The Absent Uncle: The championship!

I was so pleased to see the BVHS boys’ basketball team won the Class AA championship last weekend! Congratulations! The excitement that surrounds the entire tournament and what it means to the school, the team, and the community is something that is never, ever forgotten. 

(Even though – your team won its third title since 1998 – it is unforgettable and to be savored.)

The above distinction is made as I remember my alma mater’s lone Minnesota State Basketball Championship in 1963. The Marshall (Minn.) Tigers defeated the Cloquet Lumberjacks in what is remembered as one of the most exciting championship games ever played in the state. 

In those days, the state tournament was run as a single tournament covering all approximately 400 public schools in the state. From the sub-districts, districts, and regional tournaments eight teams played their way into the state tournament in Williams Arena in Minneapolis.   

Both Marshall and Cloquet had magical seasons, losing but one game. In the tournament both teams had to beat the “big guys” from the large schools their regions and then from the teams in the “Cities” and other large school districts to get to that championship game. It was David versus David. No Goliaths had been left standing. 

I was a sixth grader, and couldn’t have been more familiar with the team after attending most games during the season and idolizing the heroes of the hardcourt from Marshall.   

All of the state tournament games were televised, and we were treated to a snowy, black and white picture on the Zenith TV that my folks had bought a year or so before. 

But what a treat to watch this spectacle unfold. The game was tight beyond belief, never more than three points separated the teams, and the game was decided by a pressured packed foul shot with just seconds remaining. The final score: 75-74!   

This old man becomes a joyous young guy all over again with the remembrance of that triumph!

The community welcomed the team home and that game lives on in the collective memory of Marshall, Minn., to this day.  

Marshall has just one; congratulations to BVHS on that third championship! Sweet victory, enjoy!