state) in late December. Dawson-Boyd defeated RTR in the final game of the regular season, but the Knights flipped the script by defeating the Blackjacks in the Section 3 title game.

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org 

 

John’s Journal: Small-Town Backgrounds, Big-Time Basketball

 

There was quite the coaching contrast during the second Class 3A boys basketball state semifinal Thursday afternoon at Target Center. Orono’s Barry Wohler is in his 25^th year as a head coach and DeLaSalle’s Todd Anderson is in his first season after a quarter-century as an Islanders assistant.

But they have something important in common. They both hail from small towns in rural Minnesota.

Wohler was a multi-sport star in high school, leading Bird Island-Lake Lillian to back-to-back state titles in football and basketball between 1979 and 1981. He played basketball and baseball at the University of Minnesota and reached Triple-A baseball in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.

Anderson grew up in Audubon, Minnesota, and played college basketball at Minnesota Morris. He and Wohler are well-acquainted through their lengthy coaching careers.

“I know Barry very well,” Anderson said after DeLaSalle defeated Orono 67-61. “He’s a great coach and a great guy. And I go way back, I’ve been around for a while.”

DeLaSalle will face Totino-Grace in Saturday’s 3A championship game at 5 p.m. at Target Center. The Eagles beat Alexandria 70-59 Thursday. Last season, Totino-Grace defeated DeLaSalle 50-44 in the state championship game.

If there was a postgame theme to the 3A semifinals, it centered around teammates and families.

Alexandria coach Forrest Witt had a son and a nephew on the court. His son Mason is a ninth-grade point guard who played 24 minutes, and his nephew Talan Witt is a sophomore who played 11 minutes. To see a freshman point guard handling the ball in such a high-pressure environment is rare at the 3A level.

“We have multiple guys that are capable of bringing the ball up,” the coach said. “I thought we did a very good job in the full court against their pressure defense. I think for all of our guys in this situation, it's just about composure, being confident in what you're doing and dictating the pace. I think a lot of that, with Mason and all of our point guards, was just resetting the confidence button and knowing, ‘I can get this. I can handle this.’ ”

Wohler was joined at the postgame media session by seniors Isaiah Hagen and Grant Gunderson. Hagen scored 23 points against DeLaSalle and Gunderson had eight points and five rebounds.

“Isaiah came here as a sophomore,” Wohler said. “And Grant was at my basketball camp as a kindergartener and he was there through the last day of camp this summer as a senior. I think that's the toughest part in coaching these guys; it's hard to see them go. We have eight seniors and four to five played most of the year. We’re going to miss them but on Saturday (in the third-place game vs. Alexandria) we're going to play more guys and go deeper with seniors. I know they'll compete.”

Orono was 21-8 last year, losing a one-point game to Mound-Westonka in the Section 6 championship game. Getting to the state semifinals as seniors was special.

“It never gets old,” Wohler said. “I told the coaches that I've wished every player I've coached could experience the elation of winning a section title and seeing a dream come true. These guys were so close (to state) last year, and this is a feeling nobody can take away. There's only one feeling better, but we came knocking on the door. As a coach, it's seeing the players experience that. You forget about games and things but it’s the camaraderie.”

Players also spoke about their close ties with their teammates and coaches, which is always part of a successful team.

“In my sophomore year I came here and they welcomed me with open arms, they’ve treated me like family since day one,” said Orono’s Hagen. “I’ve built lifelong relationships with these guys. I wouldn't wanted to have done it any other way. I'm just blessed.”

Gunderson, the kindergarten-through-12^th-grade Spartan, said this season has been “a dream come true, for sure. I’ve played with some of these guys since kindergarten, first grade. I'm just so happy in my senior year to at least get here and experience this.”

DeLaSalle senior Isreal Moses V, a senior who scored 10 points while missing much of the game due to injury, looked at Anderson and said, “He also is preparing us for life. He makes sure that every player matters. He's always checking in. He's always making sure that we're good.”

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org  

John’s Journal: 102 Years Later, Border West Makes Basketball History

 

After the boys basketball team from Border West qualified for this week’s Class 1A state tournament by winning the Section 6 title, no effort was made to celebrate with any players who were part of the last team from their communities to play at state.

Border West is a cooperative team that draws students from three schools near the South Dakota border: Wheaton, Herman-Norcross and Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley. The only appearances at state for any of those schools was Wheaton in 1919, 1920 and 1921.

So, no, it’s a little tough to contact athletes from 102 years ago.

The Border West Buccaneers have had an outstanding season. They came to state with a 26-2 record and 23-game winning streak, which ended in a 68-55 loss to Cherry in the 1A quarterfinals Wednesday at Williams Arena. Several other sports have had teams playing as Wheaton/Herman-Norcross, and boys basketball became a three-school coop this season when Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley joined in.

In wrestling, the three schools have been in a coop for years, qualifying for the state team tournament in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Last fall, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross advanced to the Nine-Man football state semifinals before suffering their first loss of the season to eventual state champion Mountain Iron-Buhl.

“We had a really nice season last year and we were hoping to continue with that this year, and then we had the coop and we knew we got some extra guys,” said Border West basketball coach Jordon Roos. “So we had high expectations, but we had never seen a team (get to state) from our areas. Give these guys a lot of credit, they came into the season with high expectations and they really lived up to them because it doesn't always happen that way.”

Border West “went through the wringer” to get to state, Roos said.

“Our section is really tough and we played some really good teams. Henning was a state champion (in 2019), B-B-E (Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa) took second last year, KMS (Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg) is a great team.”

The Buccaneers beat those teams and Brandon-Evansville in the section tournament. Prior to Wednesday, they had not lost since back-to-back defeats against Sauk Centre and Perham over the holidays.

They appeared to be in a good position for most of the game against Cherry, which is at state for the second year in a row. Cherry junior Isaac Asuma, who has made a verbal commitment to play at the University of Minnesota, was in foul trouble for much of Wednesday’s game.

Isaac went to the bench with six points and three fouls with 7:40 left in the first half. Clapping along while the Cherry fans chanted “defense!,” he remained on the bench for the remainder of the first half as Gophers head coach Ben Johnson and assistants Dave Thorson, Jason Kemp and Marcus Jenkins watched from courtside seats.

With 12:26 left in the second half he drew his fourth foul and returned to the bench with nine points, six rebounds and five assists as Cherry led 43-39. He returned with 5:10 left and assisted on a three-pointer by Carson Brown that gave the Tigers a 55-50 lead.

Cherry went into a delay offense at that point, finally taking a shot when Asuma put in a layup with 3:35 left, making it 57-50. Noah Sundquist was fouled while scoring with 3:07 on the clock. He made the foul shot for a 60-51 margin and every basket for Cherry after that was a layup.

Sundquist rode to the rescue, finishing with 30 points while playing all 36 minutes. Asuma played 21 minutes and had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Asuma had been in similar foul trouble only once during the season, in an 86-75 loss to Minnehaha Academy on Dec. 17. In that game, Sundquist scored 29 points, Tigers coach Jordan Christenson said.

“He's been doing this all year, so it was nice to see it on a bigger stage,” Christianson said.

“We had guys in foul trouble. Like I told them after the game, the thing I like about them is they always stay composed. Our big gun is on the bench with foul trouble and everyone was able to calm the storm, stay ready, stay composed and trust our preparation that we’ve had all year. It worked out for us.”

Border West was led by Clint Determan with 19 points and Dylan Bainbridge with 12.

Cherry will play Russell-Tyler-Ruthton in Friday’s semifinals at Target Center. The Knights defeated Nevis 80-62. In the other Class A quarterfinals, New Life Academy defeated Sacred Heart 62-46 and Spring Grove met Mankato Loyola.

 A Five-Day Tournament?

The Timberwolves had a home game Wednesday night, making Target Center unavailable for high school games that day and causing the tournaments to be held over five days instead of the usual four. The largest impact is on the Class 2A quarterfinal winners. Those games were played Tuesday, with the semifinals Thursday and championship game Saturday.

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org 

 

John’s Journal: The Curse Is Gone As MIB Wins A Championship

 

Nobody was saying the girls basketball team from Mountain Iron-Buhl was carrying a jinx, but the Rangers’ history at the state tournament sure could have made you think.

Year after year, the Rangers followed a pattern: Great regular season, whip through the Section 7 playoffs, head down from the Iron Range to the Twin Cities for the state tournament … and come up short of a title.

They came to state in 2011 for the first time since 1994. They were the Class 1A runner-up in 2012. They returned in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and were runner-up again in 2017. Another appearance came in 2018, then 2019, 2021 and 2022.

The Rangers were proud of their matched pair of second-place medals, but nobody wants to keep going to the well and seeing someone else pull up gold.

Maybe the 13^th consecutive trip was the magic number. Because they climbed the final mountain on Saturday, defeating BOLD 52-21 at Williams Arena to finally, finally, finally have gold medals on blue ribbons placed around their championship necks.

The team’s star and scoring leader, junior Jordan Zubich, summed everything up nicely afterwards, saying, “We’ve been down here so long. I said when we were in the lines getting our medals, ‘Holy crap, guys, we just broke the streak! We broke the MIB curse!’ It's crazy.”

Crazy? There is for sure some craziness to the story. But their championship is definitely a testament to hard work, dedication, community support and a coach who has been leading the way for a quarter of a century.

That coach, Jeff Buffetta, has a file on his computer that contains the names of every team member who has played at state. That’s 13 years of names, 13 years of kids, and he said he doesn’t remember the exact number off the top of his head, but all those players – some who have been out of high school for a dozen years – were on his mind Saturday.

“I’m very proud of the success of our program,” he said. “I think back over the last 13 years and our trips here and all the assistant coaches we've had and all the players that we've had that dedicated all the time and showed these guys what it's like to show up every day and put in the work. And it was just awesome to see them finish it off.

“I really believe that all of them were here with us today and were enjoying it every bit as much as if they were still playing. It's pretty awesome for everybody.”

The state championship continued a stellar school year for MIB athletics, coming on the heels of the football team’s first state title last fall.

The Rangers girls basketball team lost to Maranatha Christian 49-37 in the 2012 title game and to Goodhue 73-51 in 2017. This week they defeated Minneota 65-50 in Thursday’s quarterfinals and Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 61-57 in Friday’s semifinals. They finished with a record of 30-3.

The championship victory was grounded on unrelenting defense. BOLD shot just 17.4 percent, making eight of 46 field-goal attempts; MIB shot 42.9 percent (21 of 49).

“The whole thing is the focus on defense,” said Buffetta, a 1994 MIB grad. “These guys, they like to gripe once in a while about the basic defensive drills and all the things that we do. If you watch the defensive discipline and intensity like they had today, you don't worry about missing shots, you just play defense and create offense off the defense. I think they were locked down the whole game today.”

Zubich led the scoring with 15 points, followed by juniors Gabby Lira and Hali Savela with 10 apiece. Lira, who is 5-foot-8, also had a game-high 13 rebounds. BOLD (26-6) was led by sophomore Lainey Braulick’s eight points.

Sage Ganyo, the only senior on the MIB roster, finished with nine points, six rebounds and one of the biggest smiles in the building.

“It means the world,” Sage said. “This has been my dream since I was in the womb and just to have it come true, it means so much. I'm just so proud of these guys.”

The pride has always been there for the Rangers. They have become one of the premier programs in the state and expectations will be higher than ever next season.

But for now, they’re experiencing what everyone has dreamed of for all these years.

“I didn't quite know what it would feel like,” Buffetta said. “It feels good.”

In one of the most touching postgame moments, MIB’s Savela was asked about achieving a championship on a team that includes her mother and assistant coach, Dawn Savela. Her sister Macy, who is five years older, played on a string of state tournament teams. Tears came to Hali’s eyes as the question was asked.

“It's really special,” she said of her mom. “She's always been there for me. And it's just so awesome to be able to share this with her, and my sister up there supporting us in the stands. It's really special.”

BOLD was playing in its first state championship game, and the Warriors knew what kind of a challenge the Rangers presented.

“Well, that obviously didn't go quite how we wanted but that's the game of basketball,” said coach Brian Kingery. “Sometimes you just can't put the ball in the hoop and today we didn’t. You do that against a team like Mountain Iron and they can make you pay. They're a good team. They got a lot of capable players, they play good defense, and today we came up short.”

Amid the disappointment, Kingery flashed a smile while standing on the court, holding the second-place trophy as the Rangers received their first-place medals. He leaned over to the player standing next to him in line, senior Lily Dean, said a few words and smiled.

“You have to appreciate each moment that you're given. And these opportunities don't come by all the time,” he said. “And today, it was an opportunity. Yes, it didn't go our way but I'm not disappointed with our girls. I'm proud of our girls. The way they played and conducted themselves on and off the court, they are great, great kids. And that's what I'm proud of. So I was joking with Lily there and we were just having a little laugh. And sometimes you need that. It's not just about being a coach. Sometimes it’s just about being a person to somebody else.”

Kingery, a science teacher who also is the head coach of the Warriors baseball team, has daughters who are in sixth grade (Mya) and third grade (Harper). He said the experience of coming to state and playing at Williams Arena will be felt long after this weekend by everyone.

“My daughters both said, ‘I want to play here someday.’ That’s awesome.”

He was asked about the success BOLD has experienced in several sports in recent years, and instead of talking about winning he focused on what goes into winning.

“The goal isn't necessarily to win a state title. It's to be a competitor. And you compete because you have to compete in life every day. You want a job, you want to get into college, you want to find a special someone, it doesn't matter. It's competition. And so we try to create a competitive environment to push kids to see what they're made of. And by doing that, we've created a winning culture.”

Providence Academy Repeats As Class 2A Champ

The Providence Academy Lions, playing in the 2A title game for the third year in a row, captured their second consecutive championship with a 74-60 win over Albany.

Two years ago, Albany defeated the Lions 57-43 in the title matchup. Albany, which also won championships in 1980, 1983 and 2008, finished this season with a record of 30-2; Providence Academy also closed at 30-2.

Ninth-grader Maddyn Greenway led the Lions with 31 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists. Grace Counts had 17 points and 16 rebounds, and Hope Counts added seven points and 10 rebounds. Albany was led by Alyssa Sand with 29 points and 21 rebounds. Tatum Findley had 11 points for the Huskies.

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org  

John’s Journal: The Toughest Player In The Tournament

 

Reporters gathered in the interview room after the first Class 1A girls basketball state semifinal Friday at Williams Arena, where the team from Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa would be first to meet with the media. The fifth-seeded Jaguars had led by 11 points with less than 12 minutes to play before falling to top-seeded Mountain Iron-Buhl 61-57.

One reporter asked another, “Do you know why number 25 for BBE didn’t play yesterday?” At that moment, BBE coach Kris Anderson and three players walked into the room.

Number 25 is senior Harley Roering. She had indeed not played in the Jaguars’ 60-44 quarterfinal win over Underwood on Thursday at Maturi Pavilion. But in Friday’s game, Harley came up big, playing more than 13 minutes, hitting four of five three-point shots and scoring 12 points.

Before any questions were asked, Anderson sat down and got right to the point as tears came to her eyes. “I'd like to start first with Harley,” she said, looking at number 25, who was seated at the other end of the table, with teammates Allison Dingmann and Abby Berge between her and the coach.

Kris talked about Harley’s toughness, about how she suffered a torn ACL in her left knee – for the second time in less than two years – more than a month ago. How she had not played since that injury on Feb. 3 in a game against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. And how earlier in the week, still hobbled and knowing her knee will require TWO surgeries in the coming months, Harley came to the coach and said, “I want to try to play.”

“This girl hasn't practiced in three, four weeks,” the coach said. “And on Monday, she said, ‘Hey, Coach, they said I can play.’ I honestly thought she was kidding.”

Harley was not kidding. She came to practice, got loose and began moving around the court. The coach thought, “Gee, she looks pretty good.”

Harlee originally injured the knee in May 2021 and had surgery in July that year. She will go back to the operating room in early April for a bone graft procedure to prepare for a later surgery, she’ll wear a brace for four to six months and then have that second surgery … or third, depending on how you look at it.

“For her to step on this court today with her teammates, and hit four threes,” said Anderson. “That was one of the coolest moments I've had as a coach.”

Harley wore a brace on her knee Friday. Asked why she hadn’t played in the quarterfinals, she smiled and said, “They didn't need me. The team was doing just fine.”

Anderson added, “She’s one of the toughest kids I've ever coached. Did you see that today? It was pretty cool.”

Mountain Iron-Buhl had defeated Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 84-62 on Dec. 29. That loss gave BBE a record of 2-2; they will take a 26-5 mark into Saturday’s third-place game against Hayfield at Concordia University in St. Paul.

Even when trailing by a good margin Friday, the Rangers of Mountain Iron-Buhl stuck to their game plan.

“The message was just to stay calm,” MIB coach Jeff Buffetta said. “We have enough experience on this team and in the last 11 minutes we basically went with our experienced five and just took it one possession at a time. We told them to be disciplined on defense and get after it and if you do that, you're going to give yourself a chance. And these guys knew all along that they had a chance and they just kept after it.”

Mountain Iron-Buhl is one win away from its first state title in girls basketball; they finished as state runner-up in 2012 and 2017. They will meet BOLD on Saturday at noon at Williams Arena.

“I feel like this is everything that we've worked for all year,” said MIB junior Hali Savela, who was quickly interrupted by teammate Sage Ganyo, who interjected, “… our whole lives.”

Sage added, “We want to win a state title. This is our dream. So we're going to give it our all.”

BOLD Holds Off Hayfield

A stout defense by BOLD held Hayfield to 36.7-percent shooting as the Warriors advanced to the Class 1A title game with a 58-46 win. BOLD will be making its first appearance in a state championship game.

Bold, the third-seeded team, led 33-28 at halftime over second-seeded Hayfield. The Vikings made only seven of 20 field-goal attempts in the second half under the pressure defense of the Warriors. Hayfield’s only lead in the game was 1-0.

“Hayfield is a very nice basketball team,” said BOLD coach Brian Kingery. “They’ve got a couple of really good players and one of our big goals was to try to shut down 25 (Natalie Beaver) and 3 (Kristen Watson) because they're very good basketball players. And our girls were up to the task today.”

Beaver, who finished with two points, was weakened by illness but made no excuses. “I had a little bit of energy but I definitely got more tired faster,” she said after playing only 10 minutes of the 36-minute game. Watson was held to three points in 35 minutes. In Thursday’s quarterfinals, Beaver scored 31 points and Watson had 10 in a 63-58 win over Badger/Greenbush-Middle River.

Class 2A girls basketball semifinals

Providence Academy vs. Minnehaha Academy

Goodhue vs. Albany

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org 

 

John’s Journal: Mountain Iron-Buhl Hoping To Make More History

 

This school year has already been historic at Mountain Iron-Buhl, with the Rangers winning their first football state championship by taking the Nine-Man title last December at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Two miles away, at the University of Minnesota, the MIB girls basketball team is hoping to bring home another state championship, which would be their first in that sport. The Rangers girls are playing at state for the 14^th time, with their best finishes being runner-up in 2012 and 2017.

They cleared the first hurdle with a 65-50 win over Minneota in Thursday’s Class A quarterfinals at Maturi Pavilion. That victory was MIB’s first over Minneota in five meetings at state.

Senior Jordan Zubich, one of the marquee individuals among all four classes at state, will continue her basketball career at the University of North Carolina. But first, she wants to help her team win a state title. Her brother Asher was one of the stars on the MIB football team; he will play that sport at St. Olaf next fall. Their dad, Dan, is the Rangers head football coach.

“I wouldn't say it's pressure, I would say that they're just giving us some luck,” Jordan Zubich said of the football team’s influence on the basketball team. “At our pep rally, we got to talk and I just said, ‘The last time we sent somebody off in this gym, they came back with the state title.’ ”

Against Minneota, Jordan scored a game-high 25 points on 10-for-14 shooting, including 3-for-4 from behind the three-point line. She also had five steals and two assists.

“It’s not pressure, it’s just an exciting time,” said MIB coach Jeff Buffetta. “Our football team pulled off the first one in the history of MIB. And these girls have been here a lot of times and there's no reason why they can't. They know you’ve got to take it one game at a time.”

Buffetta has had a busy week, because he also is the head coach of the MIB boys basketball team. This is his 23^rd season as the girls coach; he took over the boys program in 2019-20.

The Rangers boys lost to Deer River 86-73 in overtime Wednesday night in Duluth in the Section 7A semifinals, finishing with a record of 21-8 in pursuit of their first trip to state since 2016. Buffetta drove to the Twin Cities after that game.

Buffetta is a 1994 Mountain Iron-Buhl graduate who also has been on the coaching staffs for volleyball, football, softball and track and field. He was a 2017 inductee into the Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Here’s a story I wrote about Buffetta’s dual coaching jobs early in the 2019-20 season: https://www.mshsl.org/about/news/johns-journal/best-2019-20-number-9-one-coach-two-teams-busy-season-mountain-iron-buhl

Minneota Makes It Back To The Tournament

The closest thing to an all-but-automatic entrant at the girls state basketball tournament in recent years has been Minneota. The Vikings have been a dominant Class A team, playing at state this week for the sixth year in a row and 12^th time since 2005. They won state titles in 2013, 2019, 2020 and 2021, along with second-place finishes in 2014 and 2022.

As the 2022-23 season began, however, there were some doubts … at least outside the team.

Chad Johnston, the longtime Minneota girls coach, changed jobs and became head coach of the Vikings boys basketball team this year. Assistant coach Al Panka took over as head coach of a team that lost a strong senior group from a year ago.

“I thought we had a good chance to (get to state),” Panka said after unseeded Minneota’s loss to Mountain Iron-Buhl. “I know a lot of people didn't. And that was fine. We heard the talk with Chad jumping over that he was going to go to the state tournament with the boys and the girls were not going to be as good. We still got back here so it's a credit to the kids.

“We graduated four seniors and one of our main bench players last year and we fought through some adversity during the season, with some injuries here and there and everything else. But the kids fought hard all year long and they deserve to be here and representing Minneota.”

Minneota junior Faith Myrhe, who scored 14 points, said, “(State) was obviously the ultimate goal. There's a bunch of really great teams in our section and a lot of people were like, ‘Oh, Minneota? They're not going to go to state.’ But it just shows that this program has been built so well.”

Family Affair For Badger/Greenbush-Middle River

These are very busy times for the Dahl family at Badger/Greenbush-Middle River. Brad Dahl is the head coach of the Gators girls basketball team, which is at state for the first time since 2007. The unseeded Gators lost 63-58 in overtime to second-seeded Hayfield in Thursday’s Class 1A quarterfinals.

Brad’s wife, Stacy, is the head coach of the Badgers volleyball team, which went to state in 2021 and 2022. They have three daughters who are three-sport athletes; Cassidy (senior) and Kenzie (sophomore) are on the basketball team, Lexie is a seventh-grader. All three play volleyball, basketball and softball.

Stacy is an English teacher and Brad teaches sixth grade. He also officiates volleyball, softball and baseball … and fills in as a bus driver.

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org 

 

John’s Journal: The Two-Sport Coach Who Never Takes A Vacation

 

Coaches are busy people. Especially head coaches. And those who are head coaches in multiple sports are extremely busy. Dan Westby of Marshall High School takes it to another level.

The guy never takes a vacation. After Wednesday’s Class 3A girls basketball state quarterfinal at Maturi Pavilion, Westby was asked about taking time off. You might as well have asked him to explain the Riemann Hypothesis (uh, Google it).

Well, to be honest, Westby did take three days off between leading Marshall to a state volleyball championship last fall and joining basketball practice; his assistant coaches were in charge for those three days.

But a vacation? A real, pack-the-bags, getaway vacation? Never. Not on your life.

“No, I don't take any,” Dan said. “I feel bad for my wife (Deb). She goes to an all-inclusive resort with her sisters every year down in Mexico and I've never been there.”

Westby, a 1978 Danube graduate, may simply be a testament to the grindstone. He is one of the most successful coaches in Minnesota history, in two sports. As a volleyball coach he has won more than 700 games, and he came to state with 301 basketball victories.

Any time he is asked about winning and success and his legacy, he always directs the discussion back to the student-athletes.

“It's such a good group of kids,” he said after the unseeded Tigers lost to top-seeded Becker 52-43 Wednesday. “We've got seven seniors and they've been through it a number of times. And I told them before our section championship, ‘You guys, I'm saying this strictly from a selfish standpoint: I want to be with you guys another week. So let's go out there and win. That's the way I feel.’ I just wanted to be around those kids for another week.”

The trip to state ensured that extra week. Marshall is playing at state in girls basketball for the 13th time; winning titles in 2001 and 2002 and finishing second in 2006, 2014, 2015 and 2021. The Tigers’ volleyball legacy is even stronger, with 31 state appearances, championships in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2021 and 2022, and seven runner-up finishes.

Becker also has been a regular at state basketball, winning titles in 2007, 2020 and 2021, with second-place finishes in 2019 and 2022. The Bulldogs defeated Marshall in the 2019 state quarterfinals as well as in the 2021 championship game.

“I know Dan Westby and we have a history with Marshall,” said Becker coach Dan Baird. “Dan is going to have his team ready. He's just an amazing coach. He's going to get his team to play hard until the last whistle.”

First Time At State, First Win For Stewartville

The Stewartville girls basketball team made history by advancing to state for the first time, and the Tigers took full advantage by defeating Grand Rapids 71-57 in the Class 3A quarterfinals. And yes, there were some jitters.

“I was a little nervous just because we've never been to state but I think as a team we worked really well together,” said Savannah Hedin. Teammate Keeley Steele added, “I was definitely a little nervous but I was excited, too, so that helps and that kind of evened it out. And then once we got going, it was just fun to get to play with all these girls.”

Stewartville coach Ryan Liffrig said going to state presents lots of new challenges from an administrative standpoint.

“It was crazy,” he said. “A lot of planning goes into it and that was new to us. I think there were times as a coach that I was like, jeepers, I'm wanting to watch film and all of a sudden it's 10 o'clock and you're dealing with other stuff. But I did have a lot of help from our coaching staff, they really stepped up and took on the other roles, like the planning of the hotel, the food. There's just so much stuff.”

A Life Change And A Coaching Change

Tim Ellefson never took a team to state during his nine years as the head girls basketball coach at Hutchinson. But he took that step this year, his first season as head coach at Benilde-St. Margaret’s.

Ellefson, a math instructor who worked in Hutchinson for 16 years, inherited a team that qualified for state last year. The Red Knights were state champions in 2006 and 2010. In Ellefson’s first game at state, they rallied to defeat DeLaSalle 64-53 in Wednesday’s 3A quarterfinals.

DeLaSalle led 22-6 midway through the first half but Benilde-St. Margaret’s came back to take its first lead of the game, 43-42, with 7:43 remaining in the second half. A three-pointer and a layup by sophomore Kendall McGee (who finished with 19 points), followed by a layup from Michigan-bound senior Olivia Olson (25), gave the Red Knights a 52-45 lead with five minutes left. They were in control after that.

Ellefson said he was ready for a change and was open to meeting with officials from Benilde-St. Margaret’s.

“(Athletic director) Jerry (Pettinger) couldn’t have made me feel more welcome,” he said. “I talked it over with my family.  I have 10, 12 years after this and maybe I have time to do something somewhere else. And I didn’t want to live in regret, not ever trying something totally different. I said, ‘Let's go for it.’ And it's been hard, but it's been rewarding.”

The drive from Hutchinson to Benilde-St. Margaret’s – which is in St. Louis Park – is more than an hour. The Ellefsons moved to Carver, which is closer.

“We’re still kind of out there a little,” Tim said with a smile. “It’s a 25-minute drive and every day I drive to school I’m thinking of how lucky I am. I love Hutchinson, I love the families, I love the community. That had nothing to do with it. It was just a life change that that I decided to do. And I’m really enjoying it.”

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org