Game of the Year 1896-2023

I never got around to picking a Game of the Year through the decades of Minnesota basketball. I previously had picked 3 games per decade, but it's time for a more thorough job. The games listed in boldface are the ones I will plan on going back to see as soon as I get my time machine running.

Multiple Awards (Minnesota teams)--Minnesota Gophers 18-15 Winona State 4-0 Minnesota Lynx 3-0 Minnesota Gopher women 3-0 Carleton 3-1 Stillwater 2-0 Ascensions 2-0 Buhl 2-0 Red Wing 2-0 Buhl 2-0 St. John's 2-0 White Bear Lake 2-0 Bloomington Jefferson 2-0 St. Thomas (University) 2-0 Minnesota Aggies 2-1 Moorhead 2-1  Mpls. North 2-2 Minneapolis Lakers 2-3 Holy Cross Church 1-1 Mountain Lake 1-1 Marshall 1-1 Augsburg 1-1 Duluth Central 1-2 Hopkins 1-2 Rock Spring Sparklers 0-2 Crosby-Ironton 0-3 Hamline 0-3 Bemidji 0-3

(Non-Minnesotans)--Ohio State 3-0 Phillips Oilers 2-0 Michigan 2-0 Chicago 2-1 Wisconsin 2-1 Indiana 1-1 Crawfordsville (IN) HS 1-1 Harlem Globetrotters 1-1 Columbia 1-2 Iowa 0-2

1896 Minnesota Aggies 9 Hamline 3 in the first intercollegiate game anywhere in the world
1897 Minnesota Aggies 19 Minnesota Gophers 3
1898 Red Wing Company G 22 Minneapolis YMCA 19 marking the end of the YMCA's dominance
1899 Minnesota Gophers 20 Minnesota Aggies 9 after Aggies beat Gophers 10 straight times

1900 Minnesota Lady Gophers 12 Stanley Hall 6 in 1st game ever for Lady Gophers
1901 Minnesota Gophers 42 Wisconsin 15
1902 Minnesota Gophers 32 Yale 23 in a match game for the national collegiate title
1903 Stillwater 26 Minneapolis Central 21, claims the mythical state high school championship
1904 Minnesota Gophers 28 Crawfordsville (IN) HS 23 after Gophers beat Indiana and Purdue easily
1905 Columbia 27 Minnesota 15 as Gophers fail to beat #1 in the nation.
1906 Red Wing Red Men 20 Stockton (CA) 14 in match-up of 2 state champion senior men's teams
1907 Minnesota Gophers 21 Chicago 10 to clinch 1st Big 10 title
1908 Minnesota Gophers sweep Columbia 9-8, 16-11
1909 Chicago 27 Minnesota Gophers 2

1910 Minnesota Gophers split with Chicago 15-10, 15-18
1911 Madison HS 29 Ada 10 in match game for mythical state high school championship
1912 Wisconsin sweeps Minnesota Gophers 22-12, 29-26
1913 Fosston 29 Mountain Lake 27 to win 1st state high school tournament final
1914 Stillwater 30 Winona 4 in state high school final
1915 Red Wing HS 21 Red Wing Company L 19
1916 Virginia 20 St. Paul Mechanic Arts 9 in state high school final
1917 Minnesota Gophers 31 Iowa 19 to clinch Big 19 title
1918 Waseca 29 Duluth Central 10 in state high school final
1919 Minnesota Gophers 26 Illinois 9 to cap undefeated season and national title

1920 Crawfordsville (IN) 21 Mpls. Central 16; Central settles for 3rd in national HS tournament
1921 Indiana 24 Carleton 23
1922 Lexington (KY) 37 Duluth Cathedral 26; Cathedral also takes 3rd
1923 Aurora 24 Austin 14 in state high school final
1924 Carleton wins at Michigan State
1925 Ohio State 32 Minnesota Gophers 20 in 1st game at Kenwood Armory
1926 Gaylord 13 Gilbert 9 in state high school final
1927 Henning 28 Chisago City 18 in state high school Class B tournament final
1928 Ohio State 48 Minnesota 40 in 1st game at fieldhouse
1929 Jesse M. Stasch 27 Holy Cross Church 25 in Minnesota AAU championship

1930 Ascensions 31 Davis Hunt Club (Kansas City) 24 in national AAU
1931 DeLaSalle 23 Jaspar (IN) Academy 21 in national Catholic tournament final
1932 Thief River Falls 21 Chisholm 15 in state high school final
1933 Carleton 34 Wisconsin 29
1934 Dominium Electric 27 Rock Spring Sparklers 20 to win state AAU title
1935 Carleton 29 Minnesota Gophers 26
1936 Buhl 41 Mpls. Edison 32; huge upset, Buhl shoots 50% at a time when 20% is "good"
1937 Minnesota Gophers 34 Northwestern 33 to clinch Big 10 title
1938 Minnesota Gophers 56 Long Island U 41 at Madison Square Garden
1939 Mountain Lake 37 Mpls. Marshall 31 in state high school final

1940 Ascensions 41 Holy Cross 23 in state AAU final
1941 Bemidji State 41 San Diego State 32, beating defending national NAIA champs
1942 Buhl 30 Marshall 29 in state high school final
1943 Washington Bears 42 Rock Spring Sparklers 21 in national professional tournament
1944 Mpls. Henry 51 Crosby-Ironton 42 in state high school final
1945 Minnesota Gophers 45 DePaul 36, holding George Mikan to lowest college total of 11 points
1946 Lynd 58 Crosby-Ironton 47 in state high school final
1947 Duluth Denfeld 46 Crosby-Ironton 44 in state high school final
1948 Harlem Globetrotters 61 Minneapolis Lakers 59
1949 Philips Oilers sweep Hamline 52-38 and 49-46

1950 Minneapolis Lakers 75 Harlem Globetrotters 60
1951 Minnesota Gophers 61 Kentucky 57 Gophers open Williams Arena vs. national champs
1952 Ft. Wayne 19 Minneapolis Lakers 18 famous stall game
1953 Red Wing 92 Braham 73 in Region 4 high school final
1954 North Carolina State 85 Minnesota Gophers 84
1955 Minnesota Gophers 59 Purdue 56 (6 OT)
1956 Minneapolis Roosevelt 101 Blue Earth 54 in state high school final
1957 Minneapolis Roosevelt 73 Bemidji 70 (OT) in state high school 1st round
1958 Minneapolis Lakers 111 Harlem Globetrotters 100
1959 Boston Celtics 173 Minneapolis Lakers 139

1960 Edgerton 63 Richfield 60 (OT) in state high school semi-finals
1961 Duluth Central 51 Bemidji 50 in state high school final
1962 Minnesota Gophers split with Indiana: win 104-100, lose 105-104
1963 Marshall 75 Cloquet 74 in state high school final
1964 Augsburg 72 Duluth Branch 71 for right to play in national NAIA tournament
1965 Michigan sweeps Minnesota Gophers 91-78, 88-85
1966 Edina 62 Henning 55 (3OT) in state high school semi-finals
1967 Moorhead 73 Duluth Central 69 in state high school semi-finals
1968 Moorhead 108 St. Paul Highland Park 89 in state high school 1st round
1969 St. John's sweeps Winona State 53-50, 66-61 (OT) to move on to NAIA tournament

1970 Sherburn 78 South St. Paul 62 in state high school final
1971 St. Thomas 64 Augsburg 63 to move on to NAIA tournament
1972 Ohio State 50 Minnesota Gophers 44 in "basketbrawl"
1973 Iowa 79 Minnesota Gophers 77 to knock Gophers out of Big 10 title
1974 Melrose 58 Bemidji 42 in state high school "overall" final
1975 Little Falls 54 Chisholm 50 in state high school "overall" final
1976 Bloomington Jefferson 60 Hibbing 51 in state high school Class AA final
1977 Prior Lake 52 Duluth Central 49 in state high school Class AA final
1978 St. John's 98 Moorhead State 85 to move on to NAIA tournament
1979 New York Mills girls 61 Albany 52 in state high school girls Class A final

1980 Virginia 58 Minnesota Gophers 55 in NIT final
1981 Kansas 67 Minnesota Gopher women 61 in regional final
1982 Minnesota Gophers 57 Iowa 55 (3OT) en route to Big 10 title
1983 Woodbury 56 Coon Rapids 50 (OT) in state high school Class AA final
1984 White Bear Lake 51 Mpls. North 47 in state high school Class AA final
1985 White Bear Lake 67 Mpls. North 62 in state high school Class AA final
1986 Bloomington Jefferson 52 Duluth Central 51 in state high school Class AA final
1987 Blaine 62 Moorhead 56 (5 OT) in state high school Class AA semis
1988 Concordia (Moorhead) women 65 St. John Fisher 57 for NCAA D3 championship
1989 Duke 87 Minnesota Gophers 70 in Sweet 16

1990 Minnesota Gophers 82 Syracuse 75 in Sweet 16
1991 St. Thomas women 73 Muskingum 55 for NCAA D3 championship
1992 Minnesota Gophers 62 Georgetown 61 for NIT title
1993 Cretin-Derham Hall 72 Elk River 69 (2OT) in state high school Class AA semi
1994 Minnesota Gopher women 81 Notre Dame 76 in NCAA tournament
1995 Mpls. North 54 Staples-Motley 52 in state high school Sweet 16 final
1996 Mpls. North 67 St. Thomas 65 in state high school Sweet 16 semi-final
1997 Wabasso 117 Red Lake 113 (OT) in state high school Class A semi's
1998 Anoka Ramsey CC women 73 DuPage (IL) 48 for NJCAA D3 title
1999 Washington (St. Louis) women 74 St. Benedict's 65 for NCAA D3 title

2000 Minnesota Timberwolves 101 Indiana 100 on half-court shot by Malik Sealy
2001 Lakeville girls 53 Woodbury 52 (OT) in state high school girls Class AAAA 1st round
2002 Minnesota Gopher women 92 Wisconsin 85
2003 Minnesota Gopher women win at #9 Stanford to advance to NCAA Sweet 16
2004 Minnesota Gopher women 82 #1 Duke 75 for a trip to the Final Four
2005 Hopkins 71 Eastview 60 (OT) in state Class AAAA final; Blake Hoffarber's "butt shot"
2006 Winona State 74 Mankato State 71 after trailing by 16 in NCAA D2 regional game
2007 Winona State 69 Minnesota Gophers 64 in exhibition game
2008 Jordan girls 79 Crookston 74 as Chambers scores 47 in state high school girls Class AA semi
2009 Mankato State women 103 Franklin Pierce 94 in D3 women's championship game

2010 St. Paul Johnson boys 86 Hopkins 78 in matchup of 2 state champions
2011 St. Thomas 78 Wooster 54 in NCAA D3 championship game
2012 Osseo boys 87 Hopkins 86 (3OT) state AAAA semi-final
2013 The Minnesota Lynx sweep 7 playoff games without a loss
2014 Lakeville North boys 84 Hopkins 82, Class AAAA final, JP Macura 43 points
2015 Minnesota Lynx 80 Indiana Fever 77, Game 3, WNBA finals, Maya Moore hits buzzer-beater
2016 Minnesota Gopher women 112 Northwestern 106 (2OT) as Rachel Banham scores 60
2017 Minnesota Lynx 85 L.A. Sparks 76 in final game of WNBA playoffs
2018 Cretin 79 Apple Valley 78 Class AAAA final on last-second dunk by Daniel Oturu
2019 Minnesota Gopher men 59 Wisconsin 52, Gophers move to 12-2

2020 St. John's 82 St. Thomas 63, MIAC playoff finals

2021 Chaska girls 67 Hopkins 62, state tournament semi-final match of unbeatens

2022 Minnesota Gopher men 75 at Michigan 65 on December 11, one of the most unbelievable wins ever at any level; Gophers go to 9-1

2023 St. Michael-Albertville girls 71 Hopkins 70, Class AAAA girls state final

Coach of the Year 1895-2023

Coach of the Year 1895-2023

Most awards--Cooke (9), Hutton (5), Dean, Cowles, Kundla, Mosher Hanson, Haskins, Riverso, Reeve (3 each), Diebold, Cleve, Dutcher, Schiffler, MacMillan, McHale, Saunders, Durbin, Smith, Fritz (2 each)

1895--Ray Kaighn, Hamline

1896--Dr. Louis J. Cooke, Minneapolis YMCA

1900--Cooke, Minnesota

1901--Cooke

1902--Cooke

1903--Cooke

1906--Cooke

1907--Cooke

1913--Rev. Fred B. Hill, Carleton

1914--Harry Gammons, Stillwater

1915--Raymond Hanson, Red Wing

1916--Claude Hunt, Carleton

1917--Cooke

1918--Windy Levis, Carleton

1919--Cooke

1920--Earl Jackson, Carleton

1921--Weston Mitchell, Mpls. Central

1922--Everett Dean, Carleton

1923--Dean

1924--Dean

1925--Edwin McKee, St. Paul Mechanic Arts

1926--B.F. Borchert, Gaylord

1927--Otto Engenbrecht, Mpls. South

1928--Glenn Hanna, Moorhead

1929--Ray Parkins, Mpls. Edison and Jesse Stasch seniors

1930--Ozzie Cowles, Carleton

1931--Frank Cleve, Concordia (Moorhead)

1932--Marshall Diebold, Carleton

1933--Diebold

1934--Harvey Roels, Chisholm

1935--Joe Hutton, Hamline

1936--Hutton

1937--Dave MacMillan, Minnesota

1938--MacMillan

1939--Moose Krause, St. Mary's

1940--Walt Mikulich, Breckenridge

1941--Muxey Anderson, Buhl

1942--Hutton

1943--Harry Nelson, St. Paul Washington

1944--Cleve, Mpls. Patrick Henry

1945--Dick Buckley, Ely

1946--Chet Bisel, Lynd

1947--Jim Withan, Mankato State

1948--John Kundla, Minneapolis Lakers

1949--Cowles, Minnesota

1950--Paul Sokol, St. Thomas

1951--Hutton

1952--Butsie Maetzold, Hopkins

1953--Mario Retica, Hibbing

1954--Gus Young, Gustavus Adolphus

1955--Cowles

1956--Wayne Courtney, Mpls. Roosevelt

1957--Hutton

1958--Norm Olson, Duluth Branch

1959--Jack Thurnblad, Wayzata

1960--Richie Olson, Edgerton

1961--Lloyd Peterson, Minnesota-Duluth

1962--Red Severson, St. Cloud State

1963--Glenn Mattke, Marshall

1964--Kundla, Minnesota

1965--Kundla

1966--Tom Feely, St. Thomas

1967--Duane Baglien, Edina

1968--Orris Jirele, Rochester Lourdes

1969--Al Wold, Rochester John Marshall

1970--Bill Fitch, Minnesota

1971--Jim Hastings, Duluth Central

1972--Bill Musselman, Minnesota

1973--Les Wothke, Winona State

1974--Del Schiffler, Melrose

1975--Bob McDonald, Chisholm

1976--Ed Prohofsky, Mpls. Marshall-University

1977--Jim Dutcher, Minnesota

1978--Ellen Mosher, Minnesota women

1979--Dan Smith, St. John's men

1980--Dave Schellhase, Moorhead State men

1981--Mosher

1982--Dutcher

1983--Schiffler, Woodbury boys

1984--Dale Race, Minnesota-Duluth men

1985--Mosher Hanson

1986--Butch Raymond, St. Cloud State men

1987--Jack Evens, Bloomington Jefferson boys

1988--Duane Siverson, Concordia (Moorhead) women

1989--Clem Haskins, Minnesota men

1990--Haskins

1991--Ted Riverso, St. Thomas women

1992--Len Horyza, Cretin boys

1993--Mike Durbin, St. Benedict's women

1994--Steve Fritz, St. Thomas men

1995--Riverso

1996--Kevin McHale & Flip Saunders, Minnesota Timberwolves

1997--Haskins

1998--McHale & Saunders

1999--Durbin

2000--Larry McKenzie, Mpls. Patrick Henry boys

2001--Smith

2002--no award

2003--Mark Hanson, Gustavus Adolphus men

2004--Pam Borton, Minnesota women

2005--Myron Glass, Rochester Lourdes girls

2006--Mike Leaf, Winona State men

2007--Matt Marganthaler, Mankato State men

2008--Paul Fessler, Concordia (St. Paul) women

2009--Pam Gohl, Mankato State women

2010--Vern Simmons, St. Paul Johnson boys

2011--Fritz--2nd award, 1st since 1994
2012--Ruth Sinn, St. Thomas women

2013--Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota Lynx
2014--Melissa Guebert, Eastview girls
2015--Reeve
2016--John Tauer, St. Thomas men
2017--Reeve
2018--Willie Braziel, Columbia Heights boys
2019--Aaron Greiss, Augsburg men, and Ted Riverso, Augsburg women--Riverso 3rd award, others 1991 and 1995

2020--John Herbrechtsmeyer, Bethel women

2021--Mandy Pearson, UMD women

2022--Lori Fish, St. Cloud State women

2023--Pearson

Boys State Tournament Statistical Analysis

OK, one final commentary about the boys state tournament. Some of you may know that I've been tracking the scoring averages of the state tournament, well, since 1913. Scoring increased, well, not from the beginning. It actually started high (34-21 in 1913), then declined for a quarter-century with an all-time low of 32 points for both teams in 1920, 1925 and 1926. After that scoring increased pretty much steadily until it reached an all-time high of 79-58 (137 total points) in 1968. That remains the record to this day.

After that, state tournament scoring dropped precipitously to 52-43 in 1978, and it was under 100 again in 1983. Some of you may remember that the 3-point shot was adopted quite explicitly to increase the pace and action and scoring, that is, to make basketball more exciting for the fans. 

Well, state tournament scoring reached 120 points again in 1988, the first year of the 3-pointer in Minnesota high schools, and in 1997, the first year of 4 classes. But, it only reached 120 again in 2006. Since 2006, the average state tournament score exceeded 120 points 12 of 17 years. Thanks in part to the 3-pointer.

But the point was not just to increase scoring, it was to increase excitement. The fact is that if you pretend that there's no 3-pointer, if you give 2 points for every field goal, well, then, scoring is still below 120 points. Take 2023 for example.

4A winners made 22-of-38 2-pt FG (58%), 6.5-of-18 3-pt FG (36%) and 13-of-18 FT (72%)

4A losers     15-of-35 (43%)     7-of-21 (33%)     13-of-18 (72%)

3A winners     20-of-35 (57%)     6-of-15 (40%)     12-of-18 (67%)

3A losers     13-of-27 (45%)     6-of-20 (30%)     12-of-17 (71%)

2A winners     17-of-34 (50%)     8-of-20 (40%)     14-of-20 (70%)

2A losers     16-of-37 (43%)     6-of-22 (27%)     9-of-13 (69%)

1A winners     17-of-34 (50%)     5-of-15 (33%)     10-of-15 (67%)

All winners     19-of-35 (54%)     6-of-17 (35%)     12-of-18 (67%)     69 points (without the 3=63)

All losers     14-of-32 (44%)     6-of-21 (28.5%)     10-of-15 (67%)     58 points (without the 3= 52)

So what does all of this mean.

1) Winning basketball means making more 2 pointers than your opponents. Games are not won and lost on 3s and free throws.

2) If not for the 3-pointer (12 of them, worth 12 more points than a 2-pointer), if not for that, scoring would average 63-52. Well, when basketball scoring was on the rise in the 1940s and 1950s, well, scores of 63-52 were standard issue by the mid-1950s. When scoring dropped after about 1970, it was below 63-52 through most of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. So games today are a little high scoring than they were in the '70s, '80s and '90s, even if you normalize for the 3-pointer. But, just a little. In fact, the pace of the game today is closer to the '70s, '80s and '90s, when everybody said the game was boring, than to the '60s. 

3) My belief is that the higher scores today--again, after you normalize for the 3--are due to higher shooting percentages. The pace of the game, in other words, is not any faster than it was. The number of FG attempts has not increased, it has probably dropped a little bit.

4) Not only that but you've now got 33 FT attempts per game. For many many years, basketball fans and coaches and anybody who cared about the game chafed at the number of FT being shot. #1, free throws were not as good of a test of skill as FG. Games, people thought, should be decided by FG, not FT. Well, in this year's state tournament, that was the case. The average winner made 5 more FG than the average loser, while both made the same number of FT.

But in addition to that, in granddad's day, they thought that FT were boring. They slowed the game down, they interrupted the real action. Are 33 FT too many? Does it slow down the game too much? Eye of the beholder. But one thing I've seen at the high school level is kids playing the game like the pros and the colleges do. What that means is that they drive the ball into the paint and attack the rim, and throw up a shot that has zero chance of going into the basket. The only purpose of the shot is to try to draw the foul. My personal opinion is that too often the officials bailed out kids taking terrible shots that were never going to go in the basket. If a kid drives into the lane and is out of control and has no shot, that should be the offense's problem. Too often, the officials make it the defense's problem. I mean, the defense can't hardly get the hell out of the way fast enough. Oh, and they make it the fans' problem, too, because they interrupt the action so that that kid can shoot a couple of ill-deserved FT. And, at 67%, they're not making any more FT as a percentage than we made 50 years ago. What's with that?

Stop calling bail-out fouls and, guess what? Kids will quit taking these terrible, stupid shots and the action on the floor will continue and it will be much more exciting. 

5) But, anyway, my main point is that the 3-point shot has shifted the action from the half-court to the full-court. And that's a good thing. But it has not increased the pace of the game as measured by the number of possessions and FG attempts. Cutting down on bail-out calls strikes me as the quickest and easiest way to increased the pace and the excitement of the game.

Can somebody pass that on to the MSHSL because I can assure you they don't want to hear this from me.

Jackson Fowlkes Makes History and Other Footnotes to the Boys Tournament

 No, this is not going to be a rant about the all-tournament teams. Actually they did an unusually nice job this year. One, they bucked tradition in limiting AAAA champion Wayzata to just 2 picks, and rightfully so. I thought they missed on C.J. O'Hara but once the gave Wayzata 2 picks it might not have seemed right to give Park Center 3. 

In AAA they very rightfully dipped down to honor Matthew Bothun of St. Francis despite the fact that his team didn't win a game. Here I thought they missed on Abraham Soumis of Hermantown.

In AA I thought they missed on Aeron Stevens of PEM and Leonard Levy of Minnehaha, but who you gonna bump off? Kole Hanson also had to be in the conversation but you can't hardly pick 3 guys from the 3rd place team.

In Class A, I could make a case for Noah Sundquist, Carson Brown and Clint Determan but, again, who you gonna bump?

So any way, no, this is not my usual rant about the all-tournament teams.

Jackson Fowlkes Makes History

Jackson Fowlkes joined Casmir Chavis representing AAAA runner-up Park Center on the all-tournament team. This means that the 2 junior leap-frogged the Pirates seniors C.J. O'Hara and JJWare in this regard. And along wit Chiang Ring, they represent as good of a "big 3" as anybody is going to have going into next season. You can chalk Park Center in at the pre-season #1 right now.

But this is not what will make Jackson Fowlkes famous. No, he made history by being just the 3rd player in 110 years to make the all-tournament team coming off the bench. He did not start any of the 3 games, but finished as Park Center's #3 scorer with 37 points while adding 10 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and 2 blocks.

The only players to achieve this rarity previously are Loren Stadum of Thief River Falls in 1938 and Mike Weah of St. Bernard's in 2009. (No, Dave Meisner did not accomplish this. He did not start Cloquet's 1st round game in 1962, but he did start the consolation semi and final.)

Next Year

One of the nice things about the state tournament, especially in this modern era of repeat success, is that it provides a preview of next year. We're going to limit our comments to AAAA. And as we've said, you can chalk Park Center in at pre-season #1. Here's the rest of the top...

1. Park Center--Casmir Chavis, Jackson Fowlkes and Chiang Ring return

2. Minnetonka--Andy Stefonowicz, Jordan Cain and Duke Richardson. By the way, the new section assignments come out next week, but it looks like Minntonka and Edina will return to Section 6 for reasons that are discussed below,

3. Shakopee.

4. East Ridge.

5. Hopkins

6. Edina

7. Lakeville North--Robison, Drake and Quam return.

8. Lakeville South

9. Bloomington Jefferson--Daniel Freitag

10. Tartan

Your state tournament semi-finals then are Park Center-East Ridge and Minnetonka-Shakopee, no longer in the same section.

Section Assignments

It looks like Cooper and Mpls. South (both section 6) and Northfield (section 1) will drop down to AAA while Kennedy, New Prague, Two Rivers (formerly Sibley) and Sauk Rapids move up. The following moves will keep everybody at 8 teams per section, except as noted.

1--drop Northfield, add New Prague. Wow, that's easy.

2--drop Edina and Tonka, add Jefferson and Kennedy.

3--drop Jefferson, add Sibley.

4--add Roseville, maybe drop North St. Paul.*

5--drop Roseville, add Centennial.

6--drop Cooper and South, add Edina and Tonka.

7--drop Centennial, add Rogers.

8--drop Rogers, add Sauk Rapids.

OK, I'm not sure how they handle this. Cretin is not among the top 64 in enrollment but will surely continue to play up in AAAA. North St. Paul (also section 4) is #64. Does North St. Paul drop down to AAA or are there 65 teams in AAAA? This also accounts for the fact that 3 teams appear poised to drop from AAAA to AAA but 4 appear ready to move up from AAA to AAAA. These 7 teams passed North St. Paul (#64 in enrollment) either going up or going down. Cretin is in fact the 4th team that is moving "into" AAAA but of course they were already there. 

Anyway, on April 6, all will be made clear by the MSHSL, along with changes to AAA, AA and A. I will add that at a glance, the following teams may be moving up or down in class. There are a variety of machinations and appeals and whatnot before the final assignments are made. But just based on enrollment, pure and simple, here are some potential changes.

Down from AAA to AA--Hibbing and Jordan

Up from AA to AAA--Rock Ridge, Fergus Falls, St. Paul Washington and Mpls. Edison

In other words, no bombshells.

The Best (Teams) of the Boys State Tournament

 Most years, it's pretty much automatic to say that the Class AAAA champion is the #1 team in the state. But not always. In the 21st century we've named the following teams #1 at the end of the year. All were the AAAA champion unless otherwise indicated.

2000--Mpls. Patrick Henry 28-1, AAA champion. Class AA champion Litchfield defeated Class AAAA champion Tartan 74-49 in a holiday tournament.

2001--Osseo 30-1

2002--Hopkins 28-2

2003--Litchfield 30-2, AA champion. Litch defeated AAA champion Henry 66-44 in the regular season, and Henry won the Minneapolis city title over Class AAAA champion Mpls. North.

2004--Chaska 30-2

2005 and 2006--Hopkins 31-1 and 30-2

2007--St. Thomas 30-2, AAA champion over Buffalo 28-3, AAAA champion

2008--Minnetonka 28-3

2009--Hopkins 31-0

2010--St. Paul Johnson 32-0, AAA champion, defeated AAAA champion Hopkins 86-78 in a holiday tournament.

2011--Hopkins 31-1

2012--Osseo 30-2

2013--DeLaSalle 30-1, AAA champion over Apple Valley 31-1. DeLaSalle beat Park Center while Apple Valley split with Park Center.

2014--#1-rated Apple Valley lost to Cretin in the section final. Lakeville North upset Hopkins in the state final to finish 26-5. We stuck with Apple Valley.

2015--Apple Valley 30-2

2016--Hopkins 31-1

2017--Apple Valley 30-2

2018--Cretin 30-2

2019--Hopkins 27-4 swept 2 games with Class AA champion Minnehaha 29-2.

2020--Eden Prairie 28-0--state tournament was cancelled.

2021--Minnehaha 20-1, AAA champion

2022--Park Center 31-1 split 2 games with AAA champion Totino-Grace so we at least had to think abuot it a little bit.

So you would think that the benefit of the doubt in 2023 would go to Wayzata. They're just 27-4. Only one #1 team this century had 4 losses. But Wayzata started 0-3, then went 24-1 the rest of the way. More to the point, if not Wayzata, who? Only Park Center in AAAA had a better record at 28-3 and Wayzata beat them in the state final. Lakeville North matched Wayzata's 4 losses and beat Wayzata in December (and lost to Park Center in December) and of course lost to Wayzata in the state semi-final.

For the record, there's AAA champion Totino-Grace. They lost 8 times, 5 times to Minnesota teams--3X to  Lakeville North and Park Center, but also to Osseo and Minnetonka. So, no.

Among the girls, we picked Hopkins at #1 despite their loss to St. Michael-Albertville in the state final. Hopkins beat St. Michael 2 out of 3, and rallied from a 17 point deficit in the 2nd half to get within one. So this is not quite analogous. Nobody beat Wayzata twice.

1. Wayzata 27-4

2. Park Center 28-3

3. Lakeville North 28-4

4. Totino Grace 24-8

5. DeLaSalle 26-6

6. Eastview 23-9

7. Albany 32-1

8. White Bear Lake 23-8

9. Andover 23-9

10. Minnetonka 23-8

The Best (Individuals) of the Boys State Tournament

What the hell, let's just start out with my opinions.

Then, down below, you'll see the objective reality, that is the statistical leaders, but with a caveat. The MSHSL does not publish box scores for consolation games. I found box scores for some of those games (on the Hub or in hometown media) but not for others, and even when I did they mostly did not include anything other than scoring. So some of these numbers and rankings are approximate. None of that would have affected the all-tournament teams, I don't think.

My All-Tournament Teams

C- Colin Mulholland, Holy Family, 6-11, Sr., 78 pts in 3 games; 26 reb., 5 asts., 6 stls , 15 blks in 2 games

PF- Jackson McAndrew, Wayzata, 6-9, Jr., 67 pts., 24 reb., 3 asts, 1 ast., 3 blks. Head to head McAndrew had 28 pts and 8 reb. vs. Lakeville North and Nolan Winter, who had 24 pts and 5 reb. as Wayzata won 79-77 en route to the state title. McAnderw had 25 pts and 9 boards in the final. The #1 breakout player of the tournament.

SF- Owen Leach, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, 6-6, Sr., 88 pts., 25 reb., 4 asts., 1 stl. Overall tournament scoring leader.

PG- Casmir Chavis, Park Center, 6-3, Jr., 55 pts., 16 reb., 20 asts., 6 stls, 2 blks. Class AAAA MVP. Overall 2023 state tournament MVP.

SG- Nasir Whitlock, DeLaSalle, 6-1, Sr., 64 pts, 12 reb., 19 asts., 7 stls. Class AAA MVP.

6th- Isaiah Hagen, Orono, 6-4, Sr., SG, 80 pts, 17 reb., 7 asts., 7 stls.

2nd Team

C- Nolan Winter, Lakeville North, 6-11, Sr., 70 pts, 22 reb., 3 assts., 2 blks.

PF- Boden Kapke, Holy Family, 6-11, Sr., 68 pts, 29 reb., 8 asts., 5 blks.

SF- Scott Hondl, Albany, 6-6, Sp., 48 pts, 28 reb., 17 asts, 1 stl., 4 blk. Class AA Co-MVP.

PG- Taison Chatman, TG, 6-4, Sr., 48 pts, 18 reb., 18 asts., 5 stls.

SG- Tysen Gerads, Albany, 6-3, Sr., 69 pts., 12 reb., 14 asts., 2 stls, 1 blk. Class AA Co-MVP.

6th- Aidan Wichmann, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, 6-2, Sr., 65 pts, 20 reb., 20 asts, 7 stls. Class A MVP

3rd Team

C- Patrick Bath, TG, 6-9, Sr., 44 pts., 27 reb., 2 asts., 1 stl., 5 blks.

PF- Matthew Bothun, St. Francis, 6-9, Sr., 16 pts, 4 reb. in one game

SF- Grayson Grove, Alexandria, 6-9, Jr., 41 pts, 15 reb., 7 asts, 4 stls, 6 blks in 2 games

PG- Jerome Williams, Minnehaha, 5-10, Jr., 58 pts, 10 reb., 16 asts, 2 stls, 2 blks.

SG- Ben Kopetzki, Andover, 6-1, Sr., 78 pts.

6th- Henry Tibbitts, Wayzata, 6-1, Sr., 59 pts, 3 reb., 10 asts., 3 stls.

Honorable Mention--it was hard to leave Rolyns Aligbe, Drew Werkman, Erick Reader and Abraham Soumis off of these teams.

Statistical Leaders

Overall Scoring--Leach, DGF 88; Hagen, Orono 80; Kopetzki, Andover 78; Mulholland, Holy Family 78; Winter, Lakeville North 70

Overall Rebounding--Reader, New Life 40; Kapke, Holy Family 29; Bath, TG 27; Mulholland 26; Leach 25

Overall Assists--Chavis, Park Center; Gunderson, Orono; and A. Wichmann, RTR 20; Whitlock, DLS 19; Chatman, TG 18; Hagen 17

Overall Steals--Kole Hanson, Holy Family 9; R. Aligbe, Minnehaha 8; Briggs, New Life 8;  I. Johnson, TG 8; Hagen 7; Whitlock 7; Werkman and A. Wichmann, RTR 7

Overall Blocks--Mulholland 15; Kloss, Eastview 11; Ring, PC 9; R. Aligbe 6; Grove, Alex 6

The most amazing statistical accomplishment was Colin Mulholland's 13 blocks in the 1st round. I haven't been able to ascertain whether that might be an all-time tournament record, but until I can determine it one way or the other, I'll say that's it's about 50/50 that it is.

Class AAAA

Scoring--Kopetzki 78, Winter 70, McAndrew 67

Rebounds--McAndrew 24, Winter 22, Ring 21

Assists--Chavis 20, O'Hara 10, Tibbitts 10

Steals--Chavis 6, Omweno 4; Kloss, Mekonnen, Stefonowicz, Tibbitts 3

Blocks--Kloss 11, Ring 9; McAndrew, O'Hara 3

Class AAA

Scoring--Hagen 80, Whitlock 64, Chatman 48 (Tschetter 43 and Grove 41 with one box score missing)

Rebounds--Bath 27, Chatman 18, Hagen 17

Assists--Gunderson 20, Whitlock 19, Chatman 18

Steals--I. Johnson 8, Hagen 7, Whitlock 7

Blocks--Grove 6, Bath 5, Pounds 4

Class AA

Scoring--Leach 88, Mulholland 78, T. Gerads, Albany 69

Rebounds--Kapke 29, Mulholland 26, Leach 25

Assists--Hondl, Albany 17; J. Williams, Minnehaha 16; Gerads 14

Steals--Hanson 9, Aligbe 8, Mulholland 6

Blocks--Mulholland 15, Aligbe 6, Kapke 5

Class A

Scoring--A. Wichmann 65, Werkman 50, Isaac Asuma 46

Rebounds--Reader 40, Cole Hendrick and Isaac Asuma 18

Assists--A. Wichmann 20, Isaac Asuma and Max Briggs 10

Steals--Briggs 8, Wichmann and Werkman 7

Blocks--Strinmoen 5 (all in one game), Carson Brown and Gravely 3

Class AAAA Day 1

 I decided I would spend day 1 at Target Center. I didn't see Class AA, I saw Class AAAA which, most years, are the best teams in the state. Lately, you'd have to say that Totino-Grace and DeLaSalle are pretty close to the best AAAA teams but that's a question for another day. For now, again, it's Class AAAA.

Park Center 92 Andover 72

On paper, you'd have to say that Park Center justified its #1 seed with a convincing 20 point win over conference rival Andover. Park Center beat Andover by 20 points over their last 2 meetings. Well, now they won by 20 in this one game all by itself.

But if you haven't heard, it was obvious from the opening tip that Andover guard Sam Musungu was not himself. He was listless. He was almost always the 10th man to cross center-court. Park Center ran a lot of its 1st half offense 5-against-4. Musungu is an elite athlete and he was not gonna be mentally down. He was not out of shape. Ergo, he was sick. I texted Andover coach Jeremy Hable later and he replied that, yeah, Sam was "pretty sick" with "flu-ish" symptoms. It is unlikely you'll see him tomorrow in the consolation semi-finals. 

And, so, Park Center was able to run out to a 40-20 lead with 5 minutes remaining in the 1st half. It is very much to Andover's credit that they played even with the #1 seed the rest of the way. But after getting within 12 at 64-52 halfway through the 2nd half, Park Center outplayed them 28-20 the rest of the way. But, somehow, Musungu, after a truly dreadful and painful 1st half, bounced back and played with, well, let's say 50 percent more energy in the 2nd half, still only a third of his usual energy, still he finished up with 17 points, but just 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. The redoubtable Ben Kopetzki did what he could to fill the gap, as did the rest of the Andover rotation. Kopetzki finished with 22 points, 5 boards and 3 assists, but it was never going to be enough. To play and beat Park Center you're going to have to have all hands on deck and at maximum warp, and the Huskies just didn't have that today. 

Taking nothing away from Park Center. Their opponent was weakened, but they attacked relentlessly, blocking shots and turning them into fast break baskets on the other end. I wouldn't say they shot the ball great. Rather, they moved the ball great and got easy shots of which they made 62 percent. Against an aggressive Park Center defense, Andover shot just 38 percent. Again, that just wasn't going to cut it. 

Park Center was led by junior point guard Casmir Chavis, who just keeps getting better and better, with 18 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and even 2 blocked shots. 6-8 Chiang Ring, also a junior, was the other standout wit 13 points, 9 boards and 5 demoralizing blocked shots. But it was at least a 6-man effort as Joe Burgess added 15 points, JJ Ware 14 and 10 rebounds, Jackson Fowlkes (also a junior) with 14 points, and CJ O'Hara 12 with 6 assists. Even considering Andover's obvious problems today, it was an impressive performance by the Pirates.

Eastview 72 Minnetonka 68

This is not to say that Park Center's victory over Eastview in the semis is a done deal. The Lightning were obviously bigger but also quicker than Tonka in this one. As a result they ran out to leads of 9-0 and 20-9. Then, after Tonka got within one on 3 occasions, Eastview moved back out to a 34-28 half-time lead. It was more of the same in the 2nd half. Tonka actually took the lead at 39-38 and then 41-38, but again Eastview put the pedal down to run back to a 56-45 lead. I have never seen so many blocked shots turn into fast-break baskets the other way. There had to be 8 or 9 of them in the 2nd half alone. With 4 or 5 minutes left, LiveStats showed Eastview with a 10-1 advantage in blocks. They got 3 or 4 more the rest of the way and yet LiveStats still showed them at 10-1 at the end. Sorry. It had to be 15-1. 

In any event, Tonka came back again to tie it up at 67 at 2:02, but again Eastview's flexibility told the tale. The ability to score inside and out and the ability to get huge stops meant a 5-1 scoring edge over those 2 minutes and a 72-68 win for the Lightning. Senior guard Dylan Onweno made 3-of-7 3s and 5-of-6 2s to thwart every Tonka rally. 6-6 senior post Chet Kloss blocked 8 shots. Tonka's 6-2 junior guard Andy Stefonowicz scored 22 points but it wasn't enough. Eastview shot 55 percent and Tonka 37. 'Nuf sed. 

Lakeville North 87 Buffalo 59

Wayzata 81 White Bear Lake 61

The lower bracket was obviously nowhere near as exciting as the upper bracket. Lakeville North's awesome size advantage was way to much for Buffalo to contend with. The blocked shots were just 2-to-1, but the intimidation factor in the lane was huge, and so Lakeville North shot 61 percent and Buffalo 34 (40 percent on 3s but only 30 percent on 2s).

6-11 Nolan Winter scored 25 points for LN with 17 rebounds and 2 blocks. He may be the best Dakota County big ever to stoop to becoming a Wisconsin Badger. Ugh. LN's other stars did what they do--Jack Robison scored 16, Hudson Vaith 15 and Matt Drake 14.

Wayzata's size advantage over White Bear was nowhere near so extreme but a slight size advantage and a bigger advantage in quickness added up to a 54 percent (Wayzata) to 35 percent (White Bear) shooting advantage. Wayzata held White Bear guard Jack Janicki to a 5-of-18 shooting night and that alone was enough of a difference. Wayzata won both halves 38-25 an 43-36. The paint points were 36-20 Wayzata and the bench points 31-5. 

What's Next?

#1 and #2 (Park Center and Lakeville North) didn't do anything to relinquish their status as favorites to reach the finals but Eastview and Wayzata both enhanced their status as teams capable of pulling an upset. Once upon a time I picked Park Center 65 Eastview 63 and Lakeville North 67 Wayzata 64. Today I'd probably lean toward Park Center by a slightly wider margin and Lakeville North by a margin that is slightly smaller. 

Best of the Best

C- Chet Kloss, Eastview, 6-6, sr., 6 pts, 11 reb., 3 stl., 8 blk.

PF- Nolan Winter, Lakeville North, 6-11, sr., 25 pts, 17 reb., 2 blk.

PG- Casmir Chavis, Park Center, 6-4., jr., 18 pts, 5 reb., 11 asts, 2 stls., 2 blk.

CG- Ben Kopetzki, Andover, 6-0, sr., 22 pts, 5 reb., 3 asts.

SG- Dylan Omweno, Eastview, 6-2, sr., 25 pts, 2 reb, 2 asts, 3 stls.

6th Player- Andy Stefonowicz, Minnetonka, 6-2, jr., 22 pts, 5 reb., 3 asts., 3 stls.