Boys Basketball 2025: Wayzata overwhelms Cretin-Derham Hall for Class AAAA title

It had already been a tough day for top seeds on Championship Saturday during the Minnesota State High School League’s Boys Basketball State Tournament on March 22.

In Class A, No. 2 Dawson-Boyd ousted No. 1 Cherry, the defending small-school champion. Immediately following in Class AAA, No. 3 Alexandria dashed the hopes of No. 1 Mankato East, which was trying to reverse memories of losing in the title game a year ago. 

Albany proved worthy of its top billing in Class AA with a thrilling victory over No. 2 Waseca. So, what would be the fate of No. 1 Cretin-Derham Hall when it matched up with No. 2 Wayzata with the Class AAAA crown at stake?

Oof da!

Wayzata answered that question early and left little doubt that it would join the trend of upsetting top seeds to end the 2024-2025 season. Wayzata overwhelmed the Raiders en route to an 80-55 runaway victory at Williams Arena. 

Junior guard Nolen Anderson scored 24 points and backcourt mate Christian Wiggins, also a junior, added 21 as the Trojans (28-4) put on a brilliant display of power, speed and perimeter sharp-shooting in earning their third big-school championship in the past five seasons. 

In that span, the Trojans (28-4) were also the Class AAAA champions in 2021 and 2023. They were the runner-up in 2022 and last season to Lake Conference rival, Minnetonka. 

“This is a great way to end the season,” Anderson said. “We came out strong and maintained it the whole way. Now, we are going to celebrate.”

In many respects, Wayzata played the perfect game against Cretin-Derham Hall. Wayzata’s sagging, pressure defense around 6-foot-11 senior post Tommy Ahneman gave him fits. While the Notre Dame recruit finished with 15 points, every possession drew massive defensive attention. 

The harassing defense on the perimeter also kept the Raiders from finding their offensive groove.

Senior forward Monteff Dixon kept the Raiders (29-2) afloat for much of the game as they tried to mount a comeback, scoring 18 points. But Wayzata refused to let that happen as the Trojans held the lead for more than 34 minutes of the 36-minute contest.  

The Trojans also took care of the ball and committed just three turnovers. 

Wayzata made 11 of 29 three-point attempts for an admirable 37.9 percent efficiency. But even more valuable was the timeliness of the made three-pointers. Just when Cretin-Derham Hall would get some momentum to perhaps create some positivity, the Trojans struck it down with three-pointers that enlarged leads. 

Anderson was 4 of 8 from three-point range and junior guard Isaac Olmstead was 3 of 7. He made a three-pointer with just more than 13 minutes remaining in regulation time that ballooned the Trojans’ lead to 52-36, and it just continued. 

Cretin-Derham Hall was 2 of 10 from three-point range. 

Wayzata built a 38-26 advantage at the half behind 12 points from Anderson and nine from McBeth. The Trojans used a 12-4 run in the final three minutes to stretch what had already been a six-point lead. Anderson had eight points in the run, including two three-pointers. 

McBeth capped the spree on a lay-up with two seconds remaining in the first half. Olmstead added eight points in the half. 

Wayzata made 6 of 14 three-point attempts in the first half while the Raiders were 0 of 4. 

Cretin-Derham Hall struggled from the opening tap and quickly found itself down 13-4 early. The Raiders continued to pound the ball in low to Ahneman, but he was surrounded by the Trojans’ defense. He ended up 2 of 8 in the first half with five points. 

Dixon kept the Raiders from wilting with 12 points and junior guard Joe Mitchell added seven. 

Third place

Maple Grove bounced back from a semifinal loss to Cretin-Derham Hall to record a 65-60 victory over Shakopee in the third-place game at the Gangelhoff Center on the Concordia (St. Paul) campus. A balanced diet of scoring came from junior wing Henry Knutson (14 points), senior guard guard Keegan Harney (13 points), sophomore wing Baboucarr Ann (13 points) and senior post Nathan Hromodka (14 points). The Crimson led by four at the break and didn’t allow the Sabers to get any closer. Senior guard Devin Pass paced Shakopee with 18 points.