100 Years of Minnesota High School Tournament Basketball: Best Boys Shots and Finishes

The MSHSL has continued to recognize the "best of" 100 years of high school basketball tournaments on its Web site. Most recent (over the past 3 weeks) have been Boys Best Shots, Girls Best Finishes, and Boys Best Finishes.

Today I'll comment on the 2 boys categories. OTOH you should check out the MSHSL Web site directly for their info, at http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/index.asp, because I'm not going to be repeating what they've said. (Click of 100 Years of BB.) I should also add that the MSHSL has now added links for older videos at the bottom of the feature.

The past 2 categories have been Best Shots and Best Finishes (with Best Games yet to come).I wa snever comfortable with those as 2 separate categories. I mean, what's a Best Shot that isn't a finisher? What's a Best Finish other than the one with the dramatic last-second, game-winning shot?

Making both lists, then:

Jeff Nessler of St. James made a half-court shot at the buzzer to beat Melrose in the 1972 Class AA final. This made Best Shot and Best Finish.

Khalid El-Amin made a pair of 3s, the 2nd one as time expired. to bring Mpls North back from an almost certain defeat to a 67-65 win over St. Thomas.

In 2007, Adam Van Der Stoep, Ellsworth, made 10 3s to help her team beat Cass Lake-Bena in one of the better Class A finals we've seen. The last came with 4 seconds remaining as Ellsworth defeated CLB 74-73.

Barry Wohler hit 3 dramatic last second shots as Bird Island won the Class A title in 1980 and 1981. The 1981 game winner came with 5 seconds remaining in the 2nd OT.

On the best shot list:

Blake Hoffarber's "butt shot" in 2007.

Earl Pennington's half court shot at the final buzzer in 1932 gave Mankato a 17-15 win over Northfield.

Honorable mention on the shot list:

Andy Snyder's half court shot at the end of the 3rd quarter in the 1951 final. To me this was a "finisher," too, because it finished Canby.

On the finishes list:

Wabasso 117 Red Lake 113 in OT in 1997.

New London-Spicer 50 Maple River 49 in '08.

Up next: Boys Games. I would have to think that the "butt shot" game and Wabasso-Red Lake would have to be on that list. To me, the Best Games is the uber-list, because a Best Shot or a Best Finish is going to get on to the Best Game list a lot of the time. I would have combined all 3.