Boys Basketball Class AAAA Championship Wayzata 75, Cretin-Derham Hall 61

Wayzata High School, which has one of the most successful activities programs in Minnesota State High School League history, has won 98 state championships across its vast offerings of co-curricular experiences. Boys basketball, though, hasn’t contributed to that total since 1959.

They are off the hook now.

Wayzata’s high-energy offense was able to solve the trademark defense of Cretin-Derham Hall for a 75-61 victory in the Class AAAA championship game of the League’s Boys Basketball State Tournament on Saturday, April 10 at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis. Junior guard Drew Berkland scored 19 points, junior guard Camden Heide added 17 while senior guard Eddie Beeninga chipped in 16 that allowed the Trojans (19-2) to notch the 99^th state championship in school history.

The Trojans finished the season on a 14-game winning streak and did so in convincing fashion. In that run, the closest margin of victory was eight points and that came in a 68-60 win over Lake Conference rival Hopkins, which had defeated Wayzata in the second game of the season. The only other loss for Wayzata was a 70-63 setback to Minnehaha Academy, the Class AAA champion, on Feb. 4.

After Cretin-Derham Hall pulled to within 45-39 with 10:54 remaining in regulation, Wayzata found the separation it was look for with a game-deciding 20-6 run that lasted 6 minutes and 16 seconds. In that spree, the Trojans were 8 of 13 from the field, including 4 of 9 from three-point range. Berkland and junior guard Camden Heide had six points each in the run. Cretin-Derham Hall, meanwhile, was 0-7 from the field in that stretch with its only points coming from the free throw line.

Cretin-Derham Hall (18-6), which started the season 4-4, had won 14 of its past 15 games entering the state tournament. In 2018, the Raiders won the Class AAAA crown in dramatic fashion on an alley-oop at the horn.

Junior guard Tre Holloman led the Raiders with 20 points and senior guard Marselio Mendez was next with 14.

Wayzata, the Section 6AAAA champion, built a 35-28 lead at the break behind nine points from senior guard Eddie Beeninga and eight more from senior guard Kody Williams. The Trojans were 14 of 22 from the field and made 4 of 8 three-pointers in a crisply-played half. The Trojans led by as many as seven points twice, and maintained the lead for more than 12 minutes of play.

Cretin-Derham Hall led by four points early, but mostly hovered in a first-half deficit of two to four points. Holloman paced the Raiders with nine points and four assists. Senior guard Jack Tauer chipped in four more.

Briefly:

• Cretin-Derham Hall head coach Jerry Kline, Jr., was a member of the 1993 Class AA state championship team at the school and was a 1,000-point scorer. Kline played for legendary coach Len Horyza, who was No. 4 on the all-time career victories list when he retired in 1995. The Raiders played in six consecutive state tournaments from 1990-95 and won titles in 1991 and 1993.
• For the first time in boys basketball state tournament history, an all-African American crew officiated a championship game. Working the Class AAAA title game were Apple Valley’s Craig Laird, Brooklyn Park’s Ricky Spencer and Lamar Sullivan of Minneapolis.
• Prior to the Class AAAA championship game, a moment of silence was observed for former longtime state officials’ clinician Jimmy Robinson, who passed away in December.