The New Section Assignments Are Out! The Boys

If you've read about the girls section re-assignments, you've seen that it's a big deal, potentially impacting more than a half a dozen possible section championships. Among the boys, well, let's just keep it simple. It's no big deal. I mean, the one obvious game-changer is voluntary and we knew it was coming. That of course would be Minnehaha with Jalen Suggs and Chet Holmgren moving up to AAA. They've been assigned to Section 4AAA where they'll face a good Mahtomedi team with J'Vonne Hadley. To some degree, that's unfortunate. Mahtomedi may be a top 5 team again next year. Still, it's better than being in Section 6AAA with DeLaSalle.

Other than that, there's really just a couple of section moves that seem at all likely to impact the section championships. 

• Northfield moves from Class AAA to Class AAAA but still may be a contender, especially with the departure of Lakeville North from Section 1AAAA. Lakeville South and Rochester Mayo's chances are also enhanced.

• Lakeville North will now challenge Eastview in 3AAAA.

• Waseca drops down from Class AAA to Class AA, where they'll be a heavy favorite to win in Section 2AA.

• Mankato East becomes the favorite in 2AAA.

• Osakis moves from 8AA to 6AA where it could conceivably contend but it is by no means a favorite.

• Fergus meanwhile becomes a contender in 8AA after moving down from 8AAA but it, too, is in no way the favorite. 

That's about it. For whatever reason, many of the girls teams that moved are among the powers. The boys teams that moved are generally not. And those who are didn't move. The Holy Angels boys and girls both went to state this year. The girls move from Section 3AAA to 6AAA. The boys are staying put in 3AAA. The Waconia boys and girls are both contenders. The girls moved from 6AAA to 2AAA, while the boys stayed in 6AAA.

Bottom line: The impact and import of these section changes on the boys tournaments is negligible while among the girls it is very significant.

100 Years 100 Stars: #1-25

These are the biggest stars of the state tournaments--including boys and girls, players and coaches, other contributors.

1. Janet Karvonen, New York Mills girls, F, 1977-78-79-80. Karvonen and the Eagles were the 2^nd high school team ever to win 3 straight state titles. Karvonen set tournament records with 59, then 98 points in a tournament and with 329 career tournament points. More than just New York Mills, she put girls basketball on the Minnesota map.

2. Khalid El-Amin, Mpls. North boys, G, 1995-96-97. North became the 3^rd team ever to win 3 straight Minnesota state titles. And though he was a pass-first point guard, he led all scorers in 5 of North’s 11 tournament wins and set a (then) career tournament scoring record with 238 points.

3. Jim McIntyre, Mpls. Patrick Henry boys, C, 1944-45. McIntyre led Patrick Henry to 2 state titles while setting single game scoring records of 29, then 36 and finally 43 points. He also set tournament records of 86 points in 1944 and 100 points in 1945.

4 (tie). Coco Miller and Kelly Miller, Rochester Mayo girls, G, 1993-95-96-97. The Miller twins led Mayo to 4 state tournaments, a 4^th place as 8^th graders in 1993, a 3^rd place in 1996, and Class AA championships in 1995 and 1997. Coco led all scorers in 1995 with 75 points; Kelly did the same with 63 points in 1996; and Coco led with 72 points while Kelly scored 71 in 1997.

5. Edgerton boys, 1960. The Flying Dutchmen are the smallest school from the smallest town to win a state title in the single class era, and the most famous of the “Cinderella” champions of the era. Leroy Graphenteen, Darrell Kreun, Dean Veenhof and Dean Verdoes earned all-tournament honors.

6. Harvey Roels, Chisholm boys, coach, 1930-40. Roels like the Bluestreaks to 5 straight state tournaments in 1930-34 and to the state title in 1934. More than that, he kept an up-tempo style of play alive during a period dominated by a “dead ball” style of ball control and defensively-oriented play.

7. Butsie Maetzold, Red Wing boys, G, 1920-21-22; Hopkins boys, coach, 1942-53. One of few individuals to win state titles as both a player and a coach. Red Wing won the title in 1920 and 1922, and Maetzold always said they would have won in 1921 but for having to leave 2 starters at home with the flu. As a coach, he won 508 games while losing just 62 for the best W-L percentage ever among coaches who have won 500 games. The  Royals won the 1952 and 1953 titles under Maetzold.

8. Tayler Hill, Mpls. South girls, G, 2007-08-09. Hill led South to 3 straight Class AAAA title games, a pair of losses to St. Paul Central and, finally, a win for the 2009 state championship. Hill tied the girls tournament record in that final game with a remarkable 47 points. She finished her high school career with a girls record 3,888 points.

9. Dorothy McIntyre, MSHSL. More than anyone, it was McIntyre who paved the way for Minnesota’s girls to finally have a state basketball tournament of their own more than 60 years after the boys.

10. Rev. Fred B. Hill, Carleton College. Hill, professor of biblical literature and chairman of the faculty committee on athletics, was most instrumental in the founding of the state tournament in 1913. He rallied the Carleton community to its support and offered to pay the travel costs of the participating teams. At the banquet honoring the participants, a committee was formed to assure that there would be a tournament again in 1914 and beyond. Hill was elected its chair. By 1917, this committee had become the Minnesota State High School League.

11. Mark Olberding, Melrose boys, C, 1973-74. Melrose won the 1974 Class A and overall championships after losing the 1973 Class A final to a last second shot by Chisholm’s Mike Kochevar. Olberding led both tournaments in scoring with 91 (in 3 games) and 112 points (in 4 games). It was his career tournament scoring record that Khalid El-Amin broke in 1997.

12. Myron Glass, Rochester Lourdes girls, coach, 1986-2010 and Rochester Lourdes girls, 1986-2010. The winningest coach in state tournament history—boys or girls—with 8 state championships. Glass brought the Eagles to 15 tournaments in 25 years. Glass is also #2 among girls coaches with almost 700 wins.

13. Kenny Novak, Jr., Hopkins boys, coach, 1993-2011. With 3 straight state titles in 2009, 2010 and 2011, Novak became the winningest boys coach with 6 state titles. Those 6 titles have come in the space of just 10 years, and 5 have come in just 7 years from 2005-11.

14. St. Paul Central girls, 2007. The undefeated Central girls were widely acclaimed as the best girls team ever in the state of Minnesota. They out-scored 3 tournament opponents by an average of 78-54. Kiara Buford, Georgie Jones, Angel Robinson and Theairra Taylor earned all-tournament honors. 4 girls had transferred into Central after starting their careers otherwise. It was this that inspired the anti-transfer rule that says a player who transfers after his or her freshman year shall forfeit a year of eligibility for athletics.

15. Edina boys 1966-67-68. The Hornets were the 1^st 3-peat champion. It was a struggle in1966 with wins by 1 point, in 3 OT and in 1 OT.  The 1967 and 1968 editions cruised by an average score of 74-54 (1967) and 75-52 (1968). Bill Fiedler, Jay Kiedrowski, Kurt Shellhas, Mark Thoele, Jeff Wright and Bob Zender won all-tournament honors.

16. Ron Johnson, New Prague boys, C, 1955-56. Led the tournament in scoring with 94 and then a record 109 points. The 109 points and his 203 career points stood as records until Mark Olberding surpassed both in 1974.

17. Kelly Skalicky, Albany girls, G, 1980-81. Skalicky led Albany to the 1980 state title, and scored a record 45 points in 1 game and 102 in a tournament (both records later were  broken by Tayler Hill). But first she and Albany faced Karvonen and New York Mills in the 1979 final, the game that really put girls basketball on the Minnesota map.

18. Randy Breuer, Lake City boys, C, 1978-79. Led Lake City to the 1978 and 1979 state titles, and scored a record 113 points in the latter year that still stands. He scored 41 and 42 points in 2 tournament games in 1979.

19. Red Wing 1915-1933. The Red Wing Wingers were the 1^st Minnesota high school dynasty, winning 3 of the 1^st 10 tournaments and 4 in 21 years. It would be more than 50 years before another school would match Red Wing’s 4 titles and almost ¾ of a century before its record would be broken. Stars of the Red  Wing dynasty included Butsie Maetzold, the Nordly brothers—Louis, Carl, Oliver and Harold, Art Lillyblad, Dick Seebach and others. And from 1920 through 1933, when Red Wing was successful, the state tournament would set new attendance records.

20 (tie). Mpls. North boys 1995-96-97 and Mpls. North girls 1997-2005. The boys were the 2^nd 3-peat champion after Edina, while the North girls played for a remarkable 8 of 9 state championships, winning 5 including 3 straight in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

21. Isaiah Dahlman, Braham boys, F, 2004-05-06. Dahlman led the Bombers to 3 state titles, and he led the tournament in scoring in both 2004 and 2005 with 75 and 88  points. In 2006 he scored another 73 points, 14 fewer than Cody Schilling. Meanwhile his career total of 236 is just 2 short of El-Amin’s record.

22. Blake Hoffarber, Hopkins boys, G, 2005-06. Led Hopkins to 2 Class AAAA titles. In 2005 he made perhaps the single most dramatic shot in tournament history while sitting on the court to force OT and avert defeat. Led the  Royals in scoring in both championship games with 25 and 19 points.

23. Faith Johnson Patterson, Mpls. North-DeLaSalle girls, coach, 1997-2011. Patterson led Mpls. North to a remarkable 8 Class AAA title games in 9 years, of which they won 5 and lost 3. She added a runner-up in 2009 and then a 6^th state title with DeLaSalle in 2011.

24 (tie). Jack Evens, Bloomington Jefferson boys, coach, 1975-90, and Kevin Lynch, Bloomington Jefferson boys, F-G, 1986-87 and Bloomington Jefferson boys, 1976-1987. Evens and Lynch combined to win back-to-back state titles in 1986 and 1987. For Evens, these were the 3^rd and 4^th titles, making him the 1^st coach ever to win 4 and Jefferson the 2^nd school to win 4 state titles.

25. Bob McDonald, Chisholm boys, coach, 1973-2011. McDonald coached the Bluestreaks for more than 50 years, and has more wins than any other Minnesota coach—boys or girls—with more than 970. His teams also won the Class A state title in 1973, 1975 and 2011.

100 Years 100 Stars: Forward Thinking

These are the best of the "normal" forwards. Nowadays we call them "small forwards," and that's about right. What it really means to me is guys who really really played forward in high school, as opposed to the many many guys who played center in high school then moved over to the forward later in their careers.

From the beginning in basketball through the advent of the low post, the forwards were the designated scorers in basketball, like the forwards or wings in ice hockey. (See Harold Gillen 1914, Martin Norton 1921 or Bennie Lichtenegger 1926.) When the low post became popular, the center became the top scorer. But a middle-sized kid with good athletic skills (can put the ball on the floor and get to the rim) and/or a good outside shot (see Tony Jaros 1940, Dave Tschimperle 1953 or Tom Nordland 1957) would still have a chance to be a star right up to the present day. (See Shane Schilling 1999, Isaiah Dahlman 2006 or Joe Coleman 2011).

Top 20 State Tournament Forwards

1. Dave Tschimperle, Hopkins 1951-52-53. Led the Royals to 8 wins in 9 tournament games, good for a 5th and 2 1sts. Led the 1951 and 1953 tournaments in scoring. Only the 2nd boy ever to make all-tournament 3 times.

2. Isaiah Dahlman, Braham 2004-05-06. Broke Joel McDonald's all-time scoring record, and came within 2 points of Khalid El-Amin's tournament career record. Oh, and won 3 Class AA titles.

3. Martin Norton, Mpls. Central 1921. Led Central to the 1921 title, scoring a record 77 points and setting FT records that stood for more than 85 years until they were broken by Cody Schilling. In 1963 Halsey Hall still had Norton on his all-time tournament 5. The previous year, in 1920, Central had taken 3rd place in the national tournament and Norton was named all-American.

4. Bob Bruggers, Danube 1961-62. Scored 2,364 career points, #2 at the time. Also led Danube to 2 tournaments, narrowly missing a big upset of St. Louis Park in a 1962 semi. Park won 66-62 as Bruggers made just 10-of-23 FT.

5. Tom Nordland, Mpls. Roosevelt 1956-57. Helped Roosevelt to 2 titles, the 1st in a record 101-54 rout of  Blue Earth in 1956. He was regarded as the best jump shooter the tournament had ever seen, scoring 84 points in 1957.

6. Johnny Dick, Buhl 1935-36. Led Buhl to the 1935 and '36 tournaments, including a huge upset of Mpls. Edison in 1936 en route to 3rd place. Dick was regarded as one of the great players to play in the tournament to that time.

7. Arvesta Kelly, Cretin-Derham Hall 1991-92-93. Led the Raiders to 3 straight title games where they won in '91 and '93. Kelly led the 1992 tournament in scoring with 67 points.

8. Tom Mulso, Sherburn 1970. Electrified the 1970 tournament with 83 total points and a surprise state championship for the Cinderella team from southern Minnesota. Scored a career total of 1,126.

9. Bennie Lichtenegger, Gaylor 1926. The prototype of the small town Cinderella was Gaylord in 1926, and Lichtenegger led all scorers in all 3 games for a total of 34.

10. Shane Schilling, Minnetonka 1998-99. Led the Skippers to 2 title games, a championship in 1998 and a 2nd place finish behind Mounds View in 1999. Led all scorers in 4 of 6 tournament games.

11. Joel McDonald, Chisholm 1991. Set a career scoring record of 3,292 points, and led the Bluestreaks to the 1991 Class A title, leading all scorers with 86 points. Later became Minnesota's all-time leading small college scorer at St. Cloud State.

12. John Klarich, Buhl 1941-42. Helped Buhl to the 2nd repeat state championships to that time. Led all scorers in all 3 1942 games for a total of 49 points.

13. Joe Coleman, Hopkins 2011. Led the Royals to the 2010 and 2011 Class AAAA titles.

14. John Beyer, Luverne 1964-65. Led the Cardinals to the 1964 state title and to 4th place in 1965.

15. Larry Ogden, White Bear Lake 1984-85. Helped White Bear to the 1984 and 1985 titles, the Bears finishing with an unbeaten season in both cases.

16. Harold Gillen, Stillwater 1913-14. Led Stillwater to the 1914 state title, and went on to win all-America honors as a Minnesota Gopher.

17. Aaron Middendorf, Caledonia 1997. Led Caledonia to the 1997 Class AA title, scoring 45 points in a final game win over DeLaSalle.

18. Darius Lane, Totino-Grace 1998. Scored 2,197 career points, including a tournament-high of 88 points in 1998.

19. Brian Grohnke, Edina 1964. Led all scorers in 1964 with 87 points, the most to that time by a player other than a center/post, as Edina took 3rd place.

20. Jay Kiedrowski, Edina 1966-67. Helped Edina to its 1st 2 out of 3 titles in 1966-67.

Top 20 Forwards Overall

1. Norm Grow, Foley 1958. Finished his high school career as the all-time leading scorer with 2,852 points, a record that stood for 34 years, and as the #1 rebounder with 1,417, a record that stood for 49 years.

2. Isaiah Dahlman, Braham 2006. See #2 above.

3. Martin Norton, Mpls. Central 1921. See #3 above.

4. Dave Tschimperle, Hopkins 1953. See #1 above.

5. Sam Jacobson, Park 1994. Scored a total of 2,461 points in his career and later helped the Minnesota Gophers to the Final Four.

6. Bob Bruggers, Danube 1962. See #4 above.

7. Joel McDonald, Chisholm 1991. See #11 above.

8. Tom Nordland, Mpls. Roosevelt 1957. See #5 above.

9. Harold Gillen, Stillwater 1914. See #16 above.

10. Tony Jaros, Mpls. Edison 1940. Broke all Minneapolis Conference scoring records as a senior in 1940. Voted Minnesota Gopher player of the decade for the 1940s, and also played for the Minneapolis Lakers.

11. Don "Swede" Carlson, Mpls. Edison 1938. Helped Edison to the 1937 state title, which team was regarded as the best ever in the state to that time. Played for the Minnesota Gophers and Minneapolis Lakers.

12. Johnny Dick, Buhl 1942. See #6 above.

13. Joe Coleman, Hopkins 2011. See #13 above.

14. Tom Mulso, Sherburn 1970. See #8 above.

15. Bennie Lichtenegger, Gaylord 1927. See #9 above.

16. Cory Johnson, Duluth East 2006. Scored 2,960 career points, and led East to 2nd place in Class AAA in 2006.

17. Shane Schilling, Minnetonka 1999. See #10 above.

18. John Kundla, Mpls. Central 1935. Went on to lead the Minnesota Gophers to the 1937 Big 10 title.

19. Omar Larson, Granite Falls 1953. Scored 1,401 career points, and was described by Kundla as the best jump shooter of his time.

20. Jim Akason, Halstad 1952. Scored 1,640 points and retired as the #1 scorer to that time. Led Halstad to 3rd place in the 1952 tournament.

100 Years 100 Stars: The Power and the Glory

Today we turn to the "4" spot, the so-called power forward. Of course, the idea of a "power forward" as kind of a 2nd post only came into vogue in the 1950s. It depended, of course, on seeing the value of the 1st post, and that had only happened about the time of WWII. Johnny Kundla inserted 6-10 Vern Mikkelson into the Mpls. Laker's lineup next to George Mikan, and the rest is history.

We manage to find some power forwards prior to that, of course. I mean, if a team had 2 forwards and 1 was bigger than the other--voila! Power forward. A lot of these guys, further, never played forward in high school. But there are so many great centers, and so few few great power forwards, that if a guy was a center in high school but a forward in college or the pros, then to me he's a power forward.

Anyway, here are the top 20 in the state tournament, and the top 20 more generally in Minnesota high school basketball history.

Top 20 Power Forwards State Tournament

1. Mark Olberding, Melrose 1973-74. Led Melrose to 2 Class A title games and the 1974 overall championship. He scored a record 112 points in '74 (since broken by 1 point by Randy Breuer). Played for the Minnesota Gophers and professionally.

2. Bob Zender, Edina 1966-67-68. 1st boy to be a major contributor to 3 state title teams, all-tournament twice. Led all scorers in 5 of 6 games in '67 and '68. Played college ball at Nebraska.

3. Hal Haskins, Alexandria 1943. Led Alex to 2nd place in 1943, scoring a 2nd-all-time-best 19 ppg. Was also the 1st Minnesotan to score 1,000 points in his high school career. Went on to earn all-America honors and win a national championship at Hamline.

4. Kris Humphries, Hopkins 2002-03. Led Hopkins to the 2002 title and 3rd place in 2003, and led Class AAAA in scoring both years. Mr. Basketball 2003. Played for the Minnesota Gophers and now in the NBA.

5. Mark Landsberger, Mounds View, 1972-73. Led Mounds View to 1972 Class AA title and to 5th place in 1973. Led all scorers in 4 of 7 games. Played for Minnesota Gophers for 1 year.

6. Jim Fritsche, St. Paul Humboldt 1949. Led Humboldt to the state title, scoring 23.3 ppg, 2nd only to Jim McIntyre at the time. Also led the St. Paul City Conference in scoring twice. Went on to play at Hamline.

7. Rick Rickert, Duluth East 2001. Scored 2,358 career points including 90 in 2001 tournament, where he was the 1st boy to score 30 ppg since Randy Breuer. Mr. Basketball 2001. Played at the U of M.

8. Kevin McHale, Hibbing 1976. Led Hibbing to runner-up spot in 1976. Out-scored by Steve Lingenfelter 26-21 in the final. Mr. Basketball 1976. Played at the U and for the Boston Celtics.

9. Bill Davis, Richfield 1960. Led the Spartans to 3rd place after famous loss to Edgerton in the semis. Scored tournament-best 88 points, and 1,206 for his high school career. Went on to be captain at the U of M.

10. Dean Veenhof, Edgerton 1960-61. Battle with Bill Davis was the 1st time 2 1,000 point scorers faced each other in the tournament. Finished his career with 1,887 points.

11. Jabbar Washington, Mpls. North 1995-96-97. Helped the Polars to a three-peat as state champion, leading all scorers in 3 games in 3 years.

12. Kurt Shellhas, Edina 1966-67. 2-time state champ, 2-times all-tournament.

13. Ray Cronk, Bemidji 1957-58. Scored 86 points in 1958 but Lumberjacks lost in the 1st round both times.

14. Greg Downing, Duluth Central 1977, 1979. Led Central to 1979 title and led all Class AA scorers with 67 points.

15. Gordon Burich, Chisholm 1933-34. Helped Bluestreaks to 3rd, then 1st. Led them in scoring 3 times in 2 years.

16. Redd Overton, Mpls. North 1980-81. Led North to 1980 Class AA title, and to the consolation title in 1981.

17. Jeff McCarron, Sherburn 1970. Helped Sherburn win the last of the single class titles. Scored 37 points with 24 rebounds in semi-final win over Marshall 71-60, and 1,597 in his career.

18. Paul McDonald, Chisholm 1974-75. Led Chisholm to Class A 3rd place in 1974, and championship in 1975. Led all scorers in 3 of 6 games--these being in his sophomore and junior seasons.

19. Milan Knezovich, Hibbing 1948-49. Led Hibbing to a 3rd and a 5th place finish, leading all scorers in 4 of the 6 games. Finished his high school career as the #1 scorer in Minnesota high school basketball with 1,476 points.

20. Bob and Dick Peterson, Henning 1965. Led Henning to 6th and 4th place finishes. Dick led all scorers 3 times in 6 games, while Bob's 29 points in the 1965 1st round was the top game.

Overall Top 20 Power Forwards

1. Mark Olberding, Melrose 1974. #1 above.

2. Bob Zender, Edina 1968. #2 above.

3. Hal Haskins, Alexandria 1943. #3 above.

4. Jim Fritsche, St. Paul Humboldt 1949. #6 above.

5. Bill Davis, Richfield 1960. #9 above.

6. Milan Knezovich, Hibbing 1949. #19 above.

7. Kris Humphries, Hopkins 2003. #4 above.

8. Jabbar Washington, Mpls. North 1997. #11 above.

9. Kevin McHale, Hibbing 1976. #8 above.

10. Mark Landsberger, Mounds View 1973. #5 above.

11. Ray Cronk, Bemidji 1958. #13 above.

12. Vern Mikkelson, Askov 1945. Never played in the state tournament, but won all-American honors at Hamline, and Hall of Fame honors as a Minneapolis Laker.

13. Johnny Norlander, Virginia 1938. Played in the 1937 state tournament without making much of an impression. Made a big splash at Hamline, helping with the 1942 national title. Then played professionally for several years.

14. Frank Wachlarowicz, Little Falls 1975. State champ and tournament MVP, went on to become the all-time Minnesota small college scorer at St. John’s.

15. Paul McDonald, Chisholm 1976. #18 above.

16. Rick Rickert, Duluth East 2001. #7 above.

17. Dean Veenhof, Edgerton 1960. #10 above.

18. Jeff McCarron, Sherburn 1970. #17 above. 

19. Jim Peterson, St. Louis Park 1980. Led Park to a 2nd, 4th and 3rd place finish in state tournament. Played for the Minnesota Gophers and in the NBA. Mr. Basketball 1980.

20. Kevin Noreen, Minnesota Transitions 2010. Noreen scored 4,000 points, currently an all-time Minnesota record, and also led Transitions to the 2010 Class A title. Mr. Basketball 2010.

100 Years 100 Stars: The Center of Attention

I started out to make a list of the 100 biggest stars of the boys basketball tournament, in recognition of the 100th year of tournament play this year. But then I thought, what the heck, why not rope in those guys who didn't play in the state tournament and make a really comprehensive list. Well, I compromised. I did both.

First, the centers.

The Center of Attention--1940-1990, But No More

It's worth noting that the role of the center has changed a lot over the years. In the early days, he was primarily a play-maker, like a hockey center. He'd play mostly at the high post and look to pass the ball to the forwards wherever they were working. Of course, the also had a center jump after every basket until 1937--like a hockey face-off--and the center was most often the guy they asked to do the honors.

With the demise of the center jump, the center was relieved of his 2nd most important duty. But indirectly, he was also relieved of the 1st. The offenses of the day were static because, hey, if you could routinely win the center jump, you could aspire to controlling the ball pretty much throughout the game. You could aspire to shutting out your opponent. So you didn't have to score a whole lot. In fact, as late as 1940, shooting percentages hovered around 20 percent.

Well, if the other side was going to get his shots, maybe you had to score a little more. And right about this time whatever it is they put into the water or the food started to produce taller boys and young men than ever before. So the #1 scoring option from the 1940s through the 1980s was the tall guy in the low post.

But, then, with the addition of the 3-point shot, the game changed again. The 3-pointer was meant to open up the lane for more of the good ole low post. Instead, the defense went on the attack. Now, the offense has to move a little quicker. And, getting an open shot doesn't necessarily mean closer to the hoop or high above average terrain. It means not having a defender in your face, and that often happens not closer but further away from the basket. The best of both worlds is to create havoc and turnovers in the opponent's backcourt for easy lay-ups for yourself.

The center isn't always able to get downcourt in time to participate in the transition, so of course he cannot be the center of attention anymore. That's the point guard. But in a rambling, gambling defensive strategy, he's the last line of defense. So it helps to be a shot-blocker, and hitting the boards is pretty essential. Scoring is gravy.

But getting back to the tournament, since I started out to list the top players in the tournament, I went ahead and did that. It's a good baseline, because we have plenty of data to make well informed decisions on them. Then I looked at guys who never played in the tournament and slotted them in on an as needed basis, recognizing that we don't have as good of data for the regular season all over the state of Minnesota.

So, even for the tournament list, but especially for the overall list, we consider their post-high school accomplishments insofar as they are validation of how good we think the player was in high school, if you see the distinction. The selection is based on their value as a high school player, but we understand that value in part by what they did later.

I should also note that a center is a guy who played center exclusively--in high school and at the next level, whatever that level is. Centers were so dominant for so long that I have plenty of candidates. So if a guy played center in high school but played forward anywhere further along--like a Vern Mikkelson, a Kevin McHale, etc.--he's a forward for my purposes.

Once again, the centers, beginning with the tournament 20 followed by the overall 20.

State Tournament Top 20 Centers

1. Jim McIntyre, Mpls. Patrick Henry 1944-45. The Babe Ruth of Minnesota basketball. Demolished any and all scoring records of the day, both in the tournament and for the regular season. Two-time state champion. Probably the #3 career scorer when he finished his high school career. Went on to earn all-America honors at the U of M.

2. Ron Johnson, New Prague 1955-56. Broke McIntyre's game and tournament scoring records, though he didn't win a title. All-time top scorer with 2,190 points at career's end. Also went on to earn all-America honors at the U of M.

3. Randy Breuer, Lake City 1978-79. Broke Johnson's record for most points in a tournament; his 113 points in 1979 still stands. Won 2 titles but not in the biggest class. One of 3 Minnesota high schoolers ever to win a state championship and a Big 10 championship.

4. Bill Simonovich, Gilbert 1951. Pros: Dominated Burdie Halldorson of Austin in the biggest big man matchup to that time (the Lingenfelter-McHale of his day) 35-4 en route to state title. Was a recognized force as a junior when Gilbert lost in the Region 7 final to eventual state champ Duluth Central. Cons: Not recruited into D1 out of high school, started at Hamline and transferred to the U. Started for the U as a junior, lost his starting spot as a senior.

5. Chad Kolander, Owatonna 1989-90. Pros: 2-time state champ, played at the U of M. Cons: Not a big scorer in high school, undistinguished at the U.

6. Ed Nylund, Buhl 1941-42. Pros: 2-time state champ, regarded as the best center ever to that time. Cons: Not aware that he played post-high school but the war could have affected that.

7. Don Dale, Robbinsdale 1950. Pros: 2nd highest scorer in tournament after Jim McIntyre, among top 5 career scorers (1,162 career points) at end of high school career. Cons: Played 1 year at the U and didn't make the varsity.

8. Como Pontliana, Duluth Central 1971. Pros: 3rd player to score 100 points in a tournament, state champ.

9. Joe Regnier, White Bear Lake 1984-85. Pros: 2-time state champ, 1-time tournament MVP. Cons: Not recruited by D1, played college ball in NCC.

10. Steve Lingenfelter, Bloomington Jefferson 1975-76. Pros: State champ, tournament MVP in 1976, out-played Kevin McHale in the final. Cons: McHale turned out to be a ton better after high school.

11. Rudy Monson, Duluth Denfeld 1947. Pros: Tournament MVP for state champion; had a nice career at UMD. Cons: Had a nice career at UMD.

12. Jimmy Jensen, Bemidji 1978. Pros: 1st to score 50 points in a tournament game. Cons: Not aware of post-high school career.

13. Ray Wall, Mountain Lake 1946-47. Pros: 2nd player after Jim McIntyre to lead the tournament in scoring 2 times. Cons: Not aware of post-high school play.

14. Don "Red" Mattson, Mpls. Marshall 1939-40. Pros: 2-time all-tournament, played for Minnesota Gophers. Cons: Lost 2 tournament big upsets including 1939 final to Mountain Lake.

15. Spencer Tollackson, Chaska 2004. Pros: State champ, tournament MVP, had a productive career with the Gophers.

16. Chris Engler, Stillwater 1977. Pros: Tied for top scorer in the '77 tournament, and had a productive college career.

17. Tom Copa, Coon Rapids 1983. Pros: Regarded as the best of 3 solid posts in 1983 tournament. Cons: Lost in final, college career didn't quite pan out.

18. Norm Galloway, Bemidji 1935-36. Pros: State champ, tournament MVP, started with the Gophers. Cons: Didn't stick with Gophers, resurfaced with Bemidji State.

19. Bob Laney, Proctor 1964. Pros: Tournament rebounding record still stands, nice D2 career. Cons: Very disappointing tournament for unbeaten team, nice D2 career.

20. Tryg Johnson, Anoka 1981. Pros: State champ, tournament MVP.

Overall Top 20 Centers

1. Jim McIntyre, Mpls. Patrick Henry 1944-45. 

2. Ron Johnson, New Prague 1955-56. 

3. Randy Breuer, Lake City 1978-79. The same 3 as above.

4. George Tuck, Mpls. Central 2001. Pros: Central played the Gophers tougher than Iowa and Wisconsin in those days. Went on to earn all-America honors at the U, and led them to 2002 and 2003 national championships.

5. Joel Przybilla, Monticello 1995.  Pros: Mr. Basketball, #1 all-time shot-blocker, NBA career, played well at U of M before.... Cons: Two relatively undistinguished state tournaments, quit the Gophers in mid-season.

6. Bill Simonovich, Gilbert 1951. #4 above.
7. Don Dale, Robbinsdale 1950. #7 above. 

8. Chad Kolander, Owatonna 1989-90. #5 above.
9. Steve Lingenfelter, Bloomington Jefferson 1975-76. #10 above.
10. Como Pontliana, Duluth Central 1971. #8 above.

11. Don "Red" Mattson, Mpls. Marshall 1939-40. #14 above.

12. Kleggie Hermsen, Mpls. Vocational 1940. Pros: Played at U of M, plus 9 years as pro with 9 ppg.

13. Johnny Horan, St. Thomas 1951. Pros: Led St. Thomas to Catholic title and win in match game vs. Wisconsin Catholic champ, played college ball at Dayton, 19 professional games with 2 ppg.

14. Ray "Swede" Nelson, St. Paul Mechanic Arts 1924-25-26. Pros: Led the Trainers to 1925 state title, led St. Paul City Conference in scoring 1924, 1926. Cons: Not top 20 for tournament performance.

15. Ed Nylund, Buhl 1941-42. #6 above.
16. Joe Regnier, White Bear Lake 1984-85. #9 above.

17. Rudy Monson, Duluth Denfeld 1947. #11 above.
18. Tom Copa, Coon Rapids 1983. #17 above.

19. Chris Engler, Stillwater 1977. #16 above.

20. Noah Dahlman, Braham 2004-05-06-07. Pros: 2,413 career points, 1,434 rebounds (was career leader at end of career), .656 career FG pct. Cons: Never the star of his own team.

100 Years 100 Stars: The Changing of the Guards

Once upon a time, guards in basketball did what guards do everywhere. They guarded. They were the defensemen of the court, defensive specialists. Heck, during the "dead ball era" from about 1922 to 1937 many teams even played what was called a "back guard" or a "standing guard." He stayed near mid-court just to make darn sure the other guy didn't get an easy basket, a breakaway. If that meant that the offense went 4-against-5, well, that's why I call it the "dead ball era." It was more important to keep the other guy from scoring than it was to score yourself. And so the best athletes were guards, and the best athletes on many basketball teams scored near zero points. They rarely took a shot, many of them. That was the "off guard" of the day.

Now, of course, you have your point guard, your ball-handler. And your off-guard is your "shooting guard," one of your main scorers. Defense? Well, sure, I'll create a turnover now and again, but guard the basket? That's for the big guys now.

So yes there's been a changing of the guards, and so yes the following is a mish-mash of "off guards" from different eras. One a defensive specialist, the other offensive. It wasn't easy ranking these guys, trust me.

Top 20 Off-Guards State Tournament

1. Cody Schilling, Ellsworth 2006-2007-2008. The only boy ever to lead the tournament in scoring 3 times, he also holds the career record of 267 state tournament points. Not incidentally, also led Ellsworth to 2 state titles.

2. Willie Warhol, Mpls. Edison 1935-1936-1937. Led the 1937 state champs who were regarded as the greatest team ever to that point. Earned all-tournament honors in 1935 and 1937. If Schilling exemplifies the modern off(ensive)-guard, Warhol was the greatest of the defensive guards of that day.

3. Earl Moran, Moorhead 1928-1929-1930. Another of the great defensive guards, and 1 of only 2 boys to make all-tournament 3 times in the single class era. The Spuds appeared in the state final in all 3 of Moran's years and they were the 1st repeat champion in 1928 and 1929.

4 (tie). Joe Coleman, Hopkins 2010-2011 and Blake Hoffarber, Hopkins 2005-2006. Which one was the better high school player? I dunno, you tell me. Hoffarber of course made the most famous shot in tournament history, that has to count for something. But each was the MVP for a 2-time champion, which not too many guys can say.

6. Ben Johnson, DeLaSalle 1997-1998-1999. Led the Islanders to 3 state title games and 2 state titles in 1998 and 1999. Led all scorers in 7 of 9 games, with a high of 35 in the 1998 final.

7. Jake Sullivan, Tartan 1998-1999-2000. The Titans were bounced out of the Class AAAA tournament in the 1st round in 1998 and 1999, though Sullivan was named all-state both times. In 2000 they won it all as Sullivan led Class AAAA with 82 points in 3 games.

8. Fred Enke, Rochester 1917. Another of those great defensive guards. He went on to win all-Big 10 honors as a Minnesota Gopher "back guard," but not before leading Rochester to the 1917 state title.

9. Dick Seebach, Red Wing 1933. Seebach is 1 of just 3 Minnesota men ever to win a state high school basketball title and then a Big 10 title at the University of Minnesota.

10. Jim Hill, St. Paul Central 1967. Led all scorers in 1967 with 94 points, the 3rd most ever to that time behind Ron Johnson and Jim McIntyre.

11. Terry Porter, Marshall 1963. Led the Tigers to a surprise state title, scoring 64 points in 3 games.

12. Skip Schaefbauer, Elk River 1993. Led all scorers with 84 points in 3 games, including 34 in a semi-final OT loss.

13. Charles "Buzz" Bennett, Duluth Central 1950. Led Central to the 1950 state title. A throwback to the days of the defensive specialist, Bennett, who was 6-3, famously guarded Robbinsdale's 6-7 center Don Dale in the state finals and "held" him to 22 versus the 31 he had scored in the semis. In the section finals he had guarded 6-10 Bill Simonovich.

14. Bob Ackland, St. Louis Park 1962. Led St. Louis Park to the 1962 state title.

15. Jeff Wright, Edina 1966-1967. Helped Edina to the first 2 of its 3-peat champions,

16. Blaine Joerger, Staples-Motley 1995. Led all scorers in 3 of 4 games in leading the Cardinals to runner-up in the 1st Sweet 16 tournament in 1995. His 28 points vs. Mpls. North in the final brought his total to exactly 100. Yes, he had a 4th game but, still, he is 1 of just 5 boys to score in triple figures in a state tournament.

17. Anthony Tucker, Minnetonka 2008. Led all scorers in all 3 games en route to the 2008 Class AAAA final, with 27, 28 and 27 points.

18. Jerry Butler, Mpls. Roosevelt 1956-1957. Also a throwback, a defensive specialist, Butler actually played the center position in 1957 after playing at a guard spot in 1956.

19. Dick Kaess, St. Paul Washington 1943. Led Washington to the 1943 state title, he was one of the 1st 2-way who scored a little while also playing great defense.

20. Jordan Smith, Orono 2011. Led Orono to the Class AAA title.


Top 20 Off-Guards Overall

(Players listed in Bold Face are not on the list above.)

1. Jake Sullivan, Tartan 2000. First Minnesota boy to score 3,000 points. See #7 above.

2. Willie Warhol, Mpls. Edison 1937. See #2 above.

3. Blake Hoffarber, Hopkins 2005. See #4 (tie) above.

4. Cody Schilling, Ellsworth 2008. See #1 above.

5. Jon Hagen, Belview 1957. Scored a (then) record 2,198 points.

6. Tom McDonald, Chisholm 1982. Scored 2,221 points, #3 all-time at that time.

7. Ben Johnson, DeLaSalle 1999. See #6 above.

8. Troy Bell, Holy Angels 1999. Scored 2,491 career points.

9. Joe Coleman, Hopkins 2011. See #4 (tie) above.

10. Earl Moran, Moorhead 1930. See #3 above.

11. Fred Enke, Rochester 1917. See #8 above.

12. Charles "Buzz" Bennett, Duluth Central 1950. See #13 above.

13. Jordan Smith, Orono. Scored 2,574 points, made 384 3-point FG (#2 all-time), shot .475 on 3s (also #2 all-time) and 87 prcent on FT (#3). Also see #20 above.

14. Mitch Ohnstad, Faribault 1996. Scored 2,805 career points, #3 at the time.

15. John Retica, Hibbing 1976. Led Hibbing to 1975 and 1976 tournaments. Was better than his teammate Kevin McHale.

16. Blaine Joerger, Staples-Motley 1995. See #16 above.

17. Terry Porter, Marshall 1963. See #11 above.

18. Skip Schaefbauer, Elk River 1993. See #12 above.

19. Bunk Harris, Duluth Central 1913. Central declined to enter the 1st state tournament in 1913, opting to play in the national tournament instead, finishing 3rd.

20. Jim Malosky, Crosby-Ironton 1946. Played in the 1944, 1945 and 1946 state tournaments, finishing 2nd in 1944 but losing 2 games each in 1945 and 1946. C-I was rated #1 in the state in 1946 before being shocked by Lynd 58-47 in the 1st round. Malosky led all scorers in 1 game each in 1945 and 1946.

100 Years, 100 Stars: #51-75

Stars of the Minnesota State High School Basketball Tournaments 1913-2011

51. Kelly Roysland, Fosston girls, G, 2000-01-03. Roysland led Fosston to 3 Class A titles in 4 years, and led Class A scorers all 3 years with 66, 66 and 70 points for a total of 202. Her 70 points in 2003 in fact led all scorers.

52. New York Mills girls, 1977-78-79-80. New York Mills was the 2^nd 3-peat champion after the Edina boys. Janet Karvonen starred but Mills had other weapons. Dana Patsie set tournament rebounding records, and guard Kim Salathe set assist records, all since broken. Going for a 4-peat in Karvonen’s senior year, Mills was shocked by Austin Pacelli  in the 1980 semi-final, 55-43, in one of the greatest upset in boys or girls tournament history.

53. Larry McKenzie, Mpls. Patrick Henry boys, coach, 1999-2003 and Mpls. Patrick Henry, 2000-2003. McKenzie coached the 2^nd team—boys or girls—ever to win four straight titles. The Patriots won 111 games in those 4 years while losing 13. The 28-1 2000 team, led by Johnnie Gilbert, was the best of the 4, while son Lawrence McKenzie helped Henry to the latter 3 championships.

54. Barry Wohler, Bird Island-Lake Lillian boys, G, 1980-81; Orono boys, coach, 2011.  Wohler led Bird Island-Lake Lillian to the 1980 and 1981 Class A titles, both going into 2OT. Wohler hit 3 game-changing shots in the waning seconds including the game- and championship-winner with 5 seconds left in the 2^nd OT in 1981. 30 years later he coached Orono, including his son Brady, to the Class AAA title, just as his father, Jerry, had coached him.

55. Lloyd Holm, Red Wing, Duluth Denfeld, St. Louis Park, coach, 1941-62 and Terry Culhane, Milroy, Tracy, Tracy-Milroy, Marshall girls, coach, 1985-2002. Holm and Culhane are the only coaches to play in a state final with 3 different schools –Holm with Red Wing, Duluth Denfeld and St.Louis Park; Culhane with Milroy, Tracy-Milroy (and/or Tracy Area) and Marshall. Holm won 2 out of 3 finals, Culhane won 4 titles in 8 tournament appearances. Among the girls, only Myron Glass and Faith Johnson Patterson have more.

56. Katie Ohm, Elgin-Millville girls, forward, 2002-03-04-05. Ohm led the Watchmen to 4 straight state tournaments and, finally, a state title in 2005. She led all scorers 6 times in 8 games, including all 3 in 2005, when she led her class with 56 points.

57. Johnny Dick, Buhl boys, F, 1935-36. The 5-foot-3 Dick led Buhl to 2 state tournaments, and to a 3^rd place in 1936. Buhl upset Mpls. Edison in the 1^st round in 1936, shooting 50 percent from the field at a time when 20 percent was considered to be good shooting. When Dick came out of the lineup late in the 3^rd place game, he received the longest and loudest standing ovation in tournament history.

58. Jeff Nessler, St. James boys, G, 1972. Nessler led St. James to the Class A and overall championships of 1972. In the final against Melrose, he hit a half-court shot at the final buzzer to win 57-55. He led all scorers in the overall final with 22 in a 60-52 win over Mounds View.

59. St. Paul Central girls, 1976-1979. Central won the 1^st “official” Class AA title in 1976, then took 5^th place in 1977, 3^rd in 1978 and another championship in 1979. Lisa Lissimore scored 140 points in the 1^st 3 of those tournaments, and was 1 point shy of Laura Gardner’s 141 for the career record at that time. A year later, Janet Karvonen took over.

60 (tie). Ziggy Kauls  Mounds View boys, coach, 1972-2005, and Mark Landsberger, Mounds View boys, F, 1972-73. Kauls and Landsberger teamed up to win the 1972 Class AA title as Landsberger led all scorers with 84 points in 4 games. In 1973, the Mustangs were upset and settled for 5^th place as Landsberger scored 31 in the consolation final. Kauls returned to a total of 12 tournaments, winning a 2^nd title in 1999.

61. Shannon Loeblein, St. Paul Harding girls, F, 1990-91. Loeblein led Harding to a 5^th and a 2^nd place in the state tournament, and led all Class AA scorers both times with 78 and 72 points.

62. Tom Mulso, Sherburn boys, F, 1970. Mulso led Sherburn to the last single class championship in 1970, leading all scorers with 83 points including 39 in the championship game win over South St. Paul. Only Jim McIntyre in 1945 had ever scored more points in a championship game.

63. Brittany Chambers, Jordan girls, G, 2007-08-09. Chambers scored a tournament record (since tied) with 47 points in a 79-74 win over Crookston in the 2008 Class AA semi-final. She led all scorers with 91 points as Jordan took 2^nd place. Chambers also helped Jordan to 3^rd place in 2007 and 4^th place in 2009.

64. Ben Johnson, DeLaSalle boys, G, 1997-98-99. Johnson led the Islanders to 3 Class AA finals, with titles coming in 1998 and 1999. He led all scorers in 7 of 9 games, and led Class AA in scoring in 1998 and 1999 with 86 and 69 points.

65 (tie). Bill Davis, Richfield boys, F, 1960 and Dean Veenhof, Edgeton boys, C, 1960-61. Davis and Veenhof were the 1^st 2 1,000 point scorers to face off in a state tournament game. Their battle—a 63-60 OT win for Edgerton—also was 1 of the celebrated games in tournament history as the Dutchmen were on their way to becoming the smallest school from the smallest town ever to win the state single class title. Davis scored 40 points the next day and led all scorers with 88 points in 3 games. Veenhof returned to help Edgerton to a 6^th place finish the following year.

66. Jenna Smith, Bloomington Kennedy girls, C, 2005-06. Smith led Kennedy to the 2005 and 2006 Class AAAA final, both against Hopkins. The Eagles won 44-38 in OT in 2005 as Smith led all classes with 63 points and 34 boards. In 2006 Hopkins came from behind and pulled away to a 65-48 win.

67. Chad Kolander, Owatonna boys, C, 1989-90. Kolander led Owatonna to back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990. He led all scorers in 4 of the 6 games, including 24 points in the 1990 title game.

68. Mario Retica, Buhl, Hibbing boys, coach, 1942-57. Retica coached Buhl to the 1942 state title, then brought Hibbing to 5 tournaments in 10 years including a runner-up finish in 1953. (Previously he had coach Austin St. Augustine, now Pacelli, to 3 championships of greater Minnesota Catholics in the 1930s.)

69. Kris Humphries, Hopkins boys, F-C, 2002-03. Humphries helped the Royals to the 2002 Class AAAA title and to 3^rd place in 2003. He led all Class AAAA scorers both years with 67 and 72 points.

70. Andy Berkvam, Lakeville/Lakeville North girls, coach, 1999-2010 and Brian Cosgriff, Hopkins girls, coach, 2002-11 and Willie Taylor, Mounds View and St. Paul Central girls, coach, 1994-2008. Berkvam led the Panthers to 7 tournaments and 3 titles in 12 years while Cosgriff led Hopkins to 6 tournaments and 3 titles in 10 years. Taylor led Central to 5 tournaments and 2 titles in 8 years (and Mounds View to 1 tournament previously). St. Paul Central’s 2007 champions and Lakeville North’s 2010 champions were acclaimed as the greatest girls team ever.

71. Rick Rickert, Duluth East boys, C, 2001. Rickert led East to the Class AAAA runner-up slot in 2001, scoring 90 points in 3 games, the most since Mark Olberding in 1973.

72. Ed Nylund, Buhl boys, C, 1941-42. Nylund led Buhl to the 2^nd back-to-back titles to that time.

73. Harold Gillen, Stillwater boys, F, 1913-14. Gillen led Stillwater to the semi-finals in 1913 and to the 2^nd state title in 1914.

74. Tamara Moore, F, Mpls. North 1997-98. Moore led North to the runner-up slot in 1997 and then to its 1^st girls state title in 1998. She led Class AAA in scoring both years (and all scorers in 1998) with 56 and 67 points, including 26 in the 1998 final.

75. Bennie Lichtenegger, Gaylord boys, F, 1926. Lichtenegger led Gaylord to the 1926 tournament title and they were christened as the 1^st Cinderella. He led all scorers for the tournament with 34 points in 3 games.

100 Years 100 Stars: Getting to the Point: 20+ Best Point Guards Ever

Ah, the "point guard." Up until the 1970s or '80s, people would have said, what's that? A point guard? Well, he's the ball-handling guard. But even that wouldn't have meant much until at least the 1940s, because the forwards did most of the ball-handling before that. The forwards and the center, and up until the 1930s, mostly the center. The center was the play-maker like a center in ice hockey.

And, using the ice hockey analogy, what do you think guards did? They guarded people. They were the defensemen. Up until the '40s. After that, there was a ball-handler, maybe, or maybe just one guard was better than the other. But then that guy would be both your ball-handler and your scorer.

So anyway, short story long, there's some arbitrariness to assigning guards before 1970 or thereabouts as a "1" or a "2" but so be it. Here goes.

Top 20 Tournament Point Guards

It's shocking how few of the big name point guards played in more than 1 tournament.

1. Khalid El-Amin, Mpls. North 1995-96-97. Led North to only the 2nd-ever 3-peat at the highest level and a 3-year record of 81-4. Led all scorers in 5 of 11 games en route to scoring a then career record 228 points over the 3 tournaments. Went on to lead the University of Connecticut to an NCAA title.

2. Russell "Butsie" Maetzold, Red Wing 1920-21-22. Led the Wingers to the 1920 and '22 state titles. Always said that they would have won in 1921 as well, except that 2 starters from that team were left home with the flu. 4-time "all-state" at Hamline, then coached Hopkins to 1952 and '53 state titles.

3. Kevin Lynch, Bloomington Jefferson 1986-87. Led the Jaguars to the 1986 and '87 state titles and a 2-year record of 49-4. Went on to play for the Minnesota Gophers in the NCAA Elite Eight.

4. Terry Kunze, Duluth Central 1961. Led Central to the 1961 state title. Went on to start for the Minnesota Gophers.

5. Barry Wohler, Bird Island-Lake Lillian 1980-81. Led Bird Island to 2 Class A titles, each of which was won in 2OT. Wohler made last-second, game-saving shots in both finals and in the 1st round in 1981. Played college ball at Minnesota and St. Cloud State, then coached Orono to the 2011 Class AAA title.

6. Jeff Nessler, St. James 1972. Led the Saints to the 1972 Class A and overall titles, scoring 80 points in 4 games including 31 in the Class A semi-final. Then in the Class A final, he hit a half-court shot at the final buzzer to beat Chisholm 57-55. Then he led all scorers with 22 in a 60-52 win over Mounds View in the overall final.

7. Lawrence McKenzie, Mpls. Patrick Henry 2001-02-03. Played on 4 champions, starting for the last 3. Went on to play for the Minnesota Gophers.

8. Ruben Epp, Mountain Lake 1939. Led Mountain Lake to the 1939 state title with a huge 37-31 upset of Mpls. Marshall. Went on to play for the Minnesota Gophers.

9. Jordan Taylor, Benilde-St. Margaret's 2007-08. Led the Red Knights to 2nd place in 2007 and the Class AAA state title in 2008. Led all Class AAA scorers with 82 points in 3 games in 2008, including 43 against St. Paul Como Park in the 1st round. Went on to earn all-America honors at Wisconsin.

10. Zach Kiekow, Osseo 2001. Led Osseo to the 2001 state title and a 30-1 record. In fact, they were undefeated against Minnesota competition, losing only to nationally #1-ranked Oak Hill Academy (VA).

11. Ronnie Henderson, Mpls. Marshall-U 1976. Led Marshall-U to the 1976 Class A title with an OT win over Mankato Wilson. 

12. Tom Kezar, Austin 1958-59. Led Austin to 5 wins in 6 tournament games, good for the 1958 state title and 3rd place in 1959. Led all scorers in 3 of the 6 games, with a high of 28 in the 1958 semi-final win over Willmar, 61-56.

13. Art Lillyblad, Red Wing 1933. Led the Wingers to the 1933 state title, then went on to start for the Minnesota  Gophers.

14. Byron Suttles, Mpls. Washburn 1994. Led Washburn to the 1994 Class AA title. Led all scorers with 17 points in the 66-65 final win over Hopkins.

15. Estan Tyler, St. Paul Johnson 2010-11. Led the Governors to the 2010 Class AAA championship with a 32-0 record and a regular season win over Class AAAA champion Hopkins. Lost a huge upset to New Prague in the 1st round in 2011. Led all scorers with 20 points in the 2010 final, a 59-55 win over Grand Rapids.

16. Rod Skoog, Brainerd 1954. Led Brainerd to the 1954 state title, leading all scorers with 19 points in the final, a 49-47 win over Bemidji.

17. Bill Schiffler, Woodbury 1983. Led Woodbury to a huge upset of Coon Rapids, 56-50 in OT, in the 1983 Class AA final, though the Royals finished undefeated 24-0.

18. Tydan Storrestan, Pelican Rapids 2009. Led Pelican Rapids to the 2009 Class AA title, scoring 34 in an 80-68 win over St. Bernard's and point guard Jordair Jett. He led all Class AA scorers with 76 total points in 3 games.

19. Greg Thone, Luverne 1964. Helped Luverne to a surprising 1964 state title after coming into the tournament with a 17-5 record. Luverne is better remembered for John Beyer and Del Jessen, but Thone led all scorers in the 1st round (20) and in the final, a 72-66 win over Rochester John Marshall, with 26.

20. Siyani Chambers, Hopkins 2010-11. Helped the Royals to the 2010 and 2011 Class AAAA titles and a 2-year record of 61-3.

Top 20 Point Guards Overall

1. Khalid El-Amin, Mpls. North 1997. See #1 above.

2. Marty Rolek, Mpls. Edison 1934. Was so good that, immediately after his senior year (still in the spring of 1934), he joined a senior men's team and led them to the state AAU title. From there he went on to earn all-America honors and lead the Minnesota Gophers to the 1937 Big 10 title. Could not get past Mpls. South in the Minneapolis Conference or old District 18, so did not play in the state high school tournament.

3. Russell "Butsie" Maetzold, Red Wing 1922. See #2 above.

4. Terry Kunze, Duluth Central 1961. See #4 above.

5. Kevin Lynch, Bloomington Jefferson 1987. See #3 above.

6. Paul Lehmann, DeLaSalle 1957. Led the Islanders to 3 state titles under coach Dick Reinhart. Then started for the Minnesota Gophers until a torn ACL took away his signature quickness.

7. Pat Foschi, Virginia 1975. One of the most heavily recruited Minnesota schoolboys ever, started his college career at Kentucky. Oddly for a point guard, he finished his high school career among Minnesota's best rebounders with 1,183. Could not get past  Chisholm with Bob, Paul and Mike McDonald in old Region 7.

8. Adam Boone, Minnetonka 2000. Beat out Jake Sullivan for the 2000 Mr. Basketball award, and started his college career at North Carolina. Finished up at Minnesota.

9. Jordan Taylor, Benilde-St. Margaret's 2008. See #9 above.

10. Lawrence McKenzie, Mpls. Patrick Henry 2003. See #7 above.

11. Ronnie Henderson, Mpls. Marshall-U 1976. See #11 above.

12. Mike Cielusak, Mpls. Edison 1927. Played in the 1926 tournament but lost in the 1st round to heavily favored Gilbert 29-11. Could not get past eventual state champ Mpls. South in 1927. Went on to play for the Minnesota  Gophers, where coach Dave MacMillan picked Cielusak as 1 of the 2 best guards he coached (from 1927 to 1948).

13. Art Lillyblad, Red Wing 1933. See #13 above.

14. Barry Wohler, Bird Island-Lake Lillian 1981. See #5 above.

15. John Retica, Hibbing 1976. Hibbing's 1975 and '76 state tournament entrants were described as Retica's team, though center Kevin McHale was an important contributor. Retica led all scorers in all 3 Hibbing games in 1975 with 20, 23 and 19 points. In 1976 Retica played despite an injury and was not particularly effective. But for the injury, both his and Hibbing's standing might be different.

16. Jeff Nessler, St. James 1972. See #6 above.

17. Ruben Epp, Mountain Lake 1939. See #8 above.

18. Gene Glynn, Waseca 1975. Played in the 1974 and '75 tournaments, losing a pair of upsets to Mound and DeLaSalle and settling for 4th and 5th place. Scored 73 points in 3 games in 1975.

19. Bernie Raetz, Red Wing 1953. Led the Wingers to the 1953 tournament as the highest scoring team in Minnesota history. Unfortunately they drew defending (and, soon, repeat) champion Hopkins in the 1st round, losing 59-47 with Raetz fouling out in the 1st half! Red Wing bounced back with a record 84 points in the consolation semi, then beat Madelia for 5th place 77-62 as Raetz scored 28.

20 (tie). Orris Jirele, Austin Pacelli 1958. Led Pacelli to the 1958 Catholic state title, then played point guard for St. Bonaventure when the Bonnies were rated as highly as #3 in the nation (1961).
  
20 (tie). Tom Kezar, Austin 1959. See #12 above.

100 Years, 100 Stars: #76-#100

As the 100th year of tournament basketball unfolds, I will reveal who I see as the 100 biggest stars to participate in the tournament, beginning today with #76.

76. Joan Kowalsky, Benilde-St. Margaret’s girls, G, 1974-77 and

Jordan Taylor, Benilde-St. Margaret’s boys, G, 2007-08. Kowalsky was a real pioneer, having played in the only private school tournament in 1974 won by St. Margaret’s Academy before its merger with Benilde High School. Then in 1976 and 1977 she led Benilde-St. Margaret’s to 2^nd and 3^rd place in the 1^st 2 “official” Class AA tournaments. Taylor led the Red Knights to 2^nd and then 1^st in Class AAA. He led Class AAA scorers in 2008 with 82 points, 43 in a quarter-final rout of St. Paul Como Park.

77. Chet Bisel, Lynd boys, coach, 1946 and Lynd 1946. Lynd shocked Minnesotans with a then-unheard of fast break offense, which they rode to 2^nd place, becoming the smallest school from the smallest town ever to play in a state tournament final.

78. Wayne Courtney, Mpls. Roosevelt boys, coach, 1956-57 and Minneapolis Roosevelt 1956-57.  Roosevelt scored a still-record 101 points in the 1956 final, then repeated with an undefeated record in 1957. These were Courtney’s only 2 tournament teams, but his 1961 team won its regional tournament before being disqualified for the use of an ineligible player.

79. Hopkins boys, 2009. The Royals of 2009 are generally regarded as the greatest boys team in Minnesota history. They already had 4 D1 recruits when Royce White, rated the #1 player in the state, transferred in for his senior year. They won 3 tournament games by an average of 64-40.

80. Janice Streit, Eden Valley-Watkins girls, C, 1983-84. Streit led Eden Valley-Watkins to 5^th and 2^nd place in 2 state tournaments. In 1983 she led all scorers with 83 points, and set rebounding records that still stand of 27 in 1 game and 64 for the tournament. She scored 45 points in 2 games in 1984 before running into a buzzsaw in Chisholm in the final.

81. Jerry Cool, Little Falls girls, coach, 1980-91. Coach Cool led the Flyers to 7 state tournaments in 12 years, and state titles in 1980, 1984 and 1985.

82. Kiara Buford, St. Paul Central girls, F-G, 2006-07-08. Buford helped Central to 3^rd place in Class AAAA in 2006, and then to back-to-back state titles in 2007 and 2008. She scored 33 points in the 3^rd place game and led her class in scoring as a sophomore with 69 points.

83 (tie). Dave Preller, Woodbury girls, coach, 1989-2004, and Del Schiffler, Melrose boys, Woodbury boys, coach, 1972-1987. Preller led the Woodbury girls to 10 state tournaments, including the 2003 title and 1997 runners-up. Schiffler took the Woodbury boys to 3 tournaments and a state title in 1983 after having taken Melrose, likewise, to 3 tournaments and an overall title in 1974.

84. Como Pontliana, Duluth Central boys, C, 2001. Pontliana led Central to the 1^st Class AA and overall titles, and led all scorers with 84 points in 4 games.

85. Arvesta Kelly, Cretin-Derham Hall boys, F-G, 1991-92-93. Helped Cretin to 3 straight Class AA title games, which the Raiders won in 1991 and 1993. Kelly led Class AA in scoring in 1992 with 67 points.

86. Joe Coleman, Hopkins boys, F-G, 2010-11. Coleman led the Royals to the 2010 and 2011 Class AAAA titles, leading all scorers in 5 of 6 games. He also led his Class in scoring both times with 70 and then 71 points.

87. Leslie Knight, Hopkins girls, F, 2004-05. Knight led Hopkins to 3^rd place in Class AAAA in 2004 and then to the 2005 title. She led Class AAAA in scoring both times with 53 and 65 points.

88. Joel McDonald, Chisholm boys, F-G, 2010. McDonald scored 3,292 career points, a Minnesota record for almost 10 years,, and led Chisholm to the 1991 Class A title, scoring a tournament best 91 points in 3 games.

89. Jabbar Washington, Mpls. North boys, F, 1995-96-97. He may have been second fiddle to Khalid El-Amin, but this was 1 of the greatest orchestra’s of them all. They were the 1^st boys ever to start on 3 state championship teams.

90. Joe Regnier, White Bear Lake boys, C, 1984-85. Unbeaten White Bear Lake and Mpls. North squared off for both the 1984 and 1985 state titles. The Bears won both times 51-47 and 67-62. Regnier led all scorers in 4 of the Bears’ 6 wins, including both title games with 19 and 23.

91. Frank Cleve, Mpls. South boys, C, 1920 ; Mpls. Patrick Henry boys, coach, 1944-45. Cleve won all-tounament honors in 1920, then returned as coach of Mpls. Patrick Henry’s 1944 and 1945 state champions. It was Cleve, the former center, who taught Jim McIntyre the fine points of playing the “modern” post.

92. Laura Gardner, Bloomington Jefferson girls, F, 1976-77-78. Gardner led Jefferson to the 1^st 2 “official” girls tournaments in 1976 and 1977, with nothing to show for it except 1 win and a 6^th place finish. In 1978 Jefferson took home all the marbles as Gardner led all scorers with 28, 26 and 24 points in the 3 games. Her career total 141 points was a record until broken by Janet Karvonen the following year.

93. Herman Woock, Crosby-Ironton boys, coach, 1932-45. Woock led the Rangers to 6 state tournaments in 14 years, including to a runner-up finish in 1944.

94. Ronnie Henderson, Mpls. Marshall-U, G, 1976. Henderson led Marshall-U to the 1976 Class A title. Henderson recorded a single game record of 14 assists in a semi-final win over Windom, and his 24 total assists in 3 games was 1 shy of the tournament record.

95. Don Dale, Robbinsdale, C, 1950. Dale led Robbinsdale to the 1950 state final, scoring 37 points in a semi-final victory and a tournament-high of 80 points in 3 games.

96. Ruben Epp, Mountain Lake boys, G, 1939. Epp led the Lakers to the 1939 state title.

97. Terry Hunst, Bloomington Jefferson girls, coach, 1993-2003. Took the Jaguars to 6 tournaments in 11 years, and to 1993, 1994 and 1998 state titles.

98. Blaine Joerger, Staples-Motley boys, F-G, 1995. Joerger led Staples-Motley to a runner-up finish in the 1^st Sweet 16 tournament of 1995. He was just the 6^th boy to score 100 points in a tournament.

99 (tie). Jessica Fiebelkorn, Osseo girls, C, 1989 and Hana Peltjo, Osseo girls, C, 2000. Fiebelkorn led Osseo to the 1989 Class AA title, leading her Class in scoring with 58 points in 3 games. Peltjo did the same but scored a tournament-high 78 points.

100. Lisa Lissimore, St. Paul Central girls, F, 1976-77-78. Lissimore scored 140 career points in 3 tournaments, 2^nd by 1 point to Laura Gardner as the leader through 1978, before Janet Karvonen took over in that category in 1979. Lissimore later worked at the MSHSL and was the girls tournament manager for many years in the 4-class era.

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.