Roy’s View of the State Boys Basketball Tournament

Minnesota has some really good basketball players. I had the pleasure of watching them while assisting KDHL radio in its 67th consecutive year of covering the boys tournament.

Minneapolis DeLaSalle could fill a van with the players who will continue playing at the collegiate level. The Islanders won their fourth straight AAA state title, prompting a fair amount of talk about whether the school should compete at the 4A level. DeLaSalle point guard Jarvis Johnson will play for the Gophers next season. His future coach, Richard Pitino, was sitting courtside for the championship game.

Apple Valley was led by the brother of current Duke starter Tyus Jones. Some say Tre is better than his big brother. Tre is now a state champ as a freshman. The Eagles kept Champlin Park from completing an unbeaten season. The Rebels have the Star Tribune player of the year, JT Gibson. He will be playing college ball next winter at Nebraska-Omaha.

The Big Nine conference was represented by Mankato East at state. After finishing fourth in the conference this season, they pulled off a couple of upsets to advance to state. The Cougars finished in fourth place at state and have a roster filled with some exciting players. Owatonna High School graduate Kyle Melcher is in his first year as a Mankato East assistant coach. He joins Apple Valley assistant Greg Olson as former Owatonna players who coached at state this season.

Rushford-Peterson coach Tom Vix led a team to state for the 15th time. That is tied for first with Ken Novak Jr., who took Hopkins to state again this season. The Trojans carted off a state championship trophy, their third as a community. Senior Alex Vix led the team in the title game, but sophomore Noah Carlson turned in a thrilling performance in the semifinals.

Melrose Area was a great Cinderella story, making their first tournament appearance since 1974 when they won the title. The Dutchmen were not ranked among the top 10 and were the No. 4 seed at state, but they captured the AA title. The Dutchmen had one of the best mascots with Hans. The Esko Eskomos might have had the most unique nickname.

Champlin Park's fans deserve mention. By far the largest student section at Target Center, they also had some very unusual cheers. And they paid attention to the stats of the players. At one point, the fans chanted "0-for-2. 0-for-2," when an Apple Valley Eagle was at the free throw line. They when he missed, they cascaded down on him with "0-for-3. 0-for-3."

The emotion felt by the players can really hit you. KFIL radio broadcaster Devon Krueger asked me to track down a couple of Caledonia players after their state title loss to Melrose Area for some on-air comments. They came out of the locker room with tears in their eyes. They went to sit down and talk to Devon even while the victors were still cutting down the net just a few feet away.

A couple of local student athletes were recognized on the court at Target Center during the AA final. Owatonna's Daniel Nolte and Blooming Prairie's John Rumpza were the section winners of the high school league's AAA award. The honor goes to student-athletes who excel in academics, arts and athletics.

High school sports are pretty special events. It brings together the players, their families and those communities. The highlights, memories and emotions that the state tournament displays will stick with me. That's my view.