100 Years 100 Stars: #26-#50

26. Martin Norton, Mpls. Central boys, F, 1921. Norton led Central to the 1921 state title by scoring a record 77 points (in 4 games) that stood until 1944. He also set FT shooting records that stood for more than 75 years, until being broken by Cody Schilling. In 1920, Central played in the national tournament rather than the Minnesota state tournament, and finished 3^rd while Norton was named all-American. In 1963 Halsey Hall named Norton to his 50 year all-time

27. Bob Zender, Edina, C, 1966-67-68. Zender led Edina to the tournament’s 1^st 3-peat, coming off the bench in 1966, then leading all scorers in 5 of the 6 Edina victories in 1967 and 1968.

28. Dave Tschimperle, Hopkins boys, F, 1951-52-53.  Tschimperle led Hopkins to 8 wins in 9 tournament games, with only a 1-point 1^st round loss to Mountain Lake in 1951 marring an otherwise perfect mark. Tschimperle led the Royals in scoring in 5 of the 9 games, and led all scorers in the 1951 (57 points) and 1953 (70 points) tournaments.

29. Hal Haskins, Alexandria boys, C, 1943. Haskins was the 1^st Minnesotan known to score 1,000 points in his high school career. He then scored a 3-game tournament record of 57 points in leading Alex to 2^nd place in 1943.

30. Mike Dreier, New London-Spicer girls, coach, 1985-2009. Led the Wildcats to 14 tournaments in 25 years. Won Class AA titles in 1997 and 2002, and finished 2^nd 5 times including 4 straight from 1991 to 1994. Dreier also leads all girls coaches with more than 750 career wins.

31. Cody Schilling, Ellsworth boys, G, 2006-07-08. The only boy ever to lead the tournament in scoring 3 times. His career total of 267 points is also unsurpassed in the boys’ ranks. Ellsworth not incidentally won the 2007 and 2008 Class A titles.

32. Liz Podominick, Lakeville girls, center, 2001-02. Podominick led Lakeville to the 2001 and 2002 Class AAAA titles, leading all scorers in her class both years with 53 and 57 points. She earned McDonald’s all-America honors in 2002.

33. Jake Sullivan, Tartan boys, G, 1998-99-2000. Sullivan led Tartan to 3 tournaments, but only won his 1^st tournament game en route to the 2000 championship. He led the 2000 tournament with 82 points, and was the 1st Minnesota boy to score 3,000 points. He finished with 3,013, and he also held a national record for FT shooting pecentage.

34 (tie). Ray Parkins, Mpls. Edison boys, coach, 1926-37 and Willie Warhol, Mpls. Edison boys, G, 1935-36-37 and Mpls.Edison 1937. Parkins led the Tommies to 5 state tournaments in 12 years from the toughest district in the state. He finally claimed a state title in 1937 with what most observers thought was the best boys team ever to appear in the tournament to that time, and with Warhol as its clear star. Warhol won all-tournament honors in 1935 and 1937, while the 1936 team suffered one of the biggest upsets of the era at the hands of Buhl. Parkins also  produced a remarkable number of star players before and after 1937, from Mike Cielusak and Marty Rolek, to Swede Carlson and Tony Jaros, among others.

35 (tie). Bun Fortier, Bemidjj boys, coach, 1950-69 and Ove Berven, Austin boys, coach, 1941-63. These were the 2 dominant coaches late in the single class era. They still share the record for most boys state tournament appearances with 14. Berven won state titles in 1946 and 1958 and was runner-up in 1955 and 1960. Fortier never won a title but was runner-up in 1954 and 1961 as the Lumberjacks consistently out-performed expectations at the state level.

36. Terry Kunze, Duluth Central boys, G, 1961. Kunze led Central to the 1961 state title. He was perhaps the most highly regarded guard to play in the state tournament to that time.

37. Mary Jo Miller, Milroy, Tracy-Milroy girls, G, 1985-87-88. Miller led tiny Milroy to 2^nd place in 1985 and leading all scorers with  69 points as a 9^th grader. She returned to the 1987 tournament with Tracy-Milroy and took 5^th place while scoring 57 points. Tracy-Milroy then took the 1988 Class A title as Miller scored 23 points in the final.

38. Shannon Bolden, Marshall girls, F, 2000-01-02. Bolden led Marshall to the 2001 and 2002 Class AAA titles, with undefeated records both times. She led all scorers in 6 of 9 games and led Class AAA scorers 3 times with 59, 56 and 79 points. She also led scoring among all classes in her final year.

39. Bob Bruggers, Danube boys, F-G, 1961-62. Bruggers led tiny Danube to the 1961 and 1962 state tournaments. In 1962, they threw a scare into eventual champion St. Louis Park in the semi-finals before losing 66-62. Bruggers scored 36 points in that game and finished his high school career with 2,364 points, #2 at that time.

40. Duane Baglien, Edina boys, coach, 1964-68. Baglien is the only coach to win 3 state titles in the single class era and the 1^st to win a 3-peat. Previously he had led Fergus Falls to the 1957 tournament.

41. Angel Robinson, St. Paul Central girls, G, 2006-07, Robinson was the glue that held together the greatest girls team that Minnesota has ever seen. Her 60 points led Class AAAA scorers, but more than that it was her ball-handling and distribution and her defense that enabled Central to rout 3 tournament opponents by an average of 79-54.

42 (tie). Rachel Banham, Lakeville North girls, G, 2007-09-10 and Lakeville North girls 2010. Banhamled the Panthers to the 2010 Class AAAA title with an undefeated record, thereby gaining support as the best girls team ever (though many still favored St. Paul Central 2007). Banham scored 25 points as North defeated White Bear Lake 57-47 in the final. She and Cassie Rochel sharef Metro Player of the Year hoors.

43 (tie). Steve Lingenfelter, Bloomington Jefferson boys, C, 1975-76 , and Kevin McHale, Hibbing boys, C, 1975-76. Lingenfelter and McHale faced off in the 1976 Class AA final, one of the most ballyhooed individual match-ups in tournament history. Lingenfelter had already out-played McHale in the 1975 consolation championship game won by the Jaguars 59-35. This time Lingenfelter out-scored McHale 26-21. But McHale set a FG percentage record and went on to win the Mr. Basketball award.

44. Tom Nordland, Mpls. Roosevelt boys, F, 1956-57 and Mpls. Roosevelt 1956-57. Roosevelt won back-to-back state titles in 1956 and 1957. The 1956 team scored a record 241 points in 3 games including 101 in the state final, and had the unique experience of placing 4 players on the all-tournament team, but not their leading scorer, center Bob Freund. Nordland helped Roosevelt to the 1956 and 1957 state titles, scoring 22, 31 and 31 points in the 3 1957 wins. He was regarded as the best outside shooter that the tournament had seen to that time.

46. Mia Johnson, Mpls. North girls, G, 2001-02-03-04. Johnson helped the Polars to a 3^rd, a 2^nd and 2 state championships, leading all scorers in 7 of 12 games. She is 1 of only 2 players—boys or girls—ever to earn all-tournament honors 4 times, the other being Janet Karvonen.

47. Jim Hastings, Duluth Central boys, coach, 1961-86. Hastings led Central to 3 state titles in 1961, 1971 and 1979.  Only 3 boys coaches have ever won more.

48. Jim Fritsche, St. Paul Humboldt boys, C, 1949. Fritsche led Humboldt to the 1949 state championship, scoring 23.3 points per game, 2^nd only to Jim McIntyre at the time.

49. Bill Simonovich, Gilbert boys, C, 1951. Big Bill or “Boots” led Gilbert to the 1951 state title, scoring 56 points in 3 games. The 6-10 Simonovich faced 6-8 Burdette Halldorson of Austin in the 1^st round in a much-anticipated match-up, but it was no contest as Boots out-scored Burdie 35-4.

50 (tie). Glenn Hanna, Moorhead boys, coach, 1926-34, and Earl Moran, Moorhead boys, guard, 1928-29-30 and Moorhead boys, 1924-34. Hanna coached Moorhead to an unprecedented 6 straight state tournaments, and to the state final in 1928, 1929 and 1930. The 1928 and 1929 teams became Minnesota’s 1^st repeat champion, while the 1930 team was surprised in the final by St. Paul Mechanic Arts. Earl Moran played on 3 of those 6 tournament teams and was 1 of only 2 boys to earn all-tournament honors 3 times in the single-class era.