John's Journal: Behind The Scenes At The State Tournament

At a quarter past 1 o’clock Saturday afternoon, Cherry boys basketball coach Jordan Christianson and three Tigers players -- Noah Asuma, Isaiah Asuma and Carson Brown – were seated behind a table in the Gophers’ team meeting room in the subterranean depths of Williams Arena. This was the traditional state championship postgame press conference, a routine that has become routine for the Tigers.

The coach wore a hoodie that proclaimed the Cherry Tigers as (in all caps) STATE CHAMPIONS. Noah was wearing an unzipped jacket, but underneath could be seen a T-shirt with the same message: State champions.

The fine print on the apparel also included this detail: 2024. For a full calendar year, the plan in Cherry had been to bring home a second consecutive Class A championship, but a bunch of tall, talented kids from southwest Minnesota will soon be sporting gear that proclaims 2025 STATE CHAMPIONS.

The Dawson-Boyd Blackjacks defeated the Tigers 81-74 in as good a game as you will see. It was the first boys basketball state title for the Blackjacks, and they earned it.

While the Cherry Tigers were meeting with the media, there was a lot of noise from a locker room next door. It’s the locker room where the next University of Minnesota coach will spend time with his players, but on Saturday it was the home of the Alexandria Cardinals, among others. The Alex boys had spent their warmup time on the famous raised court upstairs, and now it was time for final messages before facing Mankato East for the Class 3A crown.

The specific words were muffled as they made their way through the wall. Coaches could be heard offering instructions in loud, really loud, voices. Yelling? That seems like an accurate description. Then there was rhythmic clapping, then the sound of basketball shoes squeaking on the floor as the Cardinals filed out to make a left turn, walk down a corridor, turn right and climb 15 narrow concrete steps to the famous, glorious, historical floor.

In early December, at the multi-team Breakdown Classic at Hopkins High School, Cherry beat Dawson-Boyd 70-64. Cherry came into the season as defending state champions and would finish at the state tournament for the fourth year in a row. The Blackjacks weren’t yet the team they would become, but that game provided a marker.

“It showed us what a team that was championship-level looked like,” said Blackjacks 6-foot-8 senior Brayson Boike. “And we knew we had a little ways to go, and we got there.”

Brayson had a game-high 29 points on nine-for-13 shooting, including three-for-four behind the three-point line. Dawson-Boyd shot nearly 60 percent, which is a hard number to beat. Cherry shot 50 percent but hit just three of 17 three-pointers. The Tigers have a reputation for running, shooting and winning, but that didn’t pan out this time.

“Shooting is one thing that we don't really put a lot of thought into just because we’ve got shooters all over,” said Christianson. “We shot 18 percent and they shot 56 percent from three, and they played well. We don't go into a game expecting to shoot 18 from three because that just doesn't happen. But I guess it does now.”

A TV timeout in the Class 1A game came with 11:55 left in the opening half and Cherry leading 15-12. PA announcer Jane Voss asked everyone to direct their attention to a group sitting behind one of the baskets. In Section 111 was a happy collection of old ballplayers; it was the 1975 Chisholm team and cheerleaders, wearing matching T-shirts and celebrating their championship from 50 years ago.

How to describe the feeling when you win a state title? The Blackjacks were almost in disbelief.

“It just doesn't feel real yet, it hasn't hit me,” said Boike, who had been consuming honey before games to tame a nasty cough. “But I’m glad I could end my career on a W.”

Teammate Gunner Leibl, who first-named his way to 20 points, paid homage to past Blackjacks.

“Some of those guys who graduated before me, those guys did a lot for me. I remember looking up to all of them when I was younger. It's been a treat.”

At around 3:20 p.m., there was more noise emanating from the Alexandria Cardinals. The boys were returning to the locker room after holding off Mankato East 73-64 for their 25^th win in a row and the Class 3A state title, the first in team history.

One of the players hollered “How ‘bout them Cardinals!” as the boys ran down the hallway, their feet barely touching the floor. Junior Gavin Roderick carried the big, sweet trophy.

Again, there were sounds from the Gophers locker room during a postgame news conference. Mankato East coach Joe Madsen and players Lucas Gustafson, Ganden Gosch and coach’s son Brogan Madsen answered questions and reflected on their outstanding 29-2 season.

“There’s a reason he’s going to Clemson,” Joe said of Alexandria senior Chase Thompson, a 6-foot-8 superstar who had 28 points. “He’s really good.”

Brogan, who has grown up playing basketball for his dad and with his friends, was asked about what the experience has meant to him before he heads to play college ball at the University of Sioux Falls.

Brogan said, “You know, I'd say this is the most resilient group I've ever played with.” Then he hesitated as the emotions started bubbling up. Tears entered the chat and his dad patted him on the back. These are tough moments.

Next door, the song “That’s What I Like” by Bruno Mars was being played in the Alexandria locker room.

Dawson-Boyd’s Cory Larson is a busy coach. After leading the Blackjacks to the state basketball title, he now turns his attention to his duties as coach of the girls and boys golf teams. The girls are the defending Class A state champions, sharing the title with Fillmore Central last year. So much winning.

Two memories from the championship games, both involving talented 6-foot-8 players who can do things everywhere on the court: Dawson-Boyd’s Boike and Alexandria’s Thompson rearing up from behind the three-point line, releasing the ball, watching it sail through the twine and looking into their sea of fans, holding up three fingers.

Great in-arena entertainment: During timeouts, the KSTC Channel 45 “Fan Cam” on the giant video board hanging above the court switches between the two student sections, with the kids cheering when they see themselves and thumbs-downing when they see the opposing students. Good fun.

At 7 p.m., Joe Hedervare was waiting in the underground corridor when the Waseca Bluejays came down the steps after finishing their season. The ending was not what they wanted … a 70-63 loss to Albany in a 2A title game between undefeated teams.

Joe fist-pumped some of the players, hugged a few, saying, “You left it all out there. I’m proud of you guys.” The last person to come down the steps was head coach Seth Anderson. He and Joe hugged.

In the news conference, Seth was quite emotional, maybe not so much because of the loss but because his time with the players was over. He had tears in his eyes as he talked about the players who sat beside him, Damarius Russell, Deron Russell and Carson Ohnstad.

Seth talked about having Damarius in his fourth-grade classroom.

“I tell people to this day that he's the best student that I've ever had because he's respectful, because he works his butt off, because he's a good leader. Everybody else does the same thing because he does it. And I'll never get to coach a kid like that again. I'll never get to teach a kid like that again.

“That's the hardest, when it ends,” the coach said through the tears. “Whether you win or lose, that's the hardest part.”

As the news conference broke up, Damarius – a senior who has signed to play football at Washington State – wrapped his arms around Seth and said softly, “I love you, coach.”

Albany was the 2023 state champ, came to state last year, and that big-stage experience was important in finishing with gold medals and a record of 32-0.

“It’s really hard to do,” coach Cory Schlagel said of winning the whole thing. “We just kept grinding. The shot-making by those Waseca kids was incredible.”

Schlagel said the team has the state tournament routine down and everyone knows what will happen. “We take a business approach. These are pretty low-key dudes.”

As he spoke, the sound coming from next door was basketballs bouncing. The Wayzata Trojans would be meeting Cretin-Derham Hall for the 4A title about 45 minutes later and the kids were dressed, ready and moving around to stay loose and kill time.

Albany is the first undefeated boys basketball team since Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa finished 33-0 in Class 1A in 2012. (List below.)

A good thing to see: Every player on the losing teams who came to the postgame press conference was wearing their second-place medal around their neck. There can be temptation to remove it as soon as possible when it’s not the hardware you worked so hard for, but wearing them showed respect for the team and the game.

Sometimes good deeds can go somewhat unnoticed, which was the case in one situation recently. Jim Shikenjanski was a Gophers basketball star who played on Clem Haskins-coached teams that made deep postseason runs in 1989 and 1990. Jim’s son Max, a graduate of Stillwater High School, is a quarterback on the Gophers football team. Jim is an assistant boys basketball coach at Stillwater.

Since Jim’s wife Rebecca died of ALS -- also known as Lou Gehrig's disease -- in December, the family and others have been working to promote awareness of ALS. As part of those efforts, Cretin-Derham Hall raised funds, including a free throw marathon. When Stillwater and Cretin-Derham Hall met in boys basketball recently, the Raiders made a donation of more than $10,000.

The final game of the Minnesota high school basketball season tipped off at 7:59 p.m. … one minute before the scheduled time. It was Wayzata vs. Cretin-Derham Hall for the 4A championship, and everyone figured it would be a barn-burner inside The Barn. Wayzata was the champ in 2023 and lost to Minnetonka in last year’s title game; Cretin-Derham Hall won it all in 2018 and was the 2021 4A champ.

Along with the high-level pedigrees, both teams brought sterling records to the matchup; Wayzata was 27-4 and the Raiders were 29-1, losing only to East Ridge in early February.

This was not Cretin-Derham Hall’s night. The Raiders’ only lead was 2-0 and Wayzata took the game by the throat the rest of the way. The final was 80-55. The Trojans have an every-other-year tradition, winning state in 2021, 2023 and now 2025 (along with a single-class championship in 1959).

Wayzata coach Brian Schnettler, asked about how the game plan matched the product, said one simple word, “Perfect. “It was exactly what, if you’re game-planning, you want it to look like.”

The biggest name on the court was Cretin-Derham Hall senior Tommy Ahneman, a 6-foot-11 star who is headed to Notre Dame. He finished with 15 points after a slow start; his first point came on a free throw with 3:29 left in the first half and the Raiders down by seven. Tommy played 32 minutes, 28 seconds in the 36-minute game, the most of anyone on either team other than teammate JoJo Mitchell (32:34).

As Schnettler and players Isaac Olmstead, Wyatt McBeth, Nolen Anderson and Christian Wiggins debriefed with the media, the sound of happy teenagers could be heard from the Wayzata locker room next door. Having been state runners-up in 2022 and 2024, Schnettler knows well the feeling of winning and the feeling of losing.

“Losing hurts,” he said. “It is not a fun thing. Last year that locker room was crushed.”

The 4A game was the only one during Saturday’s quadruple-header that was lopsided. The boys semifinals and championship games are usually played at Target Center, but this year the Timberwolves schedule got in the way. No problem, because Williams Arena was a busy, exciting, fun place on the final day of the high school season. The little towns brought big, exuberant crowds and the big schools nearly filled the lower bowl, with lots of hoop heads watching from the upper deck. It was basketball heaven.

After the final horn blew, after the trophies and medals were distributed, and as the place was nearly empty, there was a quiet, loving moment on the Cretin-Derham Hall bench. Jerry Kline Jr., a proud Raiders alum and head coach for 21 years, was sharing a hug with a young man named Alex. Jerry is a physical education teacher at Cretin-Derham Hall, and among his ninth-graders is Alex, a special needs student.

“He’s in my P.E. class and we’re buddies,” Jerry said later.

At the final halftime of the season’s final game, the great band from Wayzata played the classic “Don’t Stop Believin’.” That’s a great philosophy. Believe. And never stop believing.

Undefeated boys state basketball champions in four-class system:

2025 Albany (32-0) 2A

2012 Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (33-0) 1A

2010 St. Paul Johnson (32-0) 3A

2009 Hopkins 31-0 4A

2009 Pelican Rapids 33-0 2A

2009 Granada-Huntley-East Chain (29-0) 1A

2005 Braham (33 -0) 2A

2003 Mankato Loyola (32 -0) 2A

2000 Litchfield (30 -0) 2A

1997 Caledonia (29 -0) 2A

--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]