2023 MN Basketball Game of the Year Candidates

 Our Game of the Year is St. Michael-Albertville's 71-70 win over Hopkins in the girls Class AAAA final. We discuss this game a little more in a separate post. The other candidates for game of the year include:

Providence girls 87 Hopkins 81, the #1 seed and Class AA state champion beating the #1 seed and Class AAAA runner-up as freshman Maddyn Greenway scored 41 points! The 2 teams combined for a season won-lost record of 58-5.

UMD women 80 Minnesota State Mankato 74 in the NSIC playoff finals. UMD finished 31-3, Mankato State 26-5, so this was a 6-point game between 2 very good teams.

UMD women 77 Southern Nazarene 76 in the NCAA quarter-finals.

Wayzata boys 75 Park Center 71 (OT) in the boys Class AAAA final. Wayzata's 79-77 semi-final win over Lakeville North was also a very well-played, exciting game. The Park Center game is better only in the sense that it was the final.

2023 MN Basketball Coach of the Year Candidates

 Our Coach of the Year is Mandy Pearson, whom we discuss in a separate post. The other candidates for this year's honors include:

Jeff Buffetta, Mountain Iron-Buhl girls. Buffetta has gained fame for coaching both the MIB girls and the MIB boys. But, don't let that distract you from the remarkable record he's achieved just with the girls over the past decade-plus. This award is for the girls. But, first, a question. Have they been to the state tournament 12-of-13 years or 12-of-12? The point is that MIB has been to state every year since 2011 except 2020, when they lost to Cromwell in the section. But the state tournament was called off. So...

In any event, they made the finals in 2012 and 2017 but never got the big breakthrough win. Until now. But, now, in 2023 they hammered BOLD in the Class A final 52-21. 52-21! Finally, MIB gets a breakthrough, and that's a feel-good story. No disrespect to BOLD.

Ryan Kershaw, Carleton men. Led Knights to the MIAC regular and post-season titles at 17-3 and 24-4. Was named MIAC coach of the year.

Cory Schlagel, Albany boys. Albany surprised by winning the boys Class AA title and finished with the best record in the state, boys or girls, at 32-1.

Emilee Thiesse, Minnesota State Mankato women. The Mavs were 19-3 and 26-5 but couldn't quite get over the hump that was UMD this year.

Kim Wagers, Concordia (Moorhead) women. The Dragons had fallen on hard times but Wager led them back up to 2nd place in the MIAC at 18-4 and 22-5. She was named MIAC coach of the year.

2023 MN Basketball Player of the Year Candidates

 Our Player of the Year is UMD's Brooke Olson, the NCAA D2 national player of the year, who led the Bulldogs to 2nd place nationally. You can read more about Brooke elsewhere in this blog.

Our other candidates include:

Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves, 6-4, combo guard. With Karl Towns hurt for half the season, Rudy Gobert inconsistent, DeAngelo Russell inconsistent and then traded away, the Timberwolves had to rely mostly on Anthony Edwards this year. And it was a disappointing year, as the Wolves fell down into the play-in games. But Edwards was pretty good, scoring 25 ppg with 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.

Maddyn Greenway, Providence, 5-9, freshman, combo guard. Yes, folks, she's a freshman. She scored 32 ppg in leading the Lions to the state Class AA title and a 30-2 record. Just to show that it was no fluke, she scored 41 against Class AAAA power Hopkins in an 87-81 Providence win. She scored 47, 35 and 31 points in the state tournament for a total of 113 points. And, yes, she's a freshman.

Tessa Johnson, St. Michael-Albertville, 6-0, senior, shooting guard. Johnson scored 24 ppg and led her team to the Class AAAA state title. She will be playing at South Carolina, #1 and unbeaten until that great NCAA semi-final game against Iowa, next year.

Nasir Whitlock, DeLaSalle, senior, point guard. Whitlock led the Islanders to 2nd place in Class AAA, scoring 27 ppg. He won more PoY awards than Lakeville North's Nolan Winter, though the 2 were pretty much neck-and-neck. We like Whitlock.

It was a dreadful year in Minnesota Gopher basketball but Dawson Garcia for the men and Mara Braun for the women (and also new coach Dawn Plitzeweit) provide reason for hope. Garcia scored 15 ppg with 7 rebounds. Braun was 16 ppg, 3 rebounds, 3 assists.

2023 MN Basketball Team of the Year Candidates

 You may already have noticed that we liked the UMD Bulldogs women as our Team of the Year. They went all the way to the national D2 final before losing to unbeaten Ashland and to finish 31-3.

Our other finalists are:

Carleton men MIAC regular season and playoff champions at 17-3 and 24-4.

Gustavus Adolphus women Also MIAC regular season and playoff champion at 20-2, 26-3.

Hopkins girls Lost to St. Michael-Albertville 71-70 in the state final, but defeated SMA twice earlier and finished 28-3. SMA finished 29-3.

Providence Academy girls Won the Class AA title 74-60 over Albany, and also shocked Hopkins 87-81 in the regular season. They finished 30-2.

St. Michael-Albertville girls Avenged 2 earlier losses to Hopkins, beating the Royals 71-70 in the Class AAAA final.

Apologies to the Albany boys, Class AA champions with the state's best record (boys or girls) at 32-1. But, Providence, the girls AA champion, beat Hopkins. It's hard to see Albany beating Wayzata or Park Center. Still, for their level, they had one hell of a season.

2023 Minnesota Hoops Basketball Awards--The Year of UMD

 The UMD Bulldog women swept 3 of 4 categories in our annual MN Basketball Awards.

Team of the Year--In case you haven't heard, UMD took 2nd place in the NCAA D2 tournament recently, losing only to unbeaten Ashland in the finals 78-67. They went 21-1 in the Northern Sun, then swept 6 conference and NCAA playoff games before losing to Ashland to finish 31-3. UMD has now won 3 straight Northern Sun regular season titles and 4 of 5 NSIC playoff titles.

Player of the Year--UMD's success is very largely the work of NCAA D2 national player of the year Brooke Olson. Olson is a 4X all-conference player. This year she averaged 23 ppg and 7 reb through the regular season, and 27 ppg in the NCAA tournament.

Coach of the Year--And of course UMD's success is also the result of the remarkable work of coach Mandy Pearson. In addition to all those NSIC championships mentioned above, she now has an 8-year record of 155-67 (.698). Before that, she took over a faltering program at St. Mary's and led the Cards to teheir first MIAC title in 29 years. In her last 3 years in Winona, she was 64-18. She is arguably the most successful basketball coach in the state of Minnesota over the past decade, with apologies to Cheryl Reeve.

Game of the Year--OK, here we abandon the UMD Bulldogs in favor of St. Michael-Albertville's 71-70 win over Hopkins in the girls Class AAAA final. Hopkins had 2 regular wins over SMA and was heavily favored. But SMA ran out to a 42-25 halftime lead. But, hey, that was Hopkins they were playing, and the Royals roared back with a 45-29 2nd half margin. But that left them one point short. Tessa Johnson of SMA and Taylor Woodson of Hopkins starred.

Minnesota Players of the Year 1901-2023

Players of the Year 1901-2023

4 awards--Lindsay Whalen
3 awards each--George Tuck, Frank Lawler, Marty Rolek, Jim McIntyre, George Mikan, Kevin Garnett

2 awards each--William Deering, Harold Gillen, Dick Arney, Tony Jaros, Hal Haskins, Ron Johnson, Lou Hudson, Mark Olberding, Kevin McHale, Randy Breuer, Carlie Wagner, Rachel Banham, Maya Moore, Paige Bueckers

1901--George Tuck, Mpls. Central

1902--William Deering, Minnesota

1903--Deering

1904--Tuck, Minnesota

1905--Tuck

1906--Garfield Brown, Minnesota

1911--Frank Lawler, Minnesota

1912--Lawler, various senior teams

1913--Lawler, The Ineligibles

1914--Harold Gillen, Stillwater

1915--Al Rehder, Red Wing Company L

1916--Bill Conlin, Red Wing Company L

1917--Gillen, Minnesota

1918--Street, Carleton

1919--Erling Platou, Minnesota

1920--Martin Norton, Mpls. Central

1921--Arnold Oss, Minnesota

1922--Ozzie Cowles, Carleton

1923--Carl Nordly, Carleton

1924--Mally Nydahl, Mpls. South

1925--Black Rasey, Minnesota

1926--Bennie Lichtenegger, Gaylord

1927--Otto Rortvedt, Henning

1928--Cliff Halmrast, Moorhead

1929--Earl Moran, Moorhead

1930--Chuck Wagner, The Ascensions

1931--Ray Buffalo, DeLaSalle

1932--Dick Arney, Carleton

1933--Arney

1934--Marty Rolek, Mpls. Edison and the Dominiums

1935--Wally Zimmerman, Hamline

1936--Johnny Dick, Buhl

1937--Marty Rolek, Minnesota

1938--Rolek

1939--Clint Wager, St. Mary's

1940--Tony Jaros, Mpls. Edison

1941--Arnie Johnson, Bemidji State

1942--Johnny Norlander, Hamline

1943--Hal Haskins, Alexandria

1944--Jim McIntyre, Mpls. Patrick Henry

1945--McIntyre

1946--Jaros, Minnesota

1947--McIntyre, Minnesota

1948--George Mikan, Minneapolis Lakers

1949--Vern Mikkelson, Hamline

1950--Haskins, Hamline

1951--Bill Simonovich, Gilbert

1952--Mikan

1953--Dave Tschimperle, Hopkins

1954--Mikan

1955--Dick Garmaker, Minnesota

1956--Ron Johnson, New Prague

1957--Jon Hagen, Belview

1958--Norm Grow, Foley

1959--Elgin Baylor, Minneapolis Lakers

1960--R. Johnson, Minnesota

1961--Terry Kunze, Duluth Central

1962--Eric Magdanz, Minnesota

1963--Dan Anderson, Augsburg

1964--Lou Hudson, Minnesota

1965--Hudson

1966--Archie Clark, Minnesota

1967--Jim Hill, St. Paul Central

1968--Bob Zender, Edina

1969--Tony Jenkins, Shattuck

1970--Tom Mulso, Sherburn

1971--Como Pontliana, Duluth Central

1972--Jim Brewer, Minnesota

1973--Mark Olberding, Melrose

1974--Olberding

1975--Frank Wachlarowicz, Little Falls

1976--Steve Lingenfelter, Bloomington Jefferson

1977--Mychal Thompson, Minnesota

1978--Janet Karvonen, New York Mills

1979--Randy Breuer, Lake City

1980--Kevin McHale, Minnesota

1981--Kelly Skalicky, Albany

1982--Darryl Mitchell and Trent Tucker, Minnesota

1983--Breuer, Minnesota

1984--Joe Regnier, White Bear Lake

1985--Laura Coenen, Minnesota

1986--McHale, Boston Celtics

1987--Kevin Lynch, Bloomington Jefferson

1988--Jessica Beachy, Concordia (Moorhead)

1989--Willie Burton, Minnesota

1990--Richard Coffey, Minnesota

1991--Joel McDonald, Chisholm

1992--Laurie Trow, St. Thomas

1993--Voshon Leonard, Minnesota

1994--Carol Ann Shudlick, Minnesota

1995--Coco and Kelly Miller, Rochester Mayo

1996--Khalid El-Amin, Mpls. North

1997--Bobby Jackson, Minnesota

1998--Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves

1999--Garnett

2000--Jake Sullivan, Tartan

2001--Rick Rickert, Duluth East

2002--Lindsay Whalen, Minnesota

2003--Whalen

2004--Garnett

2005--Janelle McCarville, Minnesota

2006--Isaiah Dahlman, Braham

2007--Angel Robinson, St. Paul Central

2008--John Smith, Winona State

2009--Tayler Hill, Mpls. South

2010--Rachel Banham and Cassie Rochel, Lakeville North

2011--Whalen, Minnesota Lynx

2012--Whalen
2013--Tyus Jones, Apple Valley
2014--Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx
2015--Moore
2016--Banham, Minnesota Gophers
2017--Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota Lynx
2018--Daniel Oturu, Cretin-Derham Hall
2019--Paige Bueckers, Hopkins
2020--Bueckers

2021--Chet Holmgren, Minnehaha Academy

2022--Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves

2023--Brooke Olson, UMD women

Winners of the Minnesota Hoops Readers Poll

2011--Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves
2012--Taylor Young, St. Thomas
2013--Anders Broman, Lakeview Christian
2014--Carlie Wagner, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva

Team of the Year 1895-2023

Minnesota Hoops Team of the Year 1895-2023

Multiple Awards--Minnesota Gophers 22 Minnesota Lynx 6 The Ascensions 5 Carleton 3 Rock Spring Sparklers 3 Mpls. Patrick Henry 3 Hamline 3 Minnesota Aggies 2 Mpls. Central 2 Moorhead 2 Minneapolis Lakers 2 Hopkins 2 Hopkins girls 2 Mpls. Roosevelt 2 Austin 2 DeLaSalle 2 Edina 2 Duluth Central 2 St. Thomas women 2 Bloomington Jefferson girls 2 Winona State 2 Minnesota Lynx 2

1895--Minnesota Aggies (U of M Ag School), Twin City League champs

1896--Minneapolis YMCA, TC champions

1897--Minnesota Aggies, TC champions

1898--Red Wing Company G

1899--Macalester

1900--Minnesota Gophers 10-3

1901--Minnesota Gophers 11-1

1902--Minnesota Gophers 15-0, Helms national champion

1903--Minnesota Gophers 13-0, Premo national champion

1904--Minnesota Gophers 10-2

1905--Minnesota Lady Gophers 45-6 over 8 years

1906--Red Wing Red Men 33-6

1907--Minnesota Gophers 10-2, Big Ten co-champions

1908--Minnesota Gophers 12-7

1909--The Ascensions

1910--The Ascensions

1911--Madison high school, mythical state champions

1912--The Ascensions

1913--Fosston 14-1, state champions

1914--Stillwater 14-2, state champions

1915--Chaska senior men

1916--Red Wing Company L 20-0

1917--Minnesota Gophers 17-2, Big Ten co-champions

1918--Minnesota Gophers 13-3

1919--Minnesota Gophers 13-0, Helms national champions

1920--Mpls. Central

1921--Mpls. Central 13-1, state champions

1922--Red Wing 15-2, state champions

1923--Carleton, MIAC champions

1924--Carleton 14-0, Midwest Conference champions

1925--St. Paul Mechanic Arts 17-1, state champions

1926--Gaylord 20-3, state champions

1927--Henning school, state Class B champions

1928--Moorhead 19-3, state champions

1929--Moorhead 24-3, state champions

1930--The Ascensions, state AAU champions

1931--DeLaSalle, national Catholic champions

1932--Carleton, Midwest Conference champions

1933--The Ascensions, state AAU champions

1934--The Dominions, state AAU champions

1935--Rock Spring Sparklers, state AAU champions

1936--Rock Spring Sparklers, state AAU champions

1937--Minnesota Gophers 14-6, Big Ten co-champions

1938--Minnesota Gophers 16-4

1939--Minnesota Gophers 14-6

1940--St. Mary's College, MIAC champions

1941--Bemidji State, NTC champions

1942--Hamline, NAIA national champion

1943--Rock Spring Sparklers

1944--Mpls. Patrick Henry 24-1, state champions

1945--Mpls. Patrick Henry 24-1, state champions

1946--Austin 22-3, state champions

1947--Mankato State 18-4, NTC champions

1948--Minneapolis Lakers 51-19, NBL and World Professional champions

1949--Hamline 31-3, NAIA national champion

1950--Minneapolis Lakers 62-19, NBA champions

1951--Hamline, NAIA national champion

1952--Hopkins 25-1, state champions

1953--Hopkins 23-0, state champions

1954--Gustavus Adolphus, MIAC champions

1955--Minnesota Gophers 15-7

1956--Mpls. Roosevelt 20-3, state champions

1957--Mpls. Roosevelt 27-0, state champions

1958--Austin 20-3, state champions

1959--DeLaSalle, state Catholic champions

1960--Edgerton 27-0, state champions

1961--Duluth Central 27-0, state champions

1962--St. Cloud State 23-4, NIC champions

1963--Marshall 25-1, state champions

1964--Luverne 20-5, state champions

1965--Minnesota Gophers 19-5

1966--St. Thomas 24-4, MIAC champions

1967--Edina 27-0, state champions

1968--Edina 26-1, state champions

1969--Shattuck, state independent champions

1970--Sherburn 26-0, state champions

1971--Duluth Central 23-1, state champions

1972--Minnesota Gophers 18-7, Bit Ten champions

1973--Minnesota Gophers 21-5

1974--Melrose 27-0, state champions

1975--Little Falls 26-1, state champions

1976--Mpls. Marshall-University 28-0, state A champions

1977--Minnesota Gophers 24-3

1978--Bloomington Jefferson girls 24-0, state AA champions

1979--New York Mills girls 25-1, state A champions

1980--Albany girls 26-0, state A champions

1981--Minnesota Gopher women 28-7, Big Ten tournament champions

1982--Minnesota Gopher men 23-6, Big Ten champions

1983--Woodbury boys 24-0, state AA champions

1984--White Bear Lake boys 26-0, state AA champions

1985--White Bear Lake boys 26-0, state AA champions

1986--Mankato State women 25-4, NCC champions

1987--Bloomington Jefferson boys 26-0, state AA champions

1988--Concordia (Moorhead) women 31-1, NCAA D3 champions

1989--Minnesota Gopher men 19-12

1990--Minnesota Gopher men 23-9

1991--St. Thomas women 29-2, NCAA D3 champions

1992--St. Thomas women 27-1, MIAC champions

1993--St. Benedict's women 28-2, MIAC champions

1994--Bloomington Jefferson girls 26-2, state AA champions

1995--North Tartan 15 & Under girls, national AAU champions

1996--Mpls. North boys 29-1, state champions

1997--Minnesota Gopher men 31-4, Big Ten champions

1998--Mpls. North girls 29-0, state AAA champions

1999--St. Benedict's women 28-2, MIAC champions

2000--Mpls. Patrick Henry boys 28-1, state AAA champions

2001--Osseo boys 30-1, state AAAA champions

2002--Minnesota Gopher women 22-8

2003--Minnesota Gopher women 25-6

2004--Minnesota Gopher women 25-9

2005--Braham boys 33-0, state AA champions

2006--Winona State men 32-4, NCAA D2 champions

2007--St. Paul Central girls 32-0, state AAAA champions

2008--Winona State men 38-1, NCAA D2 champions

2009--Mankato State women 32-2, NCAA D2 champions

2010 (tie)--Lakeville North girls 32-0, state AAAA champions, and St. Paul Johnson boys 32-0, state AAA champions

2011--Minnesota Lynx 34-8, WNBA champions
2012--Minnesota Lynx 32-11, WNBA runners-up
2013--Minnesota Lynx 33-8, WNBA champions
2014--Minnesota Lynx 28-11
2015--Minnesota Lynx 29-15, WNBA champions
2016--St. Thomas men 30-3, NCAA D3 champions 2nd time in 6 years
2017--Minnesota Lynx 33-9, WNBA champions for the 4th time
2018 (tie)--Eastview girls 32-0, state AAAA champions, and Sauk Centre girls 33-0, state AA champion
2019--Hopkins girls 32-0, state AAAA champions

2020 (tie)--Eden Prairie boys 29-0, Hopkins girls 30-0, state tournament cancelled due to coronavirus

2021--Chaska girls 18-0

2022--Hopkins girls 26-1

2023--Minnnesota-Duluth women 31-3

Game of the Year 1896-2023

I never got around to picking a Game of the Year through the decades of Minnesota basketball. I previously had picked 3 games per decade, but it's time for a more thorough job. The games listed in boldface are the ones I will plan on going back to see as soon as I get my time machine running.

Multiple Awards (Minnesota teams)--Minnesota Gophers 18-15 Winona State 4-0 Minnesota Lynx 3-0 Minnesota Gopher women 3-0 Carleton 3-1 Stillwater 2-0 Ascensions 2-0 Buhl 2-0 Red Wing 2-0 Buhl 2-0 St. John's 2-0 White Bear Lake 2-0 Bloomington Jefferson 2-0 St. Thomas (University) 2-0 Minnesota Aggies 2-1 Moorhead 2-1  Mpls. North 2-2 Minneapolis Lakers 2-3 Holy Cross Church 1-1 Mountain Lake 1-1 Marshall 1-1 Augsburg 1-1 Duluth Central 1-2 Hopkins 1-2 Rock Spring Sparklers 0-2 Crosby-Ironton 0-3 Hamline 0-3 Bemidji 0-3

(Non-Minnesotans)--Ohio State 3-0 Phillips Oilers 2-0 Michigan 2-0 Chicago 2-1 Wisconsin 2-1 Indiana 1-1 Crawfordsville (IN) HS 1-1 Harlem Globetrotters 1-1 Columbia 1-2 Iowa 0-2

1896 Minnesota Aggies 9 Hamline 3 in the first intercollegiate game anywhere in the world
1897 Minnesota Aggies 19 Minnesota Gophers 3
1898 Red Wing Company G 22 Minneapolis YMCA 19 marking the end of the YMCA's dominance
1899 Minnesota Gophers 20 Minnesota Aggies 9 after Aggies beat Gophers 10 straight times

1900 Minnesota Lady Gophers 12 Stanley Hall 6 in 1st game ever for Lady Gophers
1901 Minnesota Gophers 42 Wisconsin 15
1902 Minnesota Gophers 32 Yale 23 in a match game for the national collegiate title
1903 Stillwater 26 Minneapolis Central 21, claims the mythical state high school championship
1904 Minnesota Gophers 28 Crawfordsville (IN) HS 23 after Gophers beat Indiana and Purdue easily
1905 Columbia 27 Minnesota 15 as Gophers fail to beat #1 in the nation.
1906 Red Wing Red Men 20 Stockton (CA) 14 in match-up of 2 state champion senior men's teams
1907 Minnesota Gophers 21 Chicago 10 to clinch 1st Big 10 title
1908 Minnesota Gophers sweep Columbia 9-8, 16-11
1909 Chicago 27 Minnesota Gophers 2

1910 Minnesota Gophers split with Chicago 15-10, 15-18
1911 Madison HS 29 Ada 10 in match game for mythical state high school championship
1912 Wisconsin sweeps Minnesota Gophers 22-12, 29-26
1913 Fosston 29 Mountain Lake 27 to win 1st state high school tournament final
1914 Stillwater 30 Winona 4 in state high school final
1915 Red Wing HS 21 Red Wing Company L 19
1916 Virginia 20 St. Paul Mechanic Arts 9 in state high school final
1917 Minnesota Gophers 31 Iowa 19 to clinch Big 19 title
1918 Waseca 29 Duluth Central 10 in state high school final
1919 Minnesota Gophers 26 Illinois 9 to cap undefeated season and national title

1920 Crawfordsville (IN) 21 Mpls. Central 16; Central settles for 3rd in national HS tournament
1921 Indiana 24 Carleton 23
1922 Lexington (KY) 37 Duluth Cathedral 26; Cathedral also takes 3rd
1923 Aurora 24 Austin 14 in state high school final
1924 Carleton wins at Michigan State
1925 Ohio State 32 Minnesota Gophers 20 in 1st game at Kenwood Armory
1926 Gaylord 13 Gilbert 9 in state high school final
1927 Henning 28 Chisago City 18 in state high school Class B tournament final
1928 Ohio State 48 Minnesota 40 in 1st game at fieldhouse
1929 Jesse M. Stasch 27 Holy Cross Church 25 in Minnesota AAU championship

1930 Ascensions 31 Davis Hunt Club (Kansas City) 24 in national AAU
1931 DeLaSalle 23 Jaspar (IN) Academy 21 in national Catholic tournament final
1932 Thief River Falls 21 Chisholm 15 in state high school final
1933 Carleton 34 Wisconsin 29
1934 Dominium Electric 27 Rock Spring Sparklers 20 to win state AAU title
1935 Carleton 29 Minnesota Gophers 26
1936 Buhl 41 Mpls. Edison 32; huge upset, Buhl shoots 50% at a time when 20% is "good"
1937 Minnesota Gophers 34 Northwestern 33 to clinch Big 10 title
1938 Minnesota Gophers 56 Long Island U 41 at Madison Square Garden
1939 Mountain Lake 37 Mpls. Marshall 31 in state high school final

1940 Ascensions 41 Holy Cross 23 in state AAU final
1941 Bemidji State 41 San Diego State 32, beating defending national NAIA champs
1942 Buhl 30 Marshall 29 in state high school final
1943 Washington Bears 42 Rock Spring Sparklers 21 in national professional tournament
1944 Mpls. Henry 51 Crosby-Ironton 42 in state high school final
1945 Minnesota Gophers 45 DePaul 36, holding George Mikan to lowest college total of 11 points
1946 Lynd 58 Crosby-Ironton 47 in state high school final
1947 Duluth Denfeld 46 Crosby-Ironton 44 in state high school final
1948 Harlem Globetrotters 61 Minneapolis Lakers 59
1949 Philips Oilers sweep Hamline 52-38 and 49-46

1950 Minneapolis Lakers 75 Harlem Globetrotters 60
1951 Minnesota Gophers 61 Kentucky 57 Gophers open Williams Arena vs. national champs
1952 Ft. Wayne 19 Minneapolis Lakers 18 famous stall game
1953 Red Wing 92 Braham 73 in Region 4 high school final
1954 North Carolina State 85 Minnesota Gophers 84
1955 Minnesota Gophers 59 Purdue 56 (6 OT)
1956 Minneapolis Roosevelt 101 Blue Earth 54 in state high school final
1957 Minneapolis Roosevelt 73 Bemidji 70 (OT) in state high school 1st round
1958 Minneapolis Lakers 111 Harlem Globetrotters 100
1959 Boston Celtics 173 Minneapolis Lakers 139

1960 Edgerton 63 Richfield 60 (OT) in state high school semi-finals
1961 Duluth Central 51 Bemidji 50 in state high school final
1962 Minnesota Gophers split with Indiana: win 104-100, lose 105-104
1963 Marshall 75 Cloquet 74 in state high school final
1964 Augsburg 72 Duluth Branch 71 for right to play in national NAIA tournament
1965 Michigan sweeps Minnesota Gophers 91-78, 88-85
1966 Edina 62 Henning 55 (3OT) in state high school semi-finals
1967 Moorhead 73 Duluth Central 69 in state high school semi-finals
1968 Moorhead 108 St. Paul Highland Park 89 in state high school 1st round
1969 St. John's sweeps Winona State 53-50, 66-61 (OT) to move on to NAIA tournament

1970 Sherburn 78 South St. Paul 62 in state high school final
1971 St. Thomas 64 Augsburg 63 to move on to NAIA tournament
1972 Ohio State 50 Minnesota Gophers 44 in "basketbrawl"
1973 Iowa 79 Minnesota Gophers 77 to knock Gophers out of Big 10 title
1974 Melrose 58 Bemidji 42 in state high school "overall" final
1975 Little Falls 54 Chisholm 50 in state high school "overall" final
1976 Bloomington Jefferson 60 Hibbing 51 in state high school Class AA final
1977 Prior Lake 52 Duluth Central 49 in state high school Class AA final
1978 St. John's 98 Moorhead State 85 to move on to NAIA tournament
1979 New York Mills girls 61 Albany 52 in state high school girls Class A final

1980 Virginia 58 Minnesota Gophers 55 in NIT final
1981 Kansas 67 Minnesota Gopher women 61 in regional final
1982 Minnesota Gophers 57 Iowa 55 (3OT) en route to Big 10 title
1983 Woodbury 56 Coon Rapids 50 (OT) in state high school Class AA final
1984 White Bear Lake 51 Mpls. North 47 in state high school Class AA final
1985 White Bear Lake 67 Mpls. North 62 in state high school Class AA final
1986 Bloomington Jefferson 52 Duluth Central 51 in state high school Class AA final
1987 Blaine 62 Moorhead 56 (5 OT) in state high school Class AA semis
1988 Concordia (Moorhead) women 65 St. John Fisher 57 for NCAA D3 championship
1989 Duke 87 Minnesota Gophers 70 in Sweet 16

1990 Minnesota Gophers 82 Syracuse 75 in Sweet 16
1991 St. Thomas women 73 Muskingum 55 for NCAA D3 championship
1992 Minnesota Gophers 62 Georgetown 61 for NIT title
1993 Cretin-Derham Hall 72 Elk River 69 (2OT) in state high school Class AA semi
1994 Minnesota Gopher women 81 Notre Dame 76 in NCAA tournament
1995 Mpls. North 54 Staples-Motley 52 in state high school Sweet 16 final
1996 Mpls. North 67 St. Thomas 65 in state high school Sweet 16 semi-final
1997 Wabasso 117 Red Lake 113 (OT) in state high school Class A semi's
1998 Anoka Ramsey CC women 73 DuPage (IL) 48 for NJCAA D3 title
1999 Washington (St. Louis) women 74 St. Benedict's 65 for NCAA D3 title

2000 Minnesota Timberwolves 101 Indiana 100 on half-court shot by Malik Sealy
2001 Lakeville girls 53 Woodbury 52 (OT) in state high school girls Class AAAA 1st round
2002 Minnesota Gopher women 92 Wisconsin 85
2003 Minnesota Gopher women win at #9 Stanford to advance to NCAA Sweet 16
2004 Minnesota Gopher women 82 #1 Duke 75 for a trip to the Final Four
2005 Hopkins 71 Eastview 60 (OT) in state Class AAAA final; Blake Hoffarber's "butt shot"
2006 Winona State 74 Mankato State 71 after trailing by 16 in NCAA D2 regional game
2007 Winona State 69 Minnesota Gophers 64 in exhibition game
2008 Jordan girls 79 Crookston 74 as Chambers scores 47 in state high school girls Class AA semi
2009 Mankato State women 103 Franklin Pierce 94 in D3 women's championship game

2010 St. Paul Johnson boys 86 Hopkins 78 in matchup of 2 state champions
2011 St. Thomas 78 Wooster 54 in NCAA D3 championship game
2012 Osseo boys 87 Hopkins 86 (3OT) state AAAA semi-final
2013 The Minnesota Lynx sweep 7 playoff games without a loss
2014 Lakeville North boys 84 Hopkins 82, Class AAAA final, JP Macura 43 points
2015 Minnesota Lynx 80 Indiana Fever 77, Game 3, WNBA finals, Maya Moore hits buzzer-beater
2016 Minnesota Gopher women 112 Northwestern 106 (2OT) as Rachel Banham scores 60
2017 Minnesota Lynx 85 L.A. Sparks 76 in final game of WNBA playoffs
2018 Cretin 79 Apple Valley 78 Class AAAA final on last-second dunk by Daniel Oturu
2019 Minnesota Gopher men 59 Wisconsin 52, Gophers move to 12-2

2020 St. John's 82 St. Thomas 63, MIAC playoff finals

2021 Chaska girls 67 Hopkins 62, state tournament semi-final match of unbeatens

2022 Minnesota Gopher men 75 at Michigan 65 on December 11, one of the most unbelievable wins ever at any level; Gophers go to 9-1

2023 St. Michael-Albertville girls 71 Hopkins 70, Class AAAA girls state final

Coach of the Year 1895-2023

Coach of the Year 1895-2023

Most awards--Cooke (9), Hutton (5), Dean, Cowles, Kundla, Mosher Hanson, Haskins, Riverso, Reeve (3 each), Diebold, Cleve, Dutcher, Schiffler, MacMillan, McHale, Saunders, Durbin, Smith, Fritz (2 each)

1895--Ray Kaighn, Hamline

1896--Dr. Louis J. Cooke, Minneapolis YMCA

1900--Cooke, Minnesota

1901--Cooke

1902--Cooke

1903--Cooke

1906--Cooke

1907--Cooke

1913--Rev. Fred B. Hill, Carleton

1914--Harry Gammons, Stillwater

1915--Raymond Hanson, Red Wing

1916--Claude Hunt, Carleton

1917--Cooke

1918--Windy Levis, Carleton

1919--Cooke

1920--Earl Jackson, Carleton

1921--Weston Mitchell, Mpls. Central

1922--Everett Dean, Carleton

1923--Dean

1924--Dean

1925--Edwin McKee, St. Paul Mechanic Arts

1926--B.F. Borchert, Gaylord

1927--Otto Engenbrecht, Mpls. South

1928--Glenn Hanna, Moorhead

1929--Ray Parkins, Mpls. Edison and Jesse Stasch seniors

1930--Ozzie Cowles, Carleton

1931--Frank Cleve, Concordia (Moorhead)

1932--Marshall Diebold, Carleton

1933--Diebold

1934--Harvey Roels, Chisholm

1935--Joe Hutton, Hamline

1936--Hutton

1937--Dave MacMillan, Minnesota

1938--MacMillan

1939--Moose Krause, St. Mary's

1940--Walt Mikulich, Breckenridge

1941--Muxey Anderson, Buhl

1942--Hutton

1943--Harry Nelson, St. Paul Washington

1944--Cleve, Mpls. Patrick Henry

1945--Dick Buckley, Ely

1946--Chet Bisel, Lynd

1947--Jim Withan, Mankato State

1948--John Kundla, Minneapolis Lakers

1949--Cowles, Minnesota

1950--Paul Sokol, St. Thomas

1951--Hutton

1952--Butsie Maetzold, Hopkins

1953--Mario Retica, Hibbing

1954--Gus Young, Gustavus Adolphus

1955--Cowles

1956--Wayne Courtney, Mpls. Roosevelt

1957--Hutton

1958--Norm Olson, Duluth Branch

1959--Jack Thurnblad, Wayzata

1960--Richie Olson, Edgerton

1961--Lloyd Peterson, Minnesota-Duluth

1962--Red Severson, St. Cloud State

1963--Glenn Mattke, Marshall

1964--Kundla, Minnesota

1965--Kundla

1966--Tom Feely, St. Thomas

1967--Duane Baglien, Edina

1968--Orris Jirele, Rochester Lourdes

1969--Al Wold, Rochester John Marshall

1970--Bill Fitch, Minnesota

1971--Jim Hastings, Duluth Central

1972--Bill Musselman, Minnesota

1973--Les Wothke, Winona State

1974--Del Schiffler, Melrose

1975--Bob McDonald, Chisholm

1976--Ed Prohofsky, Mpls. Marshall-University

1977--Jim Dutcher, Minnesota

1978--Ellen Mosher, Minnesota women

1979--Dan Smith, St. John's men

1980--Dave Schellhase, Moorhead State men

1981--Mosher

1982--Dutcher

1983--Schiffler, Woodbury boys

1984--Dale Race, Minnesota-Duluth men

1985--Mosher Hanson

1986--Butch Raymond, St. Cloud State men

1987--Jack Evens, Bloomington Jefferson boys

1988--Duane Siverson, Concordia (Moorhead) women

1989--Clem Haskins, Minnesota men

1990--Haskins

1991--Ted Riverso, St. Thomas women

1992--Len Horyza, Cretin boys

1993--Mike Durbin, St. Benedict's women

1994--Steve Fritz, St. Thomas men

1995--Riverso

1996--Kevin McHale & Flip Saunders, Minnesota Timberwolves

1997--Haskins

1998--McHale & Saunders

1999--Durbin

2000--Larry McKenzie, Mpls. Patrick Henry boys

2001--Smith

2002--no award

2003--Mark Hanson, Gustavus Adolphus men

2004--Pam Borton, Minnesota women

2005--Myron Glass, Rochester Lourdes girls

2006--Mike Leaf, Winona State men

2007--Matt Marganthaler, Mankato State men

2008--Paul Fessler, Concordia (St. Paul) women

2009--Pam Gohl, Mankato State women

2010--Vern Simmons, St. Paul Johnson boys

2011--Fritz--2nd award, 1st since 1994
2012--Ruth Sinn, St. Thomas women

2013--Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota Lynx
2014--Melissa Guebert, Eastview girls
2015--Reeve
2016--John Tauer, St. Thomas men
2017--Reeve
2018--Willie Braziel, Columbia Heights boys
2019--Aaron Greiss, Augsburg men, and Ted Riverso, Augsburg women--Riverso 3rd award, others 1991 and 1995

2020--John Herbrechtsmeyer, Bethel women

2021--Mandy Pearson, UMD women

2022--Lori Fish, St. Cloud State women

2023--Pearson

Boys State Tournament Statistical Analysis

OK, one final commentary about the boys state tournament. Some of you may know that I've been tracking the scoring averages of the state tournament, well, since 1913. Scoring increased, well, not from the beginning. It actually started high (34-21 in 1913), then declined for a quarter-century with an all-time low of 32 points for both teams in 1920, 1925 and 1926. After that scoring increased pretty much steadily until it reached an all-time high of 79-58 (137 total points) in 1968. That remains the record to this day.

After that, state tournament scoring dropped precipitously to 52-43 in 1978, and it was under 100 again in 1983. Some of you may remember that the 3-point shot was adopted quite explicitly to increase the pace and action and scoring, that is, to make basketball more exciting for the fans. 

Well, state tournament scoring reached 120 points again in 1988, the first year of the 3-pointer in Minnesota high schools, and in 1997, the first year of 4 classes. But, it only reached 120 again in 2006. Since 2006, the average state tournament score exceeded 120 points 12 of 17 years. Thanks in part to the 3-pointer.

But the point was not just to increase scoring, it was to increase excitement. The fact is that if you pretend that there's no 3-pointer, if you give 2 points for every field goal, well, then, scoring is still below 120 points. Take 2023 for example.

4A winners made 22-of-38 2-pt FG (58%), 6.5-of-18 3-pt FG (36%) and 13-of-18 FT (72%)

4A losers     15-of-35 (43%)     7-of-21 (33%)     13-of-18 (72%)

3A winners     20-of-35 (57%)     6-of-15 (40%)     12-of-18 (67%)

3A losers     13-of-27 (45%)     6-of-20 (30%)     12-of-17 (71%)

2A winners     17-of-34 (50%)     8-of-20 (40%)     14-of-20 (70%)

2A losers     16-of-37 (43%)     6-of-22 (27%)     9-of-13 (69%)

1A winners     17-of-34 (50%)     5-of-15 (33%)     10-of-15 (67%)

All winners     19-of-35 (54%)     6-of-17 (35%)     12-of-18 (67%)     69 points (without the 3=63)

All losers     14-of-32 (44%)     6-of-21 (28.5%)     10-of-15 (67%)     58 points (without the 3= 52)

So what does all of this mean.

1) Winning basketball means making more 2 pointers than your opponents. Games are not won and lost on 3s and free throws.

2) If not for the 3-pointer (12 of them, worth 12 more points than a 2-pointer), if not for that, scoring would average 63-52. Well, when basketball scoring was on the rise in the 1940s and 1950s, well, scores of 63-52 were standard issue by the mid-1950s. When scoring dropped after about 1970, it was below 63-52 through most of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. So games today are a little high scoring than they were in the '70s, '80s and '90s, even if you normalize for the 3-pointer. But, just a little. In fact, the pace of the game today is closer to the '70s, '80s and '90s, when everybody said the game was boring, than to the '60s. 

3) My belief is that the higher scores today--again, after you normalize for the 3--are due to higher shooting percentages. The pace of the game, in other words, is not any faster than it was. The number of FG attempts has not increased, it has probably dropped a little bit.

4) Not only that but you've now got 33 FT attempts per game. For many many years, basketball fans and coaches and anybody who cared about the game chafed at the number of FT being shot. #1, free throws were not as good of a test of skill as FG. Games, people thought, should be decided by FG, not FT. Well, in this year's state tournament, that was the case. The average winner made 5 more FG than the average loser, while both made the same number of FT.

But in addition to that, in granddad's day, they thought that FT were boring. They slowed the game down, they interrupted the real action. Are 33 FT too many? Does it slow down the game too much? Eye of the beholder. But one thing I've seen at the high school level is kids playing the game like the pros and the colleges do. What that means is that they drive the ball into the paint and attack the rim, and throw up a shot that has zero chance of going into the basket. The only purpose of the shot is to try to draw the foul. My personal opinion is that too often the officials bailed out kids taking terrible shots that were never going to go in the basket. If a kid drives into the lane and is out of control and has no shot, that should be the offense's problem. Too often, the officials make it the defense's problem. I mean, the defense can't hardly get the hell out of the way fast enough. Oh, and they make it the fans' problem, too, because they interrupt the action so that that kid can shoot a couple of ill-deserved FT. And, at 67%, they're not making any more FT as a percentage than we made 50 years ago. What's with that?

Stop calling bail-out fouls and, guess what? Kids will quit taking these terrible, stupid shots and the action on the floor will continue and it will be much more exciting. 

5) But, anyway, my main point is that the 3-point shot has shifted the action from the half-court to the full-court. And that's a good thing. But it has not increased the pace of the game as measured by the number of possessions and FG attempts. Cutting down on bail-out calls strikes me as the quickest and easiest way to increased the pace and the excitement of the game.

Can somebody pass that on to the MSHSL because I can assure you they don't want to hear this from me.

Jackson Fowlkes Makes History and Other Footnotes to the Boys Tournament

 No, this is not going to be a rant about the all-tournament teams. Actually they did an unusually nice job this year. One, they bucked tradition in limiting AAAA champion Wayzata to just 2 picks, and rightfully so. I thought they missed on C.J. O'Hara but once the gave Wayzata 2 picks it might not have seemed right to give Park Center 3. 

In AAA they very rightfully dipped down to honor Matthew Bothun of St. Francis despite the fact that his team didn't win a game. Here I thought they missed on Abraham Soumis of Hermantown.

In AA I thought they missed on Aeron Stevens of PEM and Leonard Levy of Minnehaha, but who you gonna bump off? Kole Hanson also had to be in the conversation but you can't hardly pick 3 guys from the 3rd place team.

In Class A, I could make a case for Noah Sundquist, Carson Brown and Clint Determan but, again, who you gonna bump?

So any way, no, this is not my usual rant about the all-tournament teams.

Jackson Fowlkes Makes History

Jackson Fowlkes joined Casmir Chavis representing AAAA runner-up Park Center on the all-tournament team. This means that the 2 junior leap-frogged the Pirates seniors C.J. O'Hara and JJWare in this regard. And along wit Chiang Ring, they represent as good of a "big 3" as anybody is going to have going into next season. You can chalk Park Center in at the pre-season #1 right now.

But this is not what will make Jackson Fowlkes famous. No, he made history by being just the 3rd player in 110 years to make the all-tournament team coming off the bench. He did not start any of the 3 games, but finished as Park Center's #3 scorer with 37 points while adding 10 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and 2 blocks.

The only players to achieve this rarity previously are Loren Stadum of Thief River Falls in 1938 and Mike Weah of St. Bernard's in 2009. (No, Dave Meisner did not accomplish this. He did not start Cloquet's 1st round game in 1962, but he did start the consolation semi and final.)

Next Year

One of the nice things about the state tournament, especially in this modern era of repeat success, is that it provides a preview of next year. We're going to limit our comments to AAAA. And as we've said, you can chalk Park Center in at pre-season #1. Here's the rest of the top...

1. Park Center--Casmir Chavis, Jackson Fowlkes and Chiang Ring return

2. Minnetonka--Andy Stefonowicz, Jordan Cain and Duke Richardson. By the way, the new section assignments come out next week, but it looks like Minntonka and Edina will return to Section 6 for reasons that are discussed below,

3. Shakopee.

4. East Ridge.

5. Hopkins

6. Edina

7. Lakeville North--Robison, Drake and Quam return.

8. Lakeville South

9. Bloomington Jefferson--Daniel Freitag

10. Tartan

Your state tournament semi-finals then are Park Center-East Ridge and Minnetonka-Shakopee, no longer in the same section.

Section Assignments

It looks like Cooper and Mpls. South (both section 6) and Northfield (section 1) will drop down to AAA while Kennedy, New Prague, Two Rivers (formerly Sibley) and Sauk Rapids move up. The following moves will keep everybody at 8 teams per section, except as noted.

1--drop Northfield, add New Prague. Wow, that's easy.

2--drop Edina and Tonka, add Jefferson and Kennedy.

3--drop Jefferson, add Sibley.

4--add Roseville, maybe drop North St. Paul.*

5--drop Roseville, add Centennial.

6--drop Cooper and South, add Edina and Tonka.

7--drop Centennial, add Rogers.

8--drop Rogers, add Sauk Rapids.

OK, I'm not sure how they handle this. Cretin is not among the top 64 in enrollment but will surely continue to play up in AAAA. North St. Paul (also section 4) is #64. Does North St. Paul drop down to AAA or are there 65 teams in AAAA? This also accounts for the fact that 3 teams appear poised to drop from AAAA to AAA but 4 appear ready to move up from AAA to AAAA. These 7 teams passed North St. Paul (#64 in enrollment) either going up or going down. Cretin is in fact the 4th team that is moving "into" AAAA but of course they were already there. 

Anyway, on April 6, all will be made clear by the MSHSL, along with changes to AAA, AA and A. I will add that at a glance, the following teams may be moving up or down in class. There are a variety of machinations and appeals and whatnot before the final assignments are made. But just based on enrollment, pure and simple, here are some potential changes.

Down from AAA to AA--Hibbing and Jordan

Up from AA to AAA--Rock Ridge, Fergus Falls, St. Paul Washington and Mpls. Edison

In other words, no bombshells.

The Best (Teams) of the Boys State Tournament

 Most years, it's pretty much automatic to say that the Class AAAA champion is the #1 team in the state. But not always. In the 21st century we've named the following teams #1 at the end of the year. All were the AAAA champion unless otherwise indicated.

2000--Mpls. Patrick Henry 28-1, AAA champion. Class AA champion Litchfield defeated Class AAAA champion Tartan 74-49 in a holiday tournament.

2001--Osseo 30-1

2002--Hopkins 28-2

2003--Litchfield 30-2, AA champion. Litch defeated AAA champion Henry 66-44 in the regular season, and Henry won the Minneapolis city title over Class AAAA champion Mpls. North.

2004--Chaska 30-2

2005 and 2006--Hopkins 31-1 and 30-2

2007--St. Thomas 30-2, AAA champion over Buffalo 28-3, AAAA champion

2008--Minnetonka 28-3

2009--Hopkins 31-0

2010--St. Paul Johnson 32-0, AAA champion, defeated AAAA champion Hopkins 86-78 in a holiday tournament.

2011--Hopkins 31-1

2012--Osseo 30-2

2013--DeLaSalle 30-1, AAA champion over Apple Valley 31-1. DeLaSalle beat Park Center while Apple Valley split with Park Center.

2014--#1-rated Apple Valley lost to Cretin in the section final. Lakeville North upset Hopkins in the state final to finish 26-5. We stuck with Apple Valley.

2015--Apple Valley 30-2

2016--Hopkins 31-1

2017--Apple Valley 30-2

2018--Cretin 30-2

2019--Hopkins 27-4 swept 2 games with Class AA champion Minnehaha 29-2.

2020--Eden Prairie 28-0--state tournament was cancelled.

2021--Minnehaha 20-1, AAA champion

2022--Park Center 31-1 split 2 games with AAA champion Totino-Grace so we at least had to think abuot it a little bit.

So you would think that the benefit of the doubt in 2023 would go to Wayzata. They're just 27-4. Only one #1 team this century had 4 losses. But Wayzata started 0-3, then went 24-1 the rest of the way. More to the point, if not Wayzata, who? Only Park Center in AAAA had a better record at 28-3 and Wayzata beat them in the state final. Lakeville North matched Wayzata's 4 losses and beat Wayzata in December (and lost to Park Center in December) and of course lost to Wayzata in the state semi-final.

For the record, there's AAA champion Totino-Grace. They lost 8 times, 5 times to Minnesota teams--3X to  Lakeville North and Park Center, but also to Osseo and Minnetonka. So, no.

Among the girls, we picked Hopkins at #1 despite their loss to St. Michael-Albertville in the state final. Hopkins beat St. Michael 2 out of 3, and rallied from a 17 point deficit in the 2nd half to get within one. So this is not quite analogous. Nobody beat Wayzata twice.

1. Wayzata 27-4

2. Park Center 28-3

3. Lakeville North 28-4

4. Totino Grace 24-8

5. DeLaSalle 26-6

6. Eastview 23-9

7. Albany 32-1

8. White Bear Lake 23-8

9. Andover 23-9

10. Minnetonka 23-8

The Best (Individuals) of the Boys State Tournament

What the hell, let's just start out with my opinions.

Then, down below, you'll see the objective reality, that is the statistical leaders, but with a caveat. The MSHSL does not publish box scores for consolation games. I found box scores for some of those games (on the Hub or in hometown media) but not for others, and even when I did they mostly did not include anything other than scoring. So some of these numbers and rankings are approximate. None of that would have affected the all-tournament teams, I don't think.

My All-Tournament Teams

C- Colin Mulholland, Holy Family, 6-11, Sr., 78 pts in 3 games; 26 reb., 5 asts., 6 stls , 15 blks in 2 games

PF- Jackson McAndrew, Wayzata, 6-9, Jr., 67 pts., 24 reb., 3 asts, 1 ast., 3 blks. Head to head McAndrew had 28 pts and 8 reb. vs. Lakeville North and Nolan Winter, who had 24 pts and 5 reb. as Wayzata won 79-77 en route to the state title. McAnderw had 25 pts and 9 boards in the final. The #1 breakout player of the tournament.

SF- Owen Leach, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, 6-6, Sr., 88 pts., 25 reb., 4 asts., 1 stl. Overall tournament scoring leader.

PG- Casmir Chavis, Park Center, 6-3, Jr., 55 pts., 16 reb., 20 asts., 6 stls, 2 blks. Class AAAA MVP. Overall 2023 state tournament MVP.

SG- Nasir Whitlock, DeLaSalle, 6-1, Sr., 64 pts, 12 reb., 19 asts., 7 stls. Class AAA MVP.

6th- Isaiah Hagen, Orono, 6-4, Sr., SG, 80 pts, 17 reb., 7 asts., 7 stls.

2nd Team

C- Nolan Winter, Lakeville North, 6-11, Sr., 70 pts, 22 reb., 3 assts., 2 blks.

PF- Boden Kapke, Holy Family, 6-11, Sr., 68 pts, 29 reb., 8 asts., 5 blks.

SF- Scott Hondl, Albany, 6-6, Sp., 48 pts, 28 reb., 17 asts, 1 stl., 4 blk. Class AA Co-MVP.

PG- Taison Chatman, TG, 6-4, Sr., 48 pts, 18 reb., 18 asts., 5 stls.

SG- Tysen Gerads, Albany, 6-3, Sr., 69 pts., 12 reb., 14 asts., 2 stls, 1 blk. Class AA Co-MVP.

6th- Aidan Wichmann, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, 6-2, Sr., 65 pts, 20 reb., 20 asts, 7 stls. Class A MVP

3rd Team

C- Patrick Bath, TG, 6-9, Sr., 44 pts., 27 reb., 2 asts., 1 stl., 5 blks.

PF- Matthew Bothun, St. Francis, 6-9, Sr., 16 pts, 4 reb. in one game

SF- Grayson Grove, Alexandria, 6-9, Jr., 41 pts, 15 reb., 7 asts, 4 stls, 6 blks in 2 games

PG- Jerome Williams, Minnehaha, 5-10, Jr., 58 pts, 10 reb., 16 asts, 2 stls, 2 blks.

SG- Ben Kopetzki, Andover, 6-1, Sr., 78 pts.

6th- Henry Tibbitts, Wayzata, 6-1, Sr., 59 pts, 3 reb., 10 asts., 3 stls.

Honorable Mention--it was hard to leave Rolyns Aligbe, Drew Werkman, Erick Reader and Abraham Soumis off of these teams.

Statistical Leaders

Overall Scoring--Leach, DGF 88; Hagen, Orono 80; Kopetzki, Andover 78; Mulholland, Holy Family 78; Winter, Lakeville North 70

Overall Rebounding--Reader, New Life 40; Kapke, Holy Family 29; Bath, TG 27; Mulholland 26; Leach 25

Overall Assists--Chavis, Park Center; Gunderson, Orono; and A. Wichmann, RTR 20; Whitlock, DLS 19; Chatman, TG 18; Hagen 17

Overall Steals--Kole Hanson, Holy Family 9; R. Aligbe, Minnehaha 8; Briggs, New Life 8;  I. Johnson, TG 8; Hagen 7; Whitlock 7; Werkman and A. Wichmann, RTR 7

Overall Blocks--Mulholland 15; Kloss, Eastview 11; Ring, PC 9; R. Aligbe 6; Grove, Alex 6

The most amazing statistical accomplishment was Colin Mulholland's 13 blocks in the 1st round. I haven't been able to ascertain whether that might be an all-time tournament record, but until I can determine it one way or the other, I'll say that's it's about 50/50 that it is.

Class AAAA

Scoring--Kopetzki 78, Winter 70, McAndrew 67

Rebounds--McAndrew 24, Winter 22, Ring 21

Assists--Chavis 20, O'Hara 10, Tibbitts 10

Steals--Chavis 6, Omweno 4; Kloss, Mekonnen, Stefonowicz, Tibbitts 3

Blocks--Kloss 11, Ring 9; McAndrew, O'Hara 3

Class AAA

Scoring--Hagen 80, Whitlock 64, Chatman 48 (Tschetter 43 and Grove 41 with one box score missing)

Rebounds--Bath 27, Chatman 18, Hagen 17

Assists--Gunderson 20, Whitlock 19, Chatman 18

Steals--I. Johnson 8, Hagen 7, Whitlock 7

Blocks--Grove 6, Bath 5, Pounds 4

Class AA

Scoring--Leach 88, Mulholland 78, T. Gerads, Albany 69

Rebounds--Kapke 29, Mulholland 26, Leach 25

Assists--Hondl, Albany 17; J. Williams, Minnehaha 16; Gerads 14

Steals--Hanson 9, Aligbe 8, Mulholland 6

Blocks--Mulholland 15, Aligbe 6, Kapke 5

Class A

Scoring--A. Wichmann 65, Werkman 50, Isaac Asuma 46

Rebounds--Reader 40, Cole Hendrick and Isaac Asuma 18

Assists--A. Wichmann 20, Isaac Asuma and Max Briggs 10

Steals--Briggs 8, Wichmann and Werkman 7

Blocks--Strinmoen 5 (all in one game), Carson Brown and Gravely 3

Class AAAA Day 1

 I decided I would spend day 1 at Target Center. I didn't see Class AA, I saw Class AAAA which, most years, are the best teams in the state. Lately, you'd have to say that Totino-Grace and DeLaSalle are pretty close to the best AAAA teams but that's a question for another day. For now, again, it's Class AAAA.

Park Center 92 Andover 72

On paper, you'd have to say that Park Center justified its #1 seed with a convincing 20 point win over conference rival Andover. Park Center beat Andover by 20 points over their last 2 meetings. Well, now they won by 20 in this one game all by itself.

But if you haven't heard, it was obvious from the opening tip that Andover guard Sam Musungu was not himself. He was listless. He was almost always the 10th man to cross center-court. Park Center ran a lot of its 1st half offense 5-against-4. Musungu is an elite athlete and he was not gonna be mentally down. He was not out of shape. Ergo, he was sick. I texted Andover coach Jeremy Hable later and he replied that, yeah, Sam was "pretty sick" with "flu-ish" symptoms. It is unlikely you'll see him tomorrow in the consolation semi-finals. 

And, so, Park Center was able to run out to a 40-20 lead with 5 minutes remaining in the 1st half. It is very much to Andover's credit that they played even with the #1 seed the rest of the way. But after getting within 12 at 64-52 halfway through the 2nd half, Park Center outplayed them 28-20 the rest of the way. But, somehow, Musungu, after a truly dreadful and painful 1st half, bounced back and played with, well, let's say 50 percent more energy in the 2nd half, still only a third of his usual energy, still he finished up with 17 points, but just 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. The redoubtable Ben Kopetzki did what he could to fill the gap, as did the rest of the Andover rotation. Kopetzki finished with 22 points, 5 boards and 3 assists, but it was never going to be enough. To play and beat Park Center you're going to have to have all hands on deck and at maximum warp, and the Huskies just didn't have that today. 

Taking nothing away from Park Center. Their opponent was weakened, but they attacked relentlessly, blocking shots and turning them into fast break baskets on the other end. I wouldn't say they shot the ball great. Rather, they moved the ball great and got easy shots of which they made 62 percent. Against an aggressive Park Center defense, Andover shot just 38 percent. Again, that just wasn't going to cut it. 

Park Center was led by junior point guard Casmir Chavis, who just keeps getting better and better, with 18 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and even 2 blocked shots. 6-8 Chiang Ring, also a junior, was the other standout wit 13 points, 9 boards and 5 demoralizing blocked shots. But it was at least a 6-man effort as Joe Burgess added 15 points, JJ Ware 14 and 10 rebounds, Jackson Fowlkes (also a junior) with 14 points, and CJ O'Hara 12 with 6 assists. Even considering Andover's obvious problems today, it was an impressive performance by the Pirates.

Eastview 72 Minnetonka 68

This is not to say that Park Center's victory over Eastview in the semis is a done deal. The Lightning were obviously bigger but also quicker than Tonka in this one. As a result they ran out to leads of 9-0 and 20-9. Then, after Tonka got within one on 3 occasions, Eastview moved back out to a 34-28 half-time lead. It was more of the same in the 2nd half. Tonka actually took the lead at 39-38 and then 41-38, but again Eastview put the pedal down to run back to a 56-45 lead. I have never seen so many blocked shots turn into fast-break baskets the other way. There had to be 8 or 9 of them in the 2nd half alone. With 4 or 5 minutes left, LiveStats showed Eastview with a 10-1 advantage in blocks. They got 3 or 4 more the rest of the way and yet LiveStats still showed them at 10-1 at the end. Sorry. It had to be 15-1. 

In any event, Tonka came back again to tie it up at 67 at 2:02, but again Eastview's flexibility told the tale. The ability to score inside and out and the ability to get huge stops meant a 5-1 scoring edge over those 2 minutes and a 72-68 win for the Lightning. Senior guard Dylan Onweno made 3-of-7 3s and 5-of-6 2s to thwart every Tonka rally. 6-6 senior post Chet Kloss blocked 8 shots. Tonka's 6-2 junior guard Andy Stefonowicz scored 22 points but it wasn't enough. Eastview shot 55 percent and Tonka 37. 'Nuf sed. 

Lakeville North 87 Buffalo 59

Wayzata 81 White Bear Lake 61

The lower bracket was obviously nowhere near as exciting as the upper bracket. Lakeville North's awesome size advantage was way to much for Buffalo to contend with. The blocked shots were just 2-to-1, but the intimidation factor in the lane was huge, and so Lakeville North shot 61 percent and Buffalo 34 (40 percent on 3s but only 30 percent on 2s).

6-11 Nolan Winter scored 25 points for LN with 17 rebounds and 2 blocks. He may be the best Dakota County big ever to stoop to becoming a Wisconsin Badger. Ugh. LN's other stars did what they do--Jack Robison scored 16, Hudson Vaith 15 and Matt Drake 14.

Wayzata's size advantage over White Bear was nowhere near so extreme but a slight size advantage and a bigger advantage in quickness added up to a 54 percent (Wayzata) to 35 percent (White Bear) shooting advantage. Wayzata held White Bear guard Jack Janicki to a 5-of-18 shooting night and that alone was enough of a difference. Wayzata won both halves 38-25 an 43-36. The paint points were 36-20 Wayzata and the bench points 31-5. 

What's Next?

#1 and #2 (Park Center and Lakeville North) didn't do anything to relinquish their status as favorites to reach the finals but Eastview and Wayzata both enhanced their status as teams capable of pulling an upset. Once upon a time I picked Park Center 65 Eastview 63 and Lakeville North 67 Wayzata 64. Today I'd probably lean toward Park Center by a slightly wider margin and Lakeville North by a margin that is slightly smaller. 

Best of the Best

C- Chet Kloss, Eastview, 6-6, sr., 6 pts, 11 reb., 3 stl., 8 blk.

PF- Nolan Winter, Lakeville North, 6-11, sr., 25 pts, 17 reb., 2 blk.

PG- Casmir Chavis, Park Center, 6-4., jr., 18 pts, 5 reb., 11 asts, 2 stls., 2 blk.

CG- Ben Kopetzki, Andover, 6-0, sr., 22 pts, 5 reb., 3 asts.

SG- Dylan Omweno, Eastview, 6-2, sr., 25 pts, 2 reb, 2 asts, 3 stls.

6th Player- Andy Stefonowicz, Minnetonka, 6-2, jr., 22 pts, 5 reb., 3 asts., 3 stls.

Boys State Tournament 2023--Deja Vu All Over Again

Couldn't help but notice....

Park Center

In Class AAAA, defending champion and #1 seed could end up playing all of the 3 same teams they played a year ago. In 2022, they beat Andover 74-60, Eastview 54-39 and Wayzata 58-53.

In 2023, they open with Andover. If Eastview and Park Center both win (or both lose), they'll play in the semi-finals again. It's just, which one. Championship semis or consolation semis. And, again, if Park Center and Wayzata both do the same things (both win-win, both win-lose, or both lose-win), then they'll play in one of the 3 finals--championship, 3rd place or 5th place. Has that ever happened, where a team plays the same 3 teams 2 straight years? I have no idea. Probably yes, but I don't have time to look it up right now.

Totino-Grace

Grace will not play 3 teams from last year as they open with St. Francis, who hasn't been in the tournament since 2015. But they could play Mankato East in the semis and DeLaSalle in the finals, both for the 2nd straight year. Last year they clobbered East 77-39, then eased by DeLaSalle 50-44. If that's how it works out, I expect both of those games to be closer this time around. 

In Class AA

Only Minnehaha and Pequot Lakes return from last year's field, but they did play each other for 5th place with Minnehaha winning 79-56. They're in opposite brackets again, so they would only play in one of the 3 finals.

But if it's real history you crave and not the ersatz kind that they call deju vu, there's this. Holy Family and Maple River could play in the semis if they both win-win or lose-lose. You may recall that they played in the 2007 AA final on one of the really great days of Minnesota boys basketball, when Ellsworth edges Cass Lake 74-73 on a last-second 3, then Holy Family surprised Maple River 60-57 in OT, and then St. Thomas and Buffalo followed with their titles.

The AA tournament was a thriller from day one, when Maple River shocked 3X defending champion Braham 68-59 in the 1st round. Meanwhile, Holy Family barely escaped Bagley 58-54. Both won easily in the semis. In the final, Trent Johnson and Mike Quammen went 2-against-5 and won as Johnson scored 16 points with 10 rebounds, 10 blocked shots, 6 assists and 5 steals. Incredible. 

Pequot and Plainview-Elgin-Millville played that year, too, but not each other. It was Pequot whom Maple River defeated in the semis 61-44. They finished 3rd. PEM did not win a game and did not play either of the main protagonists. A Maple River-Pequot matchup this week would have to happen in one of the finals.

Minnehaha has been in several recent tournaments but they have only played Pequot among this year's AA field. On the other hand, they played both Alexandria and DeLaSalle in 2020, when they played up in AAA, but needless to say, they won't play either of those guys this year.

And In Class A

The very first game is a replay as is the 4th. RTR defeated Nevis last year 74-71 in a consolation semi. In fact, no less than 5 Class A entries are returning--RTR, Nevis, Cherry, Sacred Heart and New Life. New Life defeated Sacred Heart 64-58, also in the 1st round. So those repeats are sure things. 

Cherry beat Nevis 68-57 in the 1st round last year and they could play this year in the 2nd. New Life clobbered Cherry 75-50 for 3rd place. Lots of people think they'll play for all the marbles this time around.

So, overall, you've got a lot of deja vu going on but the renewals that might turn out to be truly historic are more likely to be Holy Family-Maple River, Park Center-Wayzata and Totino Grace-DeLaSalle. The latter 2 would be in Saturday's finals, the former in Thursday or Friday's AA semis.

Boys State Tournament Preview--The Little Dogs and More fo the Big Dogs (The Pre-Tournament All-Tournament Candidates)

 Ok, these guys are not the Mastiffs and the Saint Bernards but no, they're not exactly Jack Russells and Yorkies. More like Shepherds and Huskies and Labs. Not little dogs, i guess, but tough, mid-sized dogs. Class AA and A.

Class AA

Holy Family is a prohibitive favorite here with 6-11 post Baden Kapke (22 pts an 13 reb), 6-11 Collin Mulholland (15 ppg) and 6-2, junior guard Kole Hanson (22 ppg), the latter 2 being in-bound transfers for this year. Holy Family lost to AAAA #1 Park Center 100-80, not much different from what AAAA teams did against Park Center. It's not obvious that Holy Family wouldn't be a strong contender to win in AAA if not in AAAA. They also played and beat 2 AA tournament teams, Albany and Plainview-EW, though by an average of just 70-65. So maybe they're not as dominant as they appear. Still, with 2 transfers, they became better and more cohesive as the year progressed.

If anybody can beat Holy Family, it might have to be Maple River though first they've got to get past Minnehaha. But they beat the Redhawks 68-63 earlier this year, so they can have some confidence. Maple River is led by Mason Schirman and Hayden Niebuhr, who total 34 ppg together. If Holy Family and Maple River indeed meet in the semi-final, it will be a replay of the 2007 final won by the Fire 60-57 in OT. It was a big upset because Maple River had surprised Braham and denied them a 4th straight title 68-59 in the 1st round. 

Along with Maple River at 29-2, Albany at 29-1 also comes in with an impressive record including wins over Eden Valley and Pequot and a loss to Holy Family by just 8 points. 

Still, Holy Family hardly seems poised for defeat. They beat Minnehaha 101-56! If I'm Holy Family, I'd rather play 'Haha in the semis than Maple River. If the Fire win, Boden Kapke will be the MVP.

Class A

In Class A, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton got the #1 seed and, hey, they're 28-1, and RTR has had a lot of success with 5 championship game appearances resulting in state titles in 2004, 2005 and 2018 and runners-up in 1988 and 1989.  But, the 2004 and 2005 champions won't have much impact in 2023, specifically if RTR meets Cherry in the semi-finals as expected. The question there will be how RTR's Aiden Wichmann and Drew Werkman, with 35 ppg, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals can match up with Cherry's 6-some of star players.

Cherry finished at just 26-4 and the #4 seed but it's hard to see them as anything other than the favorite with brothers Isaac, Noah and Isaiah Asuma who scored 37 ppg among them, though the younger brothers are just in 8th and 9th grade. Isaac is a U of M recruit, a 6-3 junior who scores 24 ppg. Plus sophomores Noah Sundquist, Andrew Staples and Carson Brown who score another 39 ppg. How can they not be the favorite? Well, they lost 4 times including to Class AA Minnehaha and to Class A New Life. 

I like Cherry over RTR 69-63 in the semis. Meanwhile, New Life and Spring Grove would also be a great semi-final matchup. New Life goes 4 deep with double digit scorers and has great size for Class A at 6-8, 6-7 and 6-4. Still, I like Spring Grove 58-56. In the final, I like Cherry 63 Spring Grove 57. Class A MVP is Isaac Asuma.

In summary, the 4 champions are expected to be Park Center, Totino-Grace, Holy Family and Cherry, but there is nobody, not even Park Center that will not have to win a tight game to do so. Holy Family seems most likely to win a little bit more easily. The top players might be:

C- Baden Kapke, Holy Family 6-11, sr., 22 ppg, 13 reb

PF- Nolan Winter, Lakeville North 6-11, sr., 23 ppg-12 reb

SF- Matthew Bothun, St. Francis, 6-9, sr., 25 ppg

PG-Nasir Whitlock, DeLaSalle, sr., 27 ppg

SG- Isaac Asuma, Cherry, 6-3, sr., 24 ppg

Second Team

C- Patrick Bath, Totino-Grace, 6-9, sr., 17 ppg

PF- Aeron Stevens, Plainview-Elgin-Millville, 6-7, sr., 25 ppg

SF- C.J. O'Hara, Totino-Grace, 6-4, sr., 18 ppg

PG- Ben Kopetzki, Andover, 6-0, sr., 25 ppg, 6 reb. 7 asts, 3 stls

SG- Isaiah Hagen, Orono, 6-3, sr., 23 ppg, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals

Third Team

F- J.J. Ware, Park Center, 6-6, jr., 18 ppg

F- Jack Robison, Lakeville North, 6-6, junior, 15 ppg, 5 reb, 3 asts

PG- Bralyn Steffensmaier, Alexandria , 5-11. jr., 22 ppg

CG- Kole Hanson, Holy Family, 6-2, jr. 22 ppg

SG- Hayden Tibbetts, Wayzata, 5-11, sr., 21 ppg

Boys State Tournament Preview --The Big Dogs

 That would be Class AAAA and Class AAA. And, hey, time is tight. As some of you know, I've just digested the girls tournament at all and now here come the boys on Tuesday no less.So my preview will be somewhat summary.

Class AAAA

The real question, maybe the only question, is will the real Park Center please stand up? I remember back in December, before I'd seen them myself, smart people saying Park Center was unbeatable. I mean, Park Center 102 DeLaSalle 71? Serious? They started out 7-0, scoring 97 points per game. On Feb. 21 they were 22-0. 

But, it does seem that the NW Suburban was a little down this year, and then Andover gave them a scare before losing 97-91. Then they lost 2 out of 3 to Elk River 73-70 and Maple Grove 67-64. Chiang Ring didn't play in the Maple Grove game.

Then it seems that they've gotten it back together in the post-season, winning 3 games by an average of 72-51. They've played 2 AAAA tournament teams, beating Lakeville North early 78-71 and Andover late. Somehow they dropped to #4 in QRF but cooler heads prevailed and they got the #1 tournament seed.

I think that Park Center is not unbeatable, and it's going to be a tight tournament with lots of close games. I also think Park Center is OK and that they'll win 3 games and repeat as state champions, but its not impossible that all 3 games will be decided by single digits, say 89-81 over Andover, 75-68 over Eastview and 77-73 over Lakeville North. 

It is also not at all unlikely that Wayzata might knock off Lakeville North in the semis. Wayzata started 0-3 but they're 24-1 since. This could be the best game of the tournament, though if the final is indeed 77-73, that sounds like a pretty good game too. If there's a dark horse, it is indeed Andover, the first team to really show Park Center to be merely mortal. They like to run. But of course who doesn't, but Andover just does it really well. So does Park Center. Tournament MVP will be C.J. O'Hara of Park Center.

Class AAA

As in AAAA, the defending champion is the #1 seed, and that's a pretty good recipe for success. Their 21-8 record is a little misleading with 3 losses against Wisconsin teams and the other 5 against AAAA teams. At 16-3, they tied for 2nd in the NW Suburban with Andover just one game behind Park Center against mostly AAAA teams. Not too shabby. So they'll get by St. Francis and 6-9 stud Matthew Bothun in the 1st round and either Alex and Mankato East in the semis. 

Meanwhile DeLaSalle and the eminently deserving Metro Player of the Year Nasir Whitlock will get by Stewartville in the 1st round. Orono will be a tough semi-final opponent, but the Islanders will win that one too.

A Totino-DeLaSalle final will be a doozy. Totino is deeper with 5 players scoring in double figures--6-9 Patrick Bath 17, 6-7 Isaac johnson 13, 6-4 Tommy Humphries 12, point guard Taison Chatman 11 and sophomore Tommy Wagner 10, plus Chiang Ring averaging 7 points and 6 boards. But DeLaSalle has Whitlock and his 27 ppg and he could be a difference maker. But, in the end I'll have to take Totino 68 DeLaSalle 67. Still, Whitlock is the AAA MVP.

The All-Around (All-Classes) Girls All-Tournament Teams and Stats Leaders 2023

 First Team

C--Nunu Agara, Hopkins, 6-3, sr., 15 ppg

PF--Taylor Woodson, Hopkins, 6-1, sr., 22 ppg

Wing--Olivia Olson, Benilde-St. Margaret's (Class AAA MVP), 6-1, jr., 26 ppg

PG--Maddyn Greenway, Providence (Class AA MVP), 5-9, fr., 36 ppg

SG--Tess Johnson, St. Michael-Albertville (Overall Tournament MVP), 5-10, sr., 26 ppg

6th Player--Liv McGill, Hopkins, 5-9, jr., 17 ppg

Second Team

C--Kendyl Lodermeier, Goodhue, 5-11, soph, 17 ppg

PF--Grace Counts, Providence, 5-11, sr., 16 ppg

SF--JaKahla Craft, St. Michael-Albertville, 5-9, jr., 17 ppg

PG--Brianna Simpson, Marshall, 5-8, sr., 22 ppg (1 game)

SG--Maren Westin, Becker, 5-8, sr., 18 ppg

6th Player--Alyssa Sand, Albany, 6-3, jr., wing, 16 ppg

Third Team

C--Lexi Karlen, Stillwater, 6-0, sr., 12 ppg

PF--Sierre Lumpkin, Benilde, 5-10, sr., 12 ppg

SF--Mari Ryberg, BOLD, 5-11, sr., 15 ppg (Class A MVP)

PG--Liana Buckhalton, Stillwater, 5-10, soph., 17 ppg

SG--Jordan Zubich, MIB, 6-0, jr., 19 ppg

6th Player--Kelly Boyle, Hopkins, 5-7, sr.m, 12 ppg

Stats Leaders

Note that Class A totals may not be accurate due to missing box scores, all totals other than Leading Scorers may also be inaccurate due to incomplete box scores.

Leading Scorers

AAAA--Tess Johnson 77 Taylor Woodson 67 JaKahla Craft 52

AAA--Olivia Olson 77 Hadley Thul 54 Maren Westin 54

AA--Maddyn Greenway 107 Addie Mack 55 Kendyl Lodermeier 50

A--Jordan Zubich 57 Sage Ganyo 48 Mari Ryberg 46 

Leading Rebounders

AAAA--Taylor Woodson 30

AAA--Olivia Olson 37

AA--Grace Counts 38

A--Mari Ryberg 31

Leading Assists

AAAA--Tess Johnson 18

AAA--Jayci Rath, Stewartville, 6-1, Fr., 11

AA--Maddyn Greenway 13

A--Sage Ganyo 16

Leading Steals

AAAA--Tess Johnson 10

AAA--Savannah Hedin and Maren Westin 7

AA--Angel Hill 13

A--Lainey Braulick 11

Leading Shots Blocked

AAAA--Nunu Agara 5

AAA--Sierre Lumpkin 4

AA--Alyssa Sand 9

A--Kenzie Visser 10

I now return to you control of your browser until, well, next week: The Boys!

The Real Girls All-Tournament Teams 2023--Class AAAA and AAA

 Check out my post re. Class A and AA for my rationale for why this all-tournament team is needed, which is to say that it tries to eliminate some of the silly stuff that goes into the official all-tournament team. Here we just try to pick the 10 best players rather than X number of players per team and players who are willing to come to Williams Arena to accept their trophy and other extrinsic stuff. Here, again, just the top 10 players in AAAA and AAA. 

Class AAAA

Tess Johnson, St. Michael-Albertville, 5-10, sr., CG, 77 pts, 26 reb, 18 asts, 10 stls

Taylor Woodson, Hopkins, 6-1, sr., wing, 67 pts, 30 reb, 10 asts, 6 stls

Alivia McGill, Hopkins, 5-9, jr, PG, 51 pts, 17 reb, 10 asts, 6 stls

Nunu Agara, Hopkins, 6-3, Sr., C, 46 pts, 22 reb, 5 asts, 6 stls, 5 blks

JaKahla Craft, St. Michael-Albertville, 5-9, jr., wing, 52 points,17 reb, 8 asts, 4 stls

Liana Buckhalton, Stillwater, 5-10, soph, PG, 51 pts, 10 reb, 7 asts, 3 stls

Molly Lenz, Eden Prairie, 5-8, sr., PG, 31 pts, 5 reb, 3 stls in 2 games

Kelly Boyle, Hopkins, 5-7, sr., CG, 35 pts, 9 reb, 6 asts, 4 stls

Marisa Frost, Centennial, 5-8, jr., PG, 54 pts

Lexi Karlen, Stillwater, 6-0, sr., C-F, 35 pts, 14 reb, 6 asts, 1 stl

Class AAA

Olivia Olson, Benilde-St. Margaret's, 6-1, jr., wing, 77 pts, 37 reb, 10 asts, 5 stls

Maren Westin, Becker, 5-8, sr., SG, 54 pts, 15 reb, 4 asts, 7 stls, 1 blk

Hadley Thul, Alexadria, 6-2, soph, wing, 54 pts, 13 reb, 5 asts, 6 stls, 1 blk

Dani Nuest, Becker, 5-7, sr., PG, 41 pts, 4 reb, 10 asts, 5 stls

Brianna Simpson, Marshall, 5-8, sr., CG, 22 pts, 7 reb, 3 asts, 2 stls in one game

Savannah Hedin, Stewartville, 5-8, jr., SG, 43 pts, 14 reb, 4 asts, 7 stls, 1 blk

Aneisha Scott, DeLaSalle, 5-5, soph., PG, 49 pts, 5 reb, 6 asts (the latter 2 stats in one game)

Sierre Lumpkin, Benilde-St. Margaret's, 5-10, sr., PF, 35 pts, 15 reb, 6 asts, 2 stls, 4 blks

Jessika Lofstrom, Grand Rapids, 6-0, jr., PF, 18 pts, 6 reb, 3 stls in one game

Haylie Strum, Stewartville, 5-6, sr., PG, 32 pts, 12 reb, 10 asts, 4 stls

The Real All-Tournament Players Girls 2023--Class A and AA

 Anyone reading this post already knows who made the official all-tournament teams. This is not that. This is the real best players in the tournament. Some of you of course know that I've been whining for years and years about the MSHSL all-tournament teams. Not only do they occasionally honor the wrong players. No. Given their weird formula for picking the honorees, they never honor the top 10 players. Now, I wouldn't mind so much if it were an honest enterprise. If they went ahead and admitted that their formula was that 3 of the top 10 players HAD TO BE on the champion, and 3 of the top 10 HAD TO BE on the runner-up, and every all-tournament player HAD TO BE on a team that won at least one game, and every all-tournament player HAD TO PLAY in a game where the all-tournament committee happened to have a member or two in attendance, and every all-tournament player HAD TO be willing to be in attendance Saturday night to accept their trophy.

If all of that were made clear, then fine. Pick who you like. Pick players who play by those rules. But that's not the case. The conceit remains. These are the 10 best players in each of the 4 classes. Well, they're not. They are the 10 players who meet the criteria listed above. And that's the truth.

And so I keep on posting my all-tournament teams which are meant to honor the 10 best players in each class. Period. Now, that's not to say you might not disagree with my choices. But they are what they are. The best players, in my opinion. Not 3 +3 +2 +2 or some other formula. Not just the players who are willing to show up on Saturday. The best players. Period. I apologize for the self-righteous attitude but, hey, I've been watching this happening for 40 to 50 years. It's never changed and it never will, and my point of view ill never change either. So here are the best players in each of the 4 classes. No disrespect is intended toward those players who made the official all-tournament team but aren't named here.

Class A

Mari Ryberg, BOLD, 5-11,  sr., wing, 46 pts, 31 reb, 10 asts, 10 stls, 2 blks

Jordan Zubich, MIB, 6-0, jr., wing, 57 pts, 12 reb, 8 asts, 7 stls, 2 blks

Sage Ganyo, MIB, 5-5, sr., PG 48 pts, 14 reb, 16 asts, 5 stls, 1 blk

Natalie Beaver, Hayfield, 5-11, C 31 pts, 15 reb, 3 asts, 3 stls, 2 blks in 1st round loss

Kenzie Visser, BOLD, 5-11, Jr, PF 34 pts, 27 reb, 5 asts, 5 stls, 10 blks

Ireland Stassen, Minneota, 5-8, sr., PG, 18 pts, 11 reb, 2 asts, 2 stls in 1st round loss 

Lainey Braulick, BOLD, 5-7, soph, PG, 42 pts, 14 reb, 13 asts, 11 stls

Abby Berge, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, 5-11, sr., PG, 34 pts, 12 reb, 5 asts, 4 stls, 1 blk in 2 of 3 games

Hali Savela, MIB, 5-8, sr., CG, 37 pts, 22 reb, 9 asts, 8 stls

Chelsea Christopherson, Hayfield, 5-6, jr., wing, 25 pts, 16 reb., 7 asts, 2 stls in 2 games

Class AA

Maddyn Greenway, Providence, 5-9, Fr., PG, 107 pts, 16 reb., 13 asts, 11 stls

Grace Counts, Providence, 5-11, Sr., PF, 49 pts, 38 reb, 11 asts, 8 stls, 4 blks

Alyssa Sand, Albany, 6-3, Jr., wing, 49 pts, 34 reb, 8 asts, 5 stls, 9 blks

Tori Oehrlein, Crosby-Ironton, 5-11, wing, 27 pts, 15 reb, 7 asts, 4 stls, 1 blk in one game

Angel Hill, Minnehaha, 5-9, jr., wing, 47 pts, 12 reb, 5 asts 13 stls 

Elizabeth Gadient, Goodhue, 5-10, jr., PG, 48 pts, 9 reb, 8 asts, 7 stls, 1 blk

Kendyl Lodermeier, Goodhue, 5-11, soph., C, 50 pts, 15 reb, 2 asts, 4 stls

Kylan Gerads, Albany, 5-11, jr., wing, 35 pts, 16 reb, 5 asts, 6 stls

Addie Mack, Minnehaha, 5-8, soph., PG, 55 pts, 8 reb, 1 asts, 6 stls

Tori Miller, Goodhue, 5-11, sr., SF, 34 pts, 17 reb, 7 asts, 2 stls

Please watch for our AAAA and AAA all-tournament picks in a separate post.

Hats off to Hopkins...and Providence and St. Michael-Albertville

Hopkins Vulnerable?

I wrote a post a couple of days ago called "Hopkins Girls Vulnerable." You may or may not choose to believe me. Obviously I didn't quite finish it and I didn't get it posted. I noted that they had lost 2 games this year for the first time since 2018. They lost to the amazing Providence Eagles 87-81 and they lost to Wayzata (55-53) in the Lake Conference for the 2nd time in recent years, but got their revenge in the section final (70-68). So, I dunno, it seemed like maybe they were vulnerable. And, in hindsight, yeah, they were vulnerable.

And, then, I noted that they would be playing St. Michael-Albertville in the final, and Hopkins beat St. Michael twice in the Lake Conference by an average of 89-80. So, suddenly Hopkins didn't seem so vulnerable anymore.

Well, then, as you know, Hopkins got blown out in the 1st half of the AAAA final 42-25 as St. Michael shot 61 percent and Hopkins just 21 percent. Tessa Johnson looked like the Player of the Year, which is of course exactly who she is with 12 points, 8 boards and 5 assists. The big difference maker was however JaKahla Craft who also played like the Player of the Year with 14 points, 5 boards, 3 assists and a steal. Only Taylor Woodson played like herself for Hopkins in the that 1st half with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. But, if you've seen Hopkins over the past 20 years, you knew that this game was not over.

Indeed, in the 2nd half, everybody for Hopkins played like Hopkins. Woodson had 10 points, Nunu Agara scored 12, Kelly Boyle 11 and Liv McGill 6. In the 2nd half, Hopkins was Hopkins. They scored 8 points off turnovers and 15 2nd chance points. And, yet, from 42-25, they fell behind by 20, 58-38 at 11:50, but even then you could feel the momentum going the other way. By 7:10 they were within single digits at 58-49 as the Knights went 0-for-5 from the field and turned it over an alarming 8 times over those 4:40. At 18 seconds Hopkins was within 2 as St. Michael turned it over another 7 times but saved their bacon by making 4-of-their last 8 shots. By now, it was too late. Hopkins was forced to foul and Tessa Johnson made 3-of-4 FT, so that Kelly Boyle's last-second 3 left them one point short. They out-scored the Knights 46-29 in the 2nd half.

St. Michael shot 49 percent, Hopkins 34. And even a ridiculous advantage of 23 more shots for Hopkins wasn't enough to overcome a full half of bad shooting.

So, just to be clear, Hopkins beat St. Michael 2 out of 3 and outscored them by 17 points overall. They outscored the Knights in 4 of 6 halves. But St. Michael won the state final. Can't take that away from them. 

Hopkins has won 8 state titles over 20 years (19 tournaments) and coulda/shoulda/woulda won in 2020 when they were 30-0 and won 2 tournament games by an average of 75-47 with Paige Bueckers when the final was cancelled. I give 'em that one for a total of 9 titles vs. now 4 losses in the final and another in the semis to Chaska in the semis in 2021. 

Over 20 seasons, Hopkins is 545-52 (.913). Year by year, that's as follows:

2004 31-1 defeated Lakeville 63-45 in state final, star player was Leslie Knight, coach Brian Cosgriff

2006 30-2 defeated Kennedy 65-58, Knight

2011 30-2 defeated Eden Prairie 67-45, Nia Coffey

2012 30-1 defeated Osseo 77-55, Coffey

2013 31-1 defeated Kennedy 68-45, Coffey

2015 31-1 defeated Eastview. T.T. Starks

2016 29-3 lost to Minnetonka 61-52 in final, Nia Hollie

2017 31-1 lost to Elk River 64-60 in final, Paige Bueckers

2018 28-4 lost to Eastview 68-63 in final, Bueckers

2019 32-0 defeated Stillwater 74-45, Bueckers

2020 30-0 won 2 tournament games by an average of 75-47 but final vs. Farmington was cancelled, Bueckers

2021 16-1 lost to Chaska 67-62 in semi-final, Maya Nnaji

2022 26-1 defeated St. Michael 72-56 in the final, Nnaji, coach Tara Starks

2023 28-3 lost to St. Michael 71-70 in the final

So, whatever else you might think, who would trade their post-season record for this one. Everybody, that's who. And my current point is that while, yes, St. Michael is the 2023 state champion, you can make a case that Hopkins is nevertheless the #1 team in the state, or at least in Class AAAA for the season. Again, they won 2 out of 3 and outscored their opponents in 4 out of 6 halves over the year. And, even after yesterday'a final, Hopkins is still #1 and St. Michael #2 according to QRF.

But then there's the Providence Lions

In the  end, Providence played one state champion, Class A MIB, whom they demolished 87-53. They didn't play AAAA champion St. Michael or AAA champion Benilde, but they beat #1AAAA seed Hopkins and split with #1AAA seed Becker. They were 8-0 against other state tournament entries. And, they might have the best player in the state in 9th grade guard Maddyn Greenway. She won't win Ms. Basketball. You gotta be a senior to do that and St. Michael's Tessa Johnson and Hopkins' Taylor Woodson and Nunu Agara would seem to be #1 through #3 among the seniors. But, again, Providence beat Hopkins head to head with Greenway scoring 41 points. In the state tournament, the top 3 scorers were Greenway 107, Olivia Olson 77 and Tess Johnson 77. Greenway is one of the top 5 players in the state at any rate and any age.

Who's #1?

So if you played a round robin, whether it's 2 teams or 3 or 5 or 8 or whatever, here's how it would work out. In other words, I'm basing this on a mini-regular season more than a one-and-done mini-state tournament where one specific matchup can throw everything out of whack. Not that I don't love the one-and-done state tournament. Everybody knows who the state champions are. But my top 10 is something different.

1. Hopkins 28-3

2. St. Michael 29-3

3. Providence 30-2

4. Chaska 27-2

5. Benilde 26-6

6. Wayzata 23-5

7. Becker 25-3

8. Eden Prairie 20-9

9. Stewartville 26-2

10. Albany 29-3

Actually, I ran an 8-team round-robin simulation, with any existing head-to-head meetings being regarded as decisive. There were of course several matchups where there was no real game. In any event, I came up with the following results. Totally speculative.

1. Hopkins and St. Michael 6-1 with Hopkins beating St. Michael and losing to Providence.

3. Providence 5-2 with losses to St. Michael and Benilde.

4. Benilde and Chaska 3-4

6. Wayzata 2-5

7. Becker and Eden Prairie 1-6

Is it too soon to assess the Rudy Gobert deal?

Hey, far be it from me to say I told you so. But, well, I told you so. Well, not you, specifically, but I told some of my basketball buddies that I didn't like the Rudy Gobert deal. You'll have to trust me on that. But, more to the point, I'm telling you now. I don't really like the Rudy Gobert deal. And not because Rudy doesn't seem like a good guy and a good basketball player. But there is not one but 2 good reasons, as I see it, not to like the deal.

1) The Wolves vastly overpaid, giving up 10 players for one. Anybody remember Herschel Walker? I mean the football player? The former Minnesota Viking?

2) What's the strategy? What's the game plan? I mean, obviously, there's the fact that the Wolves went 46-36 last year. This year, at this moment, they're 16-18 and out of the playoffs. I don't see how you can ignore that in thinking about the trade and the Wolves' plans and expectations, because clearly it's not going like anybody thought. Why not?

10 for 1

Unfortunately, the Wolves overpaying is an old story. Anybody remember Andrew Wiggins? The Wolves were so desperate to be rid of poor Andrew, and the best they could do for a former overall #1 pick was to get a player of approximately equal value, equal caliber, which is fair enough. But, in order to make the deal a reality it was the Wolves who betrayed their desperation by throwing in the draft pick in order to make it so. I mean, in return they got a player whom 3 teams had already given up on. And we're the ones who threw in a draft pick!

Now, to get Rudy, they gave up 5 players and 5 draft picks. The top 3 of the active players played 75 minutes per game and scored 25 ppg on approx. 45% shooting for the Wolves last year. This year, the 3--Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley in Utah, and Patrick Beverley in LA--have upped their performance to 79 minutes and 28 ppg on 43% shooting.And, yet the biggest loss among the 5 active players might one day be the rookie Walker Kessler, who is playing 18 minutes for Utah and scoring 7 ppg on 74% shooting. 

But, of course, the loss of these 5 players will over the next 7 years pale compared to the loss of 4 1st round draft picks in 2023, '25, '27 and '29, and a swap of 1st rounders in 2026. Wanna bet Utah gets the best of that deal, too? We'll be sending draft picks to Utah long after Rudy rides off into the proverbial sunset. This is shades of Joe Smith. You might recall he was signed in an illegal deal back around 2000, with the result that the NBA fined the Wolves 5 1st round draft picks. As a result, the Wolves were unable to draft and sign 1st rounders for 5 years, thus rendering themselves unable to surround Kevin Garnett with an appropriate supporting cast. He had to go to the Boston Celtics to win an NBA title, which is what he did.

So, I'm sorry. 10 for one is not a good deal. Obviously, this trade had nothing to do with the future. It was all about NOW. So, how's it going, NOW?

What's the Strategy?

So, last year the Wolves went 46-36, winning 56.1% of their games. Yes, they had to play in to the playoffs, but they only had to win one home game to do so. So far this season, they're 16-18, winning 47.5% of their games. OK, that's just 9 more losses in 100 games, but that's just enough to get you bounced out of the playoffs. Currently, the Wolves are tied for 10th and 11th in the west. I don't know if the 10th spot is decided by a tie-breaker or if they would have to play another play-in game. But, in order to get to the round of 8 in the west this year, they might have to win 3 games, all on the road, vs. just one home win last year. 

Now, I'm sure some of you are going to point out that Karl Towns is out. I would note that the Wolves were 10-11 and riding a 3 game losing streak when Karl got hurt. Since then, they're 5-7, so yes, they won 6 more games per 100 with Karl than they've won without him. But compared to a 6 per 100 recent decline, they had already lost 9 more games per 100 this year as compared to last year with Karl in the lineup.

Last year, the Wolves simply outscored people. They led the NBA in points per game and in 3-point shots made. They had a strategy. Their average game score was 116-113, and they made 15-of-41 3s or 36.6%. Not only did they outshoot their opponents (by only one percentage point each on both 2s and 3s but, still, they shot better than their opponents). But they also got off 4 more shots per game, by virtue of 2 fewer turnovers and one extra offensive board. And so we outscored our opponents 99-93 from the floor. The strategy was working.

So, then they traded 5 guys to get Rudy Gobert. Well, I'm happy to say that Rudy is keeping his part of the bargain with 14 points and 12 rebounds per game, vs. 7 and 8 for the guy he replaced, Jarred Vanderbilt. So far, so good.

But to get Rudy, they also traded away 2 fairly reliable scorers off the bench, Malik Beasley and Patrick Beverley, who between them scored 18 ppg on 40% shooting overall and 4 3-pointers per night on 33% on 3s. More to the point, much of their scoring came in games where Ant Edwards and/or DeAngelo Russell were having an off night. In that case, they had somebody on the bench to come in and keep the 3s coming. Now? Well, Beasley and Beverley have been replaced by Kyle Anderson and Austin Rivers who are scoring 12.5 ppg though it's true that they have a better shooting percentage. But they pass up shots that Beasley and Beverley not only took, but sometimes made. And, so we're taking 8 fewer 3 pointers per night compared to last year.

But, wait! The Wolves outscored their opponents 116-113 last year. This year they're scoring 115 ppg, just one point less (obviously). But, they're giving up 116, 3 points more. And while they got 4 more shots per game than their opponents, this year the opponents are getting 3 extra shots. So even though we're still outshooting them, they're scoring 96 ppg from the floor and we're scoring 94. (Last year, again, we outscored them 99-93 from the floor.) 

So the real culprit is what I call the "special teams." Last year we had 2 fewer turnovers per game and 2 more offensive rebounds, and thus 4 extra possessions. This year the turnovers are even, but the opponents are getting 3 more offensive rebounds. So they're getting the extra possessions. So with Rudy Gobert in the lineup, we're giving up 3 extra points and 3 more offensive rebounds. I'm not saying it's Rudy's fault. But, I am saying that whatever the strategy was, it ain't workin.'

For the record, the Wolves 4 returning starters--Edwards, Towns, Russell and McDaniels--are scoring one fewer point than last year. They're making 7.5 3s per night vs. 9 a year ago. And they're turning it over 2 more times per game. So in summary:

• the big 4 returnees are less productive. Edwards and Russell are scoring 40 ppg between them, and at least half of the NBA, maybe more, have 2 guards who are doing that or better. Even when they play well, they aren't always competitive.

• Gobert has filled the gap, but of course he wasn't supposed to fill a gap, he was supposed to make the Wolves better

• and, the productivity that we've lost off the bench has negated whatever improvements Gobert has brought and exacerbated things whenever Edwards and Russell aren't both playing well. 

And it's going to get worse. In 3 or 4 years, when Gobert calls it quits and we're still sending perfectly good draft picks to Salt Lake, we're really gonna regret this deal. What nobody thought was that we might regret it as soon as December of the first year of the trade--that is, today.

2022 Hoops Awards

Well, so we were waiting on the Minnesota Lynx to make our awards and, as you know, they kinda fizzled out. And, so did we. We kinda never got our head back into 2022. But with 2023 rapidly approaching, we've gotta take care of unfinished business. The envelopes, please.

Game of the Year

Honestly, there's not a lot of contenders. The best high school game was Cretin's 103-95 2 OT win over Eastview in the state tournament. I think it is the 1st time that 2 players have ever scored 40+ points in the same state tournament game (Jamal Ambrose 43, Tre Holloman 42, and Donhavan Cain was close behind with 39). But it was just for 3rd place. If it had been the title game, well, there's your Game of the Year.

So my choice is the Minnesota Gopher men winning at Michigan 75-65 on December 11 to run their record to 9-1. Yeah, things went downhill from there. But this was one of the most unbelievable wins ever and, just for a moment, hope sprung eternal.

Coach of the Year

I've always said that Minnesota's small college coaches are the best, and 2022 was no exception. I can make a major league case for Lori Fish, St. Cloud State women; Mandy Pearson, UMD women; Dan Smith, St. John's; and Justin Weick, UMD men. (Heck, I can make a case and I usually do, as some of you know, make a case for Pearson every year.) And, of course, the sentimental favorite was and is Ben Johnson of the Gopher men. And I could argue for Chris Finch, who got the Timberwolves (of all people) to take things seriously. But, no, returning to the 4 small college coaches:

• All 4 won or tied for 1st in their conference in the regular season

• 2 of them--Pearson and Smith--won the conference post-season tournament

• But only one won an NCAA tournament game, and that was Lori Fish

St. Cloud and UMD tied for 1st in the NSIC regular season at 19-2. In fact UMD's 2 losses were both two St. Cloud. But in the post-season tournament, UMD demolished St. Cloud 62-39. But, the tie-breaker is that one lonely NCAA tournament win and, again, it and the Coach of the Year award goes to Lori Fish. And, OK, 2nd place to Ben Johnson, miracle man for awhile.

Team of the Year

For awhile there, again, the Minnesota Gopher men were the most amazing story in decades, but the wheels did after all come off. And the Minnesota Timberwolves were vastly improved but still couldn't win a post-season series. And none of the leading small college teams won more than one post-season game.

So the choice again is the Hopkins girls who won the state title with a 26-1 record, but undefeated against Minnesota competition. 2nd place to the Park Center boys (31-1).

Player of the Year

And, now, the big, big, big award.

• Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards played their way into contention this year.

• Jamison Battle and Peyton Willis played their way into...and, then, out of...contention.

• Brooke Olson of the UMD women is my favorite college player, ahead of UMD men Drew Blair and Austin Andrews.

• It was hard to handicap the high schools with a pair of surprise choices for Mr. and Ms. Basketball, but I think the best high school player was Mara Braun of Wayzata, though I know she missed some time with injuries and her team (again) didn't get to the state tournament. (Same section as Hopkins....) 

So, nobody is an obvious choice. Just put them all in the hopper and stir it up really good, and pull out a winner...

Karl-Anthony Towns. If you saw him score 60 then you know what I mean. And the way he is playing right now, early in the 2023 season, I would have to say 2022 might be his last chance. So, yeah, Karl is the choice for Player of the Year. 2nd place goes to Ant Edwards.