Hopkins and the Three-Peats (and Better)

The three-peat is sort of the holy grail of sports. Anybody can win twice (yeah, right). But, three. That's something special. And, four, well, just not realistic. (Tell that to Southwest Christian and Mpls. Henry.) But, anyway, here are the three-peats and better in the MSHSL basketball tournaments.

1966-67-68-Edina boys, single class

1966 Edina (26-0) 82 Duluth East 75 (OT)

1967 Edina (27-0) 72 Moorhead 55

1968 Edina (26-1) 70 Moorhead 45

MVP Bob Zender, class of 1968, 2X all-tournament

Coach Duane Baglien

1977-78-79 New York Mills girls, Class A out of 2 classes

1977 NY Mills (25-1) 40 Mayer Lutheran 39

1978 NY MIlls (25-1) 64 Redwood Falls 55

1979 NY Mills (25-1) 61 Albany 52

MVP Janet Karvonen, class of 1980, there were no official girls all-tournament teams in those days, but Karvonen clearly would have been a 4X all-tournament recipient, including 1980 when NY Mills was upset by Austin Pacelli in a semi-final and finished 3rd. Contrary to what one hears now and again, they did not 4-peat

Coach Kathy Lervold, 1977; Peggy Zimmerman, 1978, 1979

1995-96-97 Mpls. North boys, twice in the Sweet Sixteen format, once in Class AAAA out of 4 classes

1995 North (30-0) 54 Staples-Motley 52

1996 North (26-1) 80 Fertile-Beltrami 47

1997 North (25-3) 61 Stillwater 53

MVP Khalid El-Amin, class of 1997, 3X all-tournament

Coach Robin Ingram

1999-2000-01-02 Southwest MN Christian boys, Class A out of 4 classes

1999 SWC (24-1) 63 Hillcrest Lutheran 50

2000 SWC (28-1) 72 Win-E-Mac 61

2001 SWC (25-4) 65 Christ's Household of Faith 55

2002 SWC (27-2) 66 Ortonville 56, 1st 4-peat ever

MVP Robbie Holleman, class of 2000, 2X all-tournament

Coach Cal Hoekstra, 1999-2000; Dan Broekhuis, 2000-2001

2000-01-02-03 Mpls. Patrick Henry boys, Class AAA out of 4 classes

2000 Henry (28-1) 59 St. Thomas 45

2001 Henry (28-2) 74 St. Thomas 61

2002 Henry (30-3) 51 Red Wing 44

2003 Henry (26-6) 69 Sauk Rapids-Rice 55, 2nd 4-peat

MVP Lawrence McKenzie, class of 2003, 2X all-tournament

Coach Larry McKenzie

2003-04-05 Mpls. North girls, Class AAA out of 4 classes

2003 North (28-2) 57 Duluth East 32

2004 North (22-8) 56 Willmar 39

2005 North (24-6) 71 Holy Angels 45

MVP Mia Johnson, class of 2005, only 5X all-tournament ever, boys or girls

Coach Faith Johnson Patterson

2009-10-11 Hopkins boys, Class AAAA out of 4 classes, 3rd team ever to 3-peat at the highest level of competition

2009 Hopkins (31-0) 69 Osseo 59

2010 Hopkins (30-2) 76 St. Cloud Tech 56

2011 Hopkins (31-1) 64 Eden Prairie 52

MVP Joe Coleman, class of 2011, 2X all-tournament

Coach Ken Novak, Jr.

The greatest dynasty would have to be one that won at the highest level, which would mean Edina, Mpls. North or Hopkins. Edina went 79-1, North 81-4, Hopkins 92-3. Edina won 3 state titles by an average of 14 points, North by 14.3 points, and Hopkins by 14 points. Lotta help that is. Edina went into OT twice in 1966. North needed 2 3s in the last 7 seconds to avoid defeat in 1996. Hopkins went 2OT vs. Henry Sibley in 2010. You make the call.

The greatest coaching achievement would be Duane Baglien's, in my judgement.

My 3-peat all-stars are:

C- Bob Zender, Edina, who passed away this past year at the age of 60

F- Janet Karvonen, New York Mills

F- Kurt Shellhas, Edina

G- Khalid El-Amin, North

G- Larry McKenzie, Henry

6th- Joe Coleman, Hopkins

We have seen an incredible concentration of talent in the "open enrollment" era, and the MSHSL's so-called "transfer rule" has quite obviously done nothing to enhance competition at the very top. So next year the Hopkins boys will try to become the 1st club ever to 4-peat at the highest level of competition. Meawhile the Hopkins girls are already favored to make it a re-peat next year, and with bunches of 8th, 9th and 10th graders on this year's state championship roster, it may not be too early to make them the favorite for 2013 and for another 3-peat already, too.