John's Journal: After 32-Year Absence, Anoka Celebrates Trip To State

After a 32-year absence from the boys state basketball tournament, the Anoka Tornadoes were among the Class 4A final eight this year. They lost to Shakopee 85-52 in Tuesday’s quarterfinals at Target Center and saw their season end with an 85-77 loss to Moorhead in the consolation bracket Wednesday at Concordia College in St. Paul.

But they got to state and that’s what matters most.

Anoka coach Jesse Jefferson took over the program four years ago, one season after the Tornadoes had finished 0-19. (To read a story from Jefferson’s second game at the helm in December 2021, click here: https://www.mshsl.org/about/news/johns-journal/johns-journal-new-coaches-new-energy)

This season, the Tornadoes finished 23-8.

“Just being in the conversation and being ranked for most of the season is kind of a testament to the senior class and everyone following below them, not because of me,” Jefferson said. “I kind of inherited a good group … they have so much to be proud of and the community has really got behind this team.

“It's been a long journey, a fun journey, and I think about this senior group; five of the eight of them played JV or varsity minutes as freshmen. So this group has really carried the program.”

Anoka senior Peyton Podany, who has seen lots of minutes since his freshman year, said what the team has accomplished is “an incredible experience. It's been an incredible four years, growing with these guys and just working towards getting better and growing every year.

“I think we gained a lot of respect over the last four years. We've gained a reputation as a team who plays hard and plays fast and I'm really proud of our team.”

Making History At State

BOLD senior Jack Gross, son of head coach Dan Gross, made history during the second half of the Warriors’ 89-57 loss to Cherry in Thursday’s Class A state quarterfinals at Target Center. When he made a three throw, the BOLD fans erupted in cheers and held signs that read “2,000” in honor of Jack’s 2,000^th career point. He is the school’s career scoring leader.

The Warriors were 16-10 in the regular season before four wins in the Section 2 playoffs sent them to state.

“It's been really awesome,” Jack said. “Coming into the season, I don't think most of us thought we'd be here. … We've really come together as a team and competed and just had fun.”

--Dan Gross on what makes Cherry so tough: “Speed. Filthy speed. … Their speed took over. You get tired chasing somebody.”

Tournament Notebook

--It’s been a busy couple of tournament weeks for Kyle Lamppa of Virginia. He's an assistant girls basketball coach at Rock Ridge, which played at state last week. On Tuesday he officiated a boys state tournament game between Waseca and Pequot Lakes at Target Center.

--A distinguished-looking lady was sitting next to the Nevis bench, doing important work during the Tigers’ 58-52 Class A state quarterfinal win over Henning on Thursday at Target Center. Her name is Linda Olson and she is very special to everyone in Nevis.

“She’s everybody’s mom, she’s everybody’s grandma, she's the city's mom, the city's grandma, the city's den mother,” said Nevis coach Scott Kramer. “She has kept book for us forever, and she's had so much fun. She has said she's going to retire now for about 10 years but she just keeps having fun. She sticks with us. On the bus ride over here she was almost in tears because she's so excited, and I was like, ‘You can't be the one that's almost in tears, that's my job to be all nervous and uptight.’ She's just been phenomenal.”

--MSHSL staff member John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Bluesky at johnmilleamn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at [email protected] or [email protected]