Class B

In 1971, after 58 years of single-class state tournament play, the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL), initiated play in two classes for larger and smaller high schools. The fact is that the smaller schools had complained about the difficulty of competing with larger schools right from the first year of state tournament play in 1913. Over the years, a variety of strategies was attempted to address this problem. 

From 1923 through 1927, a Class B tournament was held--without sanction by the Minnesota State High School League, actually--at Hamline University. The tournament was for "high school departments" in "graded schools." These were not high schools at all, but schools that offered some, limited high school curriculum to older students. The tournament was sometimes referred to as the "graded" tournament or the "department" tournament. So it didn't really address the complaints of the smaller high schools. 

Initially the tournament was open to every "graded" school that wanted to compete. Later, when the fields got too large, regional play-offs were initiated, just like for the larger schools.

Following are the championship game scores for the five Class B tournaments:

1923--East Chain 35 Raymond 26

1924--Stewart 12 Brewster 7

1925--Chisago City 17 Ceylon 11

1926--Brewster 24 Hitterdal 22

1927--Henning 28 Chisago City 18

The highlight was Henning's win in 1927 behind "giant center" Otto Rortvedt, as he was described. Rortvedt went on to play college ball at Augsburg.

In 1928, Hamline's Class B tournament came to an end, and the MSHSL adapted the idea of Class B play to its member schools. Districts were authorized to hold  a Class A and a Class B tournament, with the Class B champion advancing to Class A district play. Smaller schools, in other words, played among themselves to crown a Class B district champion. But there was only one overall champion of each district, one champion of each region, and one state tournament. Only one Class B champion ever advanced even to a district final, that being Columbia Heights, who lost to defending state champion Excelsior.

Still later, in the 1940s, regions won the right to hold a Class B tournament if they liked, but there would still only by one regional champion and one state tournament. Region Eight held a Class B tournament from 1944 through 1946, with first round games matching a Class A team versus one from Class B. Five of twelve first round winners were the smaller schools from Class B.

Region One had one two-class, eight-team tournament in 1948. District Four Class B champion Kenyon was the only Class B first-round winner, and went on to lose to District Four Class A champion Waseca 50-25 in the regional final. 

The MSHSL withdrew its authorization of Class B tournaments shortly thereafter, and smaller schools would renew their agitation for a tournament of their own.

Back-to-Back Championship Match-Ups

Many boys basketball fans anticipate an Ellsworth-Minnesota Transitions match-up in the Class A title game this year (2009). Of course, the other six Class A entrants--and, perhaps, especially unbeaten Granada-Huntley-East Chain (GHEC)--will have something to say about that. But if such a match-up should emerge, 2009 would mark the second straight year to feature a championship game rematch from the previous year.

This previously was an exceptionally rare occurrence. It first happened only in 1967-1968, after more than 50 years of boys tournaments, when the Edina Hornets twice dominated the Moorhead Spuds 72-55 and 70-45 to complete their three-peat.

It happened again in 1984-1985 when White Bear Lake knocked off Mpls. North in two closely contested Class AA finals 51-47 and 67-62.

Then, in 1992 and 1993, Anoka and Cretin-Derham Hall traded victories in Class AA. Anoka upset Cretin's defending state champs 50-47 in 1992, but Cretin turned the tables the following year 56-44. 

Mpls. Henry then swept St. Thomas in 2000 and 2001 by scores of 59-45 and 74-61, the first two of what would become a four-peat for the Patriots.

So, through 2007, there had been but four boys championship game rematches in 95 years and 152 championships. Then, in 2007 and 2008, St. Thomas again appeared in back-to-back Class AAA finals--this time against Benilde-St. Margaret's. St. Thomas won the first of those battles 56-40, but Benilde got its revenge last year 58-52. Ironically, not a single private school made the 2009 Class AAA tourney field that the private schools have so dominated with ten finalists and five championships in 12 years of four-class ball.

The Ellsworth-Transitions match-up is the only potential repeat final, as only Henry Sibley (AAAA) and New London-Spicer (AA) have returned to the state tournament among the other six finalists. But there are other potential repeat match-ups in Class A as well. If Cass Lake-Bena and Ellsworth both win the the first round, their semi-final match-up will be a repeat of the 2007 Class A final. And if Cass Lake should get to the final against Minnesota Transitions, theirs would be a repeat of last year's exciting semi-final game won by Transitions. 

All-State Snub

Fans were surprised Saturday night (2009) at the Target Center when St. Michael-Albertville guard Brittani Wiese failed to make the Class AAA All-Tournament team. She was, after all, the leading scorer for a state championship team. How often, fans wondered, does that happen?

We're not aware that it has ever happened in the girls tournament. But the fact is that it happens all the time in the boys tournament. Following are the boys who led their state championship team in scoring without being selected to the All-Tournament team (each played in 3 games unless otherwise indicated).

1923--Matt Turk, Aurora 45 points (4 games)

1939--Harry Franz, Mountain Lake 30

1956--Bob Freund, Mpls. Roosevelt 57

1959--Bo Vanman, Wayzata 43

1999--Mark Wingo, St. Paul Highland Park 49

Wiese finished with 43 points in three tournament games in leading her Knights to the state title while teammates Courtney Barthel, Carly Rothstein and Anna Valerius, all of whom won All-Tournament honors, were next with 34, 33 points and 25 points for the tournament.

There are a couple of explanations for Wiese's oversight. The All-Tournament team was selected, like all such teams, at half-time of the championship game. Mpls. North had run out to a 20-5 lead in the game, and there may have been a presumption that North would win the game and the championship. Thus, the Polars placed four players on the All-Tournament team to the Knights' three. And, at that time, Wiese was not the Knights' leading scorer. She finished the night with 19 points, 15 of them after half-time. At the time the vote was taken, Rothstein was St. Michael-Albertville's leading scorer with 31 points to Wiese's 28. Still, in addition to being the Knights' leading scorer, she as also its principle ball-handler and clearly deserved to make the All-Tournament team.

Girls State Tournament Scoring Records

Kelly Skalicky held the two most prestigious MSHSL girls tournament scoring records for more than 25 years. Now, within the space of two short years, both of these records have been eclipsed by Brittney Chambers and Tayler Hill. Chambers, Jordan, scored 47 points in a Class AA semi-final game against Crookston last year (2008) to break Skalicky's record of 45 points in a single tournament game. Then, this year (2009), Tayler Hill, Minneapolis South, matched Chambers record and broke Skalicky's record of 102 points in a tournament.

One record from the tournament's early days remains unbroken, however--and it's a record that does not appear in the MSHSL yearbook or basketball tournament program. Janet Karvonen scored 329 points in four state tournaments during her illustrious career. Hill fell short with 248 points. Skalicky scored more than 250 points to remain ahead of Hill in second place. 

Here is the evolution of these three major girls state tournament scoring records.

Individual Scoring Records

Most Points in a Game

1975--Jen Savage, LeSueur 32 vs. Luverne 1st round*

1976--Isabella Ceplecha, Redwood Falls 26 vs. SW Christian A semi

1977--Jayne Mackley, Hibbing 27 vs. Benilde-St. Margaret's AA 1st round

1977--Deanna Reyerson, Alden-Conger 27 vs. Redwood Falls A consolation semi

1978--Janet Karvonen, New York Mills 31 vs. Fertile-Beltrami A 1st round

1978--Karen Swanson, Mountain Iron 31 vs. Albany A consolation semi

1979--Karvonen 34 vs. Brady A semi

1979--Karvonen 38 vs. Albany A final

1980--Karvonen 40 vs. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg A 1st round

1981--Kelly Skalicky, Albany 45 vs. Bagley A consolation semi

2008--Brittney Chambers, Jordan 47 vs. Crookston AA semi

2009--Tayler Hill, Mpls. South 47 vs. Centennial AAAA final

Points in a Tournament

1975--Jen Savage, LeSueur 60 points*

1976--Isabella Ceplecha, Redwood Falls 53

1977--Janet Karvonen, New York Mills 59

1978--Laura Gardner, Bloomington Jefferson 78

1979--Karvonen 98

1981--Kelly Skalicky, Albany 102

2009--Tayler Hill, Mpls. South 106

Career Points in the State Tournament

1975--Jen Savage, LeSueur 60 points*

1976--Isabella Ceplecha, Redwood Falls 53

1977--Lisa Lissimore, St. Paul Central 78

1978--Laura Gardner, Bloomington Jefferson 141

1980--Janet Karvonen, New York Mills 329

* For more than a quarter-century, the MSHSL regarded the 1974 and 1975 tournaments as "unofficial," and did not include them in its record books. Now it does, and so Savage's records from the 1975 tournament are included, thus superceding the records shown in italics.

Team Scoring Records

When Chambers scored her 47 points, she did so in the highest scoring game (both teams) in tournament history. Here is the evolution of the team scoring records.

Most Points in a Game, One Team

1974--Glencoe 71 Granada-Huntley 51 1st round*

1974--Glencoe 76 Kasson-Mantorville 36 semi*

1977--New York Mills 68 Buhl 43 A 1st round

1978--New York Mills 80 Fertile-Beltrami 33 A 1st round

1979--Albany 80 Moose Lake 47 A semi

1981--Albany 82 Bagley 35 A consolation semi

1984--Eden Valley-Watkins 88 Cass Lake 54 A 1st round

Most Points in a Game, Two Teams

1974--Glencoe 71 Granada-Huntley 51 1st round*

1976--Glencoe 53 Mpls. Marshall-U 51

1977--New York Mills 78 Buhl 43 A 1st round

1978--New York Mills 80 Fertile-Beltrami 33 A 1st round

1978--New York Mills 64 Redwood Falls 55 A final

1979--Moose Lake 64 Fertile-Beltrami 61 (ot) A 1st round

1979--Albany 80 Moose Lake 47 A semi

1979--SW Christian 66 Redwood Falls 65 A consolation final

1981--Albany 76 New York Mills 70 (ot) A consolation final

1997--Rochester Mayo 78 Bloomington Jefferson 70 AA semi

1999--Southland 80 Waubun 68 A 3rd place

2008--Jordan 79 Crookston 75 A semi

Most Points in a Tournament

1974--Glencoe 193*

1976--Mpls. Marshall-University 159

1978--New York Mills 203

1995--Rochester Mayo 205

1997--Rochester Mayo 241

Fifty Years Ago--1959

The 1950s had been a pretty good decade for Minnesota basketball. The greatest player and the greatest team ever assembled had played weekly at the old Minneapolis Auditorium. Hamline had won a third national championship, and the Gophers remained in contention for a Big Ten title right down to the final game of the year. But the fact was that all of that had happened by 1955, and Minnesota's signature programs were all in decline by the time the decade of the 1950s was drawing to a close. The Lakers had had a 19-53 record in 1958 and the Gophers, at 9-12, had had their first losing season since 1945. They would decline further to 8-14 in 1959. Hamline had won just one MIAC title since 1953. And, so, the highlight of the year was the performance of a team that won 33 games while losing 39.

Story #1--Minneapolis Lakers bounce back behind Elgin Baylor

Their 19-53 record in 1958 won the Lakers the first draft pick and they used it wisely, choosing Elgin Baylor from Seattle University. The Lakers still finished 16 games behind the St. Louis Hawks in the Western Division, and lost one game to the Boston Celtics 173-139--those 173 points remaining to this day the NBA record for points in a game. But the Lakers shocked the Hawks four games to two in the division finals. They then were swept by the Boston Celtics in the NBA finals, but the season was nevertheless accounted as a success.

Story #2--Wayzata wins state high school title

Wayzata defeated Carlton High School 55-41 to win the MSHSL state championship. Because Wayzata had finished third in the emerging powerhouse of the Lake Conference, Wayzata was widely described as a Cinderella. Ironically, Carlton was a real Cinderella. Had they won the title, they would have been the smallest school ever to do so. Instead, Edgerton would win that honor the very next year. A better game than the final, however, had been played in Wayzata's semi-final victory over defending state champion Austin 55-52.

Story #3--Duluth Branch emerges as MIAC powerhouse

Yes, the so-called Duluth Branch of the University of Minnesota, now the University of Minnesota-Duluth, was a member of the MIAC in those days, and in 1959 they won the second of what would become four championships in five years under coach Norm Olson. And, for the second straight year, the Bulldogs defeated St. Cloud State in their post-season playoff 67-65 (in overtime) to advance to the NAIA national small college tournament. 

Player of the Year

1. Elgin Baylor, Minneapolis Lakers, forward

2. Dave Baker, Duluth Branch, forward

3. Ron North and John Pierson, Carlton, forwards

4. Ron Johnson, Minnesota Gophers, center

5. Tom Kezar, Austin, guard

Coach of the Year

1. Jack Thurnblad, Wayzata

2. John Kundla, Minneapolis Lakers

3. Norm Olson, Duluth Branch

4. Dick Nielsen, Carlton

5. Bill Reinhard, DeLaSalle

Top Teams

1. DeLaSalle--5th state title in 6 years

2. Duluth Branch

3. Minneapolis Lakers

4. Wayzata

5. St. Cloud State

Games of the Year

1. Minneapolis Lakers 98 St. Louis Hawks 97 (game 5)

2. Boston Celtics 173 Minneapolis Lakers 139

3. Duluth Branch 67 St. Cloud State 65 (ot)

4. Wayzata 55 Austin 52, state tournament semi

5. Minneapolis Lakers 106 St. Louis Hawks 104 (game 6)

The Aftermath

After 1959 a new decade dawned and change overtook the Minnesota basketball landscape. Kundla left the franchise he had led to seven world championships, and moved across the river to the University of Minnesota. The Lakers themselves would play just one more year in Minneapolis before high-tailing it to Los Angeles for the 1960-1961 season. The Duluth Branch would win two more MIAC titles, but would eventually return to its roots in the Northern conference. Hamline and legendary coach Joe Hutton won one last conference title in 1960 but never again, to this day, have the Pipers claimed another.

Only Wayzata's performance was in any way prophetic. Only the second Lake Conference team ever to win a state title, they would be followed by five more in the first nine years of the new decade. The dominance of the Lake Conference was so dispiriting to Minnesota's other high schools that it was, in effect, the last nail in the coffin of the single-class tournament format. So Wayzata's performance was of a piece with the Lakers' and Duluth's after all. It promised change, whether we recognized it in 1959 or not.

2006 Season Recap

Story #1--Winona State men win NCAA D2 championship

Winona State under coach Mike Leaf won the first national championship by a Minnesota men's four-year college team since Hamline in 1951. The Warriors defeated defending champion Virginia Union in the NCAA D2 final 73-61. Winona entered tournament play with a 15 game winning streak, but went to overtime to beat South Dakota. Then, with eight minutes left to play, Minnesota State-Mankato led the Warriors 64-48. But David Zellman poured in 14 points in a 23-7 run to tie it up at 71. Then, with just 21 seconds remaining, Zellman stole the ball and scored the winning lay-up. Zellman scored 26, while John Smith had 19 and 16 boards for Winona. 

Story #2--Gopher women collapse down the stretch

Optimism ran high for the Gopher women under Pam Borton for the 2005-2006 season. The team sported six Minnesota Ms. Basketballs--Shannon Bolden, April Calhoun, Leslie Knight, Katie Ohm, Liz Podominick and Kelly Roysland--and started out 14-4 and 9-1 in the Big 10. The Gophers went 2-6 from there, however, with upset losses in the first rounds of the conference and NCAA tournaments. Things then went from bad to worse as Jamie Broback, Brittney Davis, Lauren Lacy, Podominick and Natasha Williams all quit the team. Instead of contending for the Big 10 title, it now looked like the Gophers would contend for the cellar.

Story #3--Hopkins sweeps boys and girls AAAA titles

The Hopkins girls upset defending state champ Bloomington Kennedy 65-48 to win their second state title in three years. The boys successfully defended their 2005 title--and won for the third time in five years--by beating Robbinsdale Cooper 69-54. Both teams finished 30-2.

Story #4--Isaiah Dahlman finishes record-setting high school career

The Braham Bombers won their third straight state AA title behind record-setting scorer Isaiah Dahlman. Dahlman set a new boys career scoring record, then led the Bombers over Breck 72-53 in the final. He fell short of two state tournament scoring records, however, finishing with 236 career points in the state tournament, just two short of Khalid El-Amin's record 238. And, he was out-scored in the tournament by Ellsworth sophomore Cody Schilling, 87-73, and thus failed to become the first boy ever to lead the state tournament in scoring three times.

Story #5--St. Cloud State women get to D2 Final Four

The St. Cloud State women, led by center Erika Quigley, were 25-4 going into NCAA tournament play, and won their first two tournament games with relative ease. Then came a Central Region final at North Dakota, NCC regular season champ and then rated #2 in the country. The result was a shocking 75-69 St. Cloud victory as guard Sascha Hansen contributed 28 points and six assists. The Crusaders went on to defeat Shaw 78-71 in the Elite Eight, before losing to American International 70-58 in the Final Four. 

Player of the Year

1. Isaiah Dahlman, Braham, senior, guard

2. David Zellman, Winona State, senior, guard

3. Erika Quigley, St. Cloud State, junior, center

4. Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves, forward

5. (tie) Blake Hoffarber, Hopkins, senior, guard

    Jenna Smith, Bloomington Kennedy, senior, center

Coach of the Year

1. Mike Leaf, Winona State men

2. (tie) Brian Cosgriff, Hopkins girls

    Ken Novak, Jr., Hopkins boys

4. Steve Fritz, St. Thomas men

5. Bob Vaughan, Braham boys

Top Teams

1. Winona State men 32-4

2. St. Cloud State women 29-5

3. Hopkins boys 30-2

4. Braham boys 31-2

5. Hopkins girls 30-2

Games of the Year

1. Winona State 74 Minnesota State-Mankato 71 after trailing by 16

2. Winona State 73 Virginia Union 61 in NCAA D3 final

3. Hopkins girls turn tables on Kennedy 65-48 in AAAA final

4. St. Cloud State 75 North Dakota 69 in D2 region final

5. Kennedy girls 53 St. Paul Central 51 in AAAA semi

2007 Season Recap

Minnesota's signature basketball programs--the Gopher men and women, and the Timberwolves--struggled in 2007. Still, it was a big year in Minnesota hoops as the St. Paul Central girls and Winona State men made history. Then, the hiring of Tubby Smith rekindled interest in the Gopher men's program.

#1 Story--St. Paul Central girls are just too good

The Central girls, led by four recent transfers, waltzed to the state AAAA title and a 32-0 record. The Minutemen scored 90 points or more 14 times, but coach Willie Taylor never allowed them to score 100 points. There was enough animosity toward his program as it was. Still, most observers agreed it was the greatest girls basketball team in Minnesota history. State tournament victims were Roseville 76-58, Edina 79-41 and Mpls. South 81-63. The Central-South championship match-up was the first in 95 years of MSHSL tourney play between schools representing Minnesota's largest cities. Central's magical point guard, Angel Robinson, later was selected Minnesota's Ms. Basketball. 

#2 Story--Winona State wins 57 in a row

The Winona State Warriors seemed to have an unbeaten season and a second straight NCAA D2 title well in hand, leading Barton 74-67 with 45 seconds to go in the national final. Instead, Anthony Atkinson of Barton scored 10 points in those 45 seconds to lead Barton to a shocking 77-75 victory. The loss broke a 57-game Winona winning streak, and the Warriors finished at 35-1. Winona's John Smith was chosen as the NCAA's D2 player of the year.

#3 Story--Monson out, Tubby in

The Gopher men started out 2-5 with losses to Marist and Montana--not to even mention an embarrassing exhibition loss to Winona State--when athletic director Joel Maturi decided that he'd seen enough. Coach Dan Monson was fired on December 1. The Gophers and interim coach Jim Molinari struggled to a 9-22 record, the most losses in Gopher history. Then on March 22, Maturi injected a dose of enthusiasm into a moribund program by hiring Tubby Smith away from the University of Kentucky.

#4 Story--Buffalo surprises in AAAA

The first big surprise was Minnetonka's 55-53 win over two-time defending state AAAA champ Hopkins in a 6AAAA semi-final. Then, 'Tonka lost to Bloomington Jefferson 84-76 in OT in the section final, Jefferson lost to Apple Valley 68-66 in the first round of the state tournament, and Apple Valley lost to Armstrong 70-67 in the semis. Finally, it was Buffalo's turn to surprise Armstrong 67-65 in the final. Buffalo won despite a severely sprained ankle by leading scorer Josh Ortmann, who hobbled his way to nine points. Darrin Olmscheid picked up the slack with 25 points, including the game-winning floater at 0:02.4.

#5 Story--Anoka-Ramsey women win again

Anoka-Ramsey won its sixth--and the Minnesota Community College Athletic Conference's tenth--national championship, beating Mohawk Valley CC 52-44 in the national final. Sonja Ellingson of Maple Grove was the tournament MVP, and first-year coach Dave DeWitt led the Rams to a 26-4 record.

Player of the Year

1. Angel Robinson, St. Paul Central, senior, guard

2. John Smith, Winona State, junior, center

3. Erika Quigley, St. Cloud State, senior, center

4. Kelly Roysland, Minnesota, senior, guard

5. Cole Aldrich, Bloomington Jefferson, senior, center

Coach of the Year

1. Nicholas Guida, Buffalo boys

2. Justin Hegna, Becker girls

3. Mike Leaf,  Winona State men

4. Steve Fritz, St. Thomas men

5. Matt Marthaler, Mankato State men

Top Teams

1. St. Paul Central girls 32-0, MSHSL AAAA state champion

2. Winona State men 35-1, NCAA D2 runner-up

3. Buffalo boys 28-3, MSHSL AAAA state champion

4. Anoka-Ramsey CC women 26-4, NJCAA D3 national champs

5. Hopkins boys 26-2

Game of the Year

1. Winona State 69 Minnesota 64 in men's exhibition game

2. Barton buzzer-beater shocks Winona 77-75

3. Central girls complete perfect season, 81-63 over Mpls. South

4. Buffalo 67 Armstrong 65 on buzzer-beater for AAAA state title

5. Ellsworth 74 Cass Lake 73 for A title on Adam Van Der Stoep's tenth 3 of the day