There will be lots of excitement in the Twin Cities this weekend as US Bank Stadium hosts the Final Four. Only one of the four top-seeded regional teams advanced to the big show as Gonzaga, North Carolina and Duke all were defeated last weekend. Only Virginia survived, winning an overtime thriller over Purdue — a team the Gophers beat twice — to make this year’s Final Four.
I was rooting for Texas Tech, Purdue, Auburn and Michigan State in the regional championship games, so I was happy with the outcome three of the four times. The Texas Tech vs. Michigan State matchup should be a great one and I will be OK with either team winning. Tech seems to be team with a destiny and may win the whole thing — who would have picked them? Auburn pulled off three big-time upsets over perennial powers Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky. The Tigers, too, seem to be a team of destiny. I would not be disappointed with a Texas Tech vs. Auburn final.
The Henning Hornets were most impressive in winning this year’s Class A boys state tournament. They played fast and found each other with great teamwork. Henning was able to transition from offense to defense very quickly and apply lots of pressure. The Hornets certainly represented small-town Minnesota well and brought a state championship to a community with a rich basketball tradition. I remember watching the Petersen twins — Dick and Bob — when they played for Henning in the one-class state tournament in 1965 and 1966. Those ‘66 Hornets took Edina (also nicknamed the Hornets) to a triple overtime thriller in the semifinals. If I remember it right, Henning came back the next night and won the third-place game?
During the one-class tournament, Saturday night was big. All three games —- the consolation championship, the third-place game and the championship —- were all televised. Windom won the 1966 consolation championship and Luverne did the same in 1967. While the consolation championship is no longer televised, at least it has been brought back — which is a good thing.
The Twins got off a good start last week, winning two of three games against the Indians. Great pitching highlighted the first two games (a 2-0 win and a 2-1 loss) while the third victory was chock full of hits and runs as the Twins claimed a 9-3 victory. Three of the “new guys” —- Nelson Cruz, C.J. Cron and Marwin Gonzalez — all smacked seventh-inning hits in the Opening-Day win last Thursday. Time will tell if these additions are better than last year’s?
Last week’s Tri-County News had a feature about Heron Lake-Okabena’s highly-successful boys’ basketball teams of the mid-1980s. Adrian was good during those years, too. The Dragons won the District 8 championship in 1985 and were ranked as high as 11th in several Class A polls during their remarkable run through the always highly-competitive Tri-County Conference, which included some memorable battles with rivals Hills-Beaver Creek and Southwest Minnesota Christian. The same team, Ceylon, ended the season for both Adrian and HL-O in the 1985 Region 2 Tournament at Mankato State’s Highland Arena.
Speaking of basketball powers from the past, what about the 1945 Fulda Raiders? One Minnesota basketball historian has labeled Fulda’s ‘45 squad as the mythical Class A state champions. That’s right, had the four-class system been in place back then, this basketball “guru” (I don’t remember his name right now), had Fulda as the best small-town team in all of Minnesota in 1945. I am certainly open to any help from anyone who has memories or connections to those ‘45 Raiders?
Five years later, Slayton had a powerhouse team and won the 1950 District 8 championship with a very tall squad. The Wildcats won another District 8 title in 1955. I am not sure if Slayton won a regional game either of those two years?
