Ron Haggstrom, Jim Paulsen and Heather Rule will spend Thursday tracking down stories beyond the boys basketball state tournament. Come back often to see what they've found.
6:03 p.m.
Familiarity breeds contempt
For the past three seasons, Totino-Grace has defeated DeLaSalle in the state tournament. Both teams recognize the familiarity of the opponent. Totino-Grace coach Nick Carroll said the Islanders are known for being "notorious for the amount of charges they take" in games, so reminding players to keep two feet on the court was top of mind for his Eagles.
Also on Carroll's mind was something Totino-Grace star Isaiah Johnson-Arigu said: "Isaiah said, 'I hate playing DeLaSalle.' "
Carroll added that he hates playing the Islanders, too. Why? "There's not a lot of margin for error. And then you really have to be disciplined and stay the course. Because the pace they play at at times, it does feel like the lead or gap is bigger than it actually is."
Of course, continually defeating the same opponent in the state tournament is always nice, Johnson-Arigu said.
"It feels really good to win," Johnson-Arigu said. "I feel like we prepare every day for that. Just the discipline of taking charges."
Business as usual for Johnson-Arigu
Isaiah Johnson-Arigu came close to recording his fourth 30-point game of the season on Thursday, finishing with 28 points to go with 15 rebounds for a double-double. He also had six assists, four blocks and three steals. Just business as usual from Johnson-Arigu?
"I mean, yeah," teammate Josiah Young said. "He's been really good throughout the whole season. Amazing, actually. We just have to work off of him. If he's scoring, we play defense."
Johnson-Arigu's good game was a topic in DeLaSalle's postgame press conference, too.
"We were trying to keep him off the right side, maybe force him to go left and then step over trying to get the charge," DeLaSalle senior Justin Johnson said. "He avoided a bunch of those by doing the Euro [step] or spin around."
Eagles coach Nick Carroll said Johnson-Arigu had a chance at more points on the game's final possession, when "he could've ripped the rim off" with one more bucket. Instead, Johnson-Arigu looked to make a pass to a teammate. The senior forward hasn't missed many shots this season and is shooing more than 70% from the floor, Carroll said. "Which is astounding when you talk about the difficulty of some of the shots.
"His ability to impact the game is, I mean, it's unlike many kids I've been around," Carroll added. "He's the only one that can get in the way of himself."
Falling short of expectations, but also meeting them
DeLaSalle has a deep basketball history at the state tournament. The Islanders have a dozen state titles and have qualified for the tournament for 12 consecutive seasons. They won Class 3A titles every year from 2012 to 2017. Since 2012, they've played in every state championship game except in 2020 (when the MSHSL canceled the tournament amid the COVID pandemic) and 2021, when they lost in the state semifinals.
Thursday, they fell one game short of making another championship after losing to two-time defending champion Totino-Grace in the semifinals.
"Of course, it stings," DeLaSalle coach Todd Anderson said. "Because the expectation is that we're going to go to the state tournament and we're going to cut the nets down.
"Every group is different. And every group goes on a different journey together. This group's had a great journey. Did we meet expectations? Probably not from a win-loss perspective. But I will tell you that from a journey perspective, they 100% met expectations because there was a lot of great things that happened along the way that we had to figure out collectively together as a group. And that's what makes it sweet."
HEATHER RULE
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3:26 p.m.
Lester 'was gassed,' but his engine didn't sputter
Alex Lester was worn out.
Running up and down the NBA-sized floor at Target Center was taking a toll on Nevis' 6-7 junior center.
"The bigger court is definitely tougher," Lester said. "I was gassed."
It didn't prevent him from turning in an outstanding performance in 28 minutes of action. Lester finished with 21 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, two steals and one blocked shot in the Tigers' 78-54 victory over No. 8-ranked Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey in the Class 1A quarterfinals Thursday at Target Center.
"Our other guys off the bench, especially AJ Bessler, were phenomenal in his place," Nevis coach Scott Kramer said. Bessler added eight points and seven rebounds. "It allowed us to take Alex out and give him a breather."
He needed it.
RON HAGGSTROM
. . .
9:08 p.m.
A recipe for sustained success
Seven years ago, Wayzata was making just its fourth state tournament appearance and first since winning the championship in 1959.
Fast forward to present day and Trojans coach Brian Schnettler has got a perennial powerhouse on his hands. The Trojans are making their sixth trip in eight years. Saturday, Wayzata will play in the Class 4A championship game for the fourth straight year.
Schnettler divulged his recipe for success: Honesty, even if it's difficult.
"It's about being honest with kids and making sure they understand what we need to do to be successful," Schnettler said. "That's a huge part of coaching at any level, And it's not easy, having those conversations."
He added that team unity also matters.
"Our kids care about each other on a different level than most teams," Schnettler said. "I just see these kids like to be around each other every day and they're willing to do whatever it takes to win, especially this time of year. All that matters is that we win and we keep getting better. Our one focus is the team."
Cretin-Derham Hall coach Jerry Kline Jr. thinks Wayzata has the right formula.
"We all know we're going to see Wayzata here for the next decade," Kline said. "You're going to have to go through them because they are gifted, they work hard and because they use their talents. That's the reality of it."
JIM PAULSEN
6:38 p.m.
It's not how you start, but how you finish
Alexandria scored 14 unanswered points at the start of its Class 3A semifinal against Mankato East — an offensive explosion capped with two three-pointers from sophomore Mason Witt.
A team might relax a little bit when they get an early lead, Mankato East coach Joe Madson said. But he wasn't sure if that's what happened with the Cardinals.
"They sure didn't seem to," he said. "But our guys knew, just a lot of game left, just keep responding, keep playing physical."
Mankato East responded, getting on the scoreboard with a Ganden Gosch jumper at the 5:36 mark of the first half. When that first shot fell, Madson said he had one thought: " 'Hey, at least we're not going to get shut out tonight.' "
Mankato East senior Carson Schweim knew the Cougars were facing an uphill battle after missing the first nine shots they took in the game and turning the ball over on several possessions. But he also knew there was plenty of time for a comeback.
"Honestly, I didn't even really look at the scoreboard at that point in time," Schweim said. "I was just kind of, 'we've got to keep playing, keep our heads down.' I knew they were going on a run. But, we stayed together as a team, kept playing team basketball and just got back in it."
Madson also said that if a team is going to give up a 14-0 scoring run, the start of the game is the best time to do it. If it happened at the end of the game, it would leave a team "in some trouble," he added.
Timing is everything when avoiding trouble, and Mankato East had good timing. It watched Alexandria extend its lead to 20-7 in the first half before responding with an 11-0 run that was fueled by a trio of three-pointers from three different players. The Cougars extended that run to 18-2, which gave them a 25-22 lead late in the first half. The Cardinals, however, regained a two-point lead just before halftime.
Mankato East used the three-point shot in the second half to build a lead it never gave up, despite a late push from Alexandria. Madson said his players' competitiveness and fight to get back in the game were keys to the victory, adding that it was an accomplishment for a team that is "not necessarily the biggest, strongest, physical team," but is quick and mentally tough.
"It's not the way you want to start the game, there's no question," Madson said. "But I like the way it ended."
The longest two minutes
Mankato East saw its 62-55 lead in the final minute of the game trimmed when Alexandria's Bralyn Steffensmeier went 4-for-4 on two trips to the free-throw line. He followed that with a layup with 22 seconds left in regulation, cutting the Cardinals' deficit to two points and tightening the game.
The rally ended when senior Dwayne Bryant hit a pair of free throws in the final 10 seconds to seal the victory for the Cougars.
"To me, it felt more like an hour instead of a minute," Mankato East coach Joe Madson said. "Maybe the longest two minutes I've experienced in my life."
Cougars were 'built for this'
Cougars senior Carson Schweim found strength in something his coach said: "We're built for this."
Schweim was a member of last year's team that lost to Alexandria in the Class 3A quarterfinals and went 0-2 in the state tournament. He talked about growing up and watching a lot of really good Mankato East teams with a "pretty cool" culture built in the program.
He also gave an honest assessment of last year's team, saying it probably arrived at the tournament a year too early.
"The lights were a little bright last year," Schweim said. "But this year, we have experience. A lot of guys played last year. And we wanted to make a run the whole time. It's been a goal for a really long time, and here we are.
"We really wanted to make a run, get to the state championship, and that's what we did."
A simple winning strategy
Alexandria coach Forrest Witt didn't necessarily think his team let its foot off the gas after racing to an early lead in the quarterfinal against Mankato East.
The Cardinals just missed on some opportunities and would have liked to have capitalized on others during a stretch in which the Cougars clawed back in the game.
Though he didn't think his team took a bad three-point shot, Witt said his players needed to get the ball inside more after they missed a couple of long-range shots, and — of course — they also needed to make a few more of those outside shots and also attack the interior better.
Witt told his team late in the game to just keep competing hard because it still had a chance to win in the closing minutes.
"We knew that if we were able to attack the basketball and get some shots to fall, and then we would need to be aggressive and we forced some turnovers," Witt said. "We had a chance, and it just didn't happen."
HEATHER RULE
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7:17 p.m.
Goodhue is going to be good, eventually
Goodhue coach Matt Halverson is building for the future.
His youthful Wildcats stayed step-for-step with No. 9-ranked Fertile-Beltrami before the Falcons used a late run to close out a 64-57 victory in the Class 1A quarterfinals Thursday at Target Center.
Halverson's starting lineup consisted of a senior, two sophomores, a freshman and an eighth-grader. His 18-player roster has a dozen players that are sophomores or younger.
"I've been proud of these guys all year long," Halverson said. "We know that if we want to be more than section champions, we must get better. We saw that today."
The Wildcats (18-14) suffered through a seven-game losing streak in the regular season. They had plenty of Class 3A and 2A teams on their schedule.
Sophomores Luke Roschen (18 points) and Michael Roschen (nine points), freshman Owen Roschen (nine points) and eighth-grader Alex Loos (16 points) were his four leading scorers against Fertile-Beltrami. Luke and Owen are brothers while Michael is a cousin.
"They are a well-coached team," Fertile-Beltrami senior guard Caiden Swenby said. He scored 20 of his game-high 23 points in the second half. "They are going to be really good in the future."
RON HAGGSTROM
. . .
10:32 a.m.
Tip time, with Cherry on top
The Class 1A quarterfinals tipped at Target Center Thursday morning. The opening game featured future Gophers guard Isaac Asuma and Cherry defeating Russell-Tyler-Ruthton to advance to the semifinals, giving basketball enthusiasts another opportunity to see one of the state's best players on the biggest stage.
The Tigers (28-2) are an overwhelming favorite in Class 1A with the field containing only three other schools ranked in the Top 10 of Minnesota Basketball News' final regular-season poll. The Tigers are ranked No. 1, followed by No. 3 West Central Area (27-3), No. 8 Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey (27-3) and No. 9 Fertile-Beltrami (25-6).
The two Class 3A semifinals look to be outstanding, with the first fitting the bill. In a matchup of private-school powers, No. 1-ranked Totino-Grace (25-5) and No. 5 DeLaSalle (21-9) are locked in a close game. Follow the action on the MN Basketball Hub. Totino-Grace is the reigning two-time state champion.
Second-ranked Mankato East (27-2) faces seventh-ranked Alexandria (25-5) in the second Class 3A semifinal scheduled for 2 p.m.
In Class 4A, No. 1-ranked Wayzata (28-1) and No. 3 Minnetonka (23-6) look to make the championship an all-Lake Conference affair, following the girls basketball state title game in which Minnetonka defeated Hopkins. Cretin-Derham Hall (25-4) and Eagan (18-12) will be hard pressed to upset either of the west-side powers. The Trojans take on the Raiders in the first semifinal at 6 p.m. The Skippers and Wildcats are scheduled to tip at 8 p.m.
Let's get the ball bouncing and fans cheering before the snow starts flying. It's the madness of march!
RON HAGGSTROM
. . .
Here are some of the preview stories that have appeared on startribune.com.
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There's a team that hasn't been to state in 87 years. Ron Haggstrom tells its story.
Twenty players to follow and when they're playing in the opening rounds.
