KDHL 75th Year of Baseline to Baseline Coverage

The MSHSL Boys State High School Basketball Tournament begins Tuesday then fast breaks to Saturday.

Ever since KDHL, Faribault went on the air in 1948 with the first voice heard being that of legendary, National Farm Broadcaster's Hall of Fame member Dean Curtis the Mighty 920 has been broadcasting the games at the State High School Basketball Tournament.

The first tournanment was won in 1913 by Fosston 29-27 over Mountain Lake in a game played at Carleton College in Northfield.

The first overtime game in 1929 Moorhead won 20-16 over Red Wing.

The first double overtime contest occurred in 1980 when Bird Island-Lake Lillian finished their season with a 16-10 record and won the Class A title 49-47 over Lake of the Woods.

The single class tournament went through 1970 when Sherburn capped off a 26-0 season with a 78-62 win over South St. Paul.

Everyone who witnessed the 1960 game with little Edgerton going 27-0 after defeating the powerhouse of that time Austin 72-61 says the atmosphere was electric in The Barn on the University of Minnesota campus.  There were over 19,000 people there.

The first two class tournament in 1971 Melrose captured the Class A title 64-53 over Red Wing and finished their season 24-3.  Class AA Duluth Central (23-1) edged North St. Paul 54-51.

Then the Class A and Class AA Champions squared off with Central downing Melrose 54-43.

Classes expanded to four in 1997.

In 1965 the Faribault Falcons were defeated in the title game by Minnetonka 82-75 in overtime.

In 1993 Faribault Bethlehem Academy advanced to the Class A Championship and fell to a very good Maple River team 33-29 in a game where Mike Morrissey and I could hear the sneakers squeaking like crazy because of the great defense being played.

There were back to back championships in 1988 and 1989 for Owatonna with future Gophers player Chad Kolander on the team.

Lake City had it's run in the late 70's with Randy Breuer and again in 1990 on a last second shot that rolled around and around the rim before falling in giving the Tigers a 52-51 win over Mankato Loyola.

KDHL could do every game when there were two classes but when the tournament expanded to four, eighteen games were done and the last several years 16 has been the total number of contests aired.

Two games Tuesday (Lakeville North and Plainview-Elgin-Millville) will be covered.  Two games Wednesday.

Due to programming the only two games Wednesday will not be from the area but I'm sure there were a number of years previously where towns far away were part of the coverage and there was no internet like we have today.

Through the years several men have called the exciting plays.

• Tom Bachrach
• Tom Hartman
• Steve Skogen
• Gordy Hinck
• Mike Morrissey

The last several years Roy Koenig has joined me in providing coverage of all the Semifinals and Championship games.

I have been proud to continue this incredible legacy.  John Millea of the MSHSL told me in a recent email the 75 years of broadcasting the tournament may not be exceeded by any station in any other state.

This is my 37th year of providing Baseline-To-Baseline coverage and I did ask some of the KDHL State Tournament announcers their favorite player to watch.

Gordy Hinck was partial to Lake City hometown NBA player Randy Breuer.

Mike Morrissey and Tom Hartman mentioned Mark Olberding.

Many broadcasters and sportswriters believe Olberding was the greatest high school player in Minnesota history.  He did go on to win Big Ten Freshman of the Year before moving on to the NBA.  He currently works in real estate in San Antonio, Texas where he played for the Spurs.

I enjoyed watching Khalid El-Amin with Minneapolis North who went on to win a national title at Connecticut.  There have been a number of other athletes I've seen over the years.

Cole Aldrich of Bloomington Jefferson played at the University of Kansas before a NBA career that included a stint with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Other athletes I've enjoyed seeing over the years include the Jones brothers (Tyus & Tre) at Apple Valley.  Jake Sullivan at Tartan, Isaiah Dahlman of Braham and Michigan State fame, Cody Schilling of Ellsworth.

When I was in high school my favorite contemporary player was Mark Landsberger of Mounds View.

Others people mention as favorites include Steve Lingenfelter and Kevin Lynch of Bloomington Jefferson.  Amir Coffey of Hopkins, Jalen Suggs of Minnehaha Academy.

Some of my broadcaster friends who worked long before I even dreamed of calling games mentioned Norm Grow of Foley and Ron Johnson of New Prague.

There was Vern Mikkelsen of Askov, Kevin McHale from Hibbing, Whitey Skoog of Brainerd, Jim Petersen of St. Louis Park.

The MSHSL Boys State High School Basketball Tournament is in it's 110th year.  Before radio or television were even around.

Local sponsors have made this possible over the years and many have been with KDHL coverage since I started selling the tournament (and probably before) in 1996.

Tatge Jewelry of Kenyon, Garlick's Water Conditioning of Faribault and Blue Earth, H&R Block offices in Faribault, Owatonna, Lakeville have been with us at least the last approximately 30 years.

Without the sponsors it would not be possible to provide such coverage.

This year former Winona High School Baseball Coach Jerry Raddatz told me he wanted to purchase a sponsorship to celebrate our 75th year on the air because he remembered growing up in rural Mantorville and listening to KDHL.

Raddatz still listens to the sports every day on his phone thanks to the KDHL app.

Raddatz has also been a NBA and Major League Baseball scout.