Austin’s Ajuda Nywesh shoots over Red Wing's Ty Buck in the second half of the Section 1AAA championship Friday night at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. Herald file photo
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AUSTIN DAILY HERALD - THE ROAD TO STATE
Pack looking to put up points Austin’s defense has been solid, but team is looking to score By Rocky Hulne sports@austindailyherald.com
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he Packers hope to get out and run when they take on The Blake School in the Class ‘AAA’ state boys basketball quarterfinals at Williams Arena 2 p.m. Wednesday. Austin, 28-0 and seeded No. 2 in the state tournament, is coming off a 52-43 overtime win over Red Wing and a 51-49 win over Winona. Austin’s defense has been strong throughout the postseason, but the Packers would like to get their offense going. “We forced 20 turnovers per game this year, and the last couple of games we’re not getting them,” Austin head coach Kris Fadness said. “We’ve got to find a way to create more turnovers because we thrive off that. I want us to jack up the pressure a little more than what it’s been.” The Blake School Bears (22-7 overall) have four standout players: a pair
of 6-foot-7-inch post players, a 6-3 senior guard who has played varsity ball since he was a seventh-grader, and John Veil, a junior captain who played AAU basketball with Austin’s Zach Wessels last summer. Wessels knows Veil well, but he’s not about to be friendly on the court with his former teammate. “We’re really good friends now. We spent three or four months together, and he’s a pretty good player,” Wessels said. “It’ll be fun to play against him.” The Packers won’t be playing in Williams Arena for the first time, as all five of their starters played there last year, and the team attended camp in the arena over the summer. Austin senior Joe Aase said the Packers need to pick up the tempo from the last two games. “We’ve kind of played down to our opponents’ pace,” he said. “We want to get out and run and play the style we’ve played most of the year. We’re
definitely capable of doing it. We think we’re the better team, so we’re going to go in there and play our game and see what we can do.” Fadness wants to see his team get back into scoring in the 60s or 70s after they were held to less than 55 points in their last two contests. He also expects another fight to the finish. “You just assume it’ll come down to who makes the plays in the last three minutes of the game,” Fadness said. “I think it’s going to be a close game.” Wessels said he’s feeling some nerves, but he doesn’t view that as a bad thing when the stakes are as high as they will be this week. “I get nervous all of the time, but nerves are a good thing; and I think we’re gonna be fine,” Wessels said. If Austin wins Wednesday, it will play the winner of No. 3 Marshall (272 overall) and Grand Rapids (20-9 overall) 2 p.m. Thursday at the Target Center.
Austin’s Joe Aase battles underneath against Red Wing in the first half of the Section 1AAA championship Friday night at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.
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‘Movember’ beard still going strong Senior Tommy Olmsted not shaving until Packers lose By Rocky Hulne sports@austindailyherald.com
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Austin’s Tommy Olmsted watches the ball go out of bounds during the first half against Owatona earlier this year in Packer Gym.
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hen Austin senior Tommy Olmsted stopped shaving in November, it was simply to prove he could grow a lot of facial hair. Four months later, Olmsted’s beard is officially out of control. He could pass for a Civil War soldier, an Amish farmhand or possibly even could be mistaken for a mountain man. But one thing’s for sure: Olmsted wouldn’t have it any other way. The beard is a sign of how many games in a row the Austin boys basketball team has won. About halfway
through the season, Olmsted’s teammates requested that he not shave until the team lost, and he obliged. “It gets uncomfortable at times and it gets a little itchy,” Olmsted said. “ I’d gladly go undefeated and still have a beard.” Austin senior forward Joe Aase said Olmsted didn’t have much of choice about shaving after his beard grew a decent length during no-shave November — or ‘Movember’ — a month in which AHS students and men across the world grow facial hair to raise awareness for prostate cancer.
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AUSTIN DAILY HERALD - THE ROAD TO STATE
The Packers agreed that Olmsted should wait until they lose before he shaved, and that first loss still hasn’t come for undefeated Austin (28-0 overall). “I don’t think he really saw it coming, but he’s been a good sport about it, and he hasn’t tried to back down from it,” Aase said. “I don’t think it’s the ideal look.” Olmsted, who gets recognized around town as “that kid on the basketball team with the beard,” has taken plenty of jabs from his teammates, but it’s all in good fun. He also looks forward to hearing what opposing crowds will say to him on game night. “I try to listen for the most creative dis people can come up with,” Olmsted said. “At [Rochester] Century, some guy yelled out ‘I forgot we were playing the Shire’ [from The Lord of the Rings].” Austin head coach Kris Fadness said the beard has become a good luck charm. He also said Olmsted has handled well having his minutes reduced in the
last two games after being a rotation guy during the regular season. “He’s been supportive, and he’s really been a leader for us on the bench by yelling things out and getting other bench guys involved,” Fadness said. “I’m really proud of him for taking that on when it would be real easy for him to pout and sulk over his playing time. He’s a high-character kid.” No matter what the Packers do at the state tournament, Olmsted will be beard free by this time next week. He’s going to shave it at one of his friend’s house, and it will be a celebration to remember. Olmsted just hopes he’s shaving it for the season being over, but not the winning streak being over. “After Saturday night, I want to shave it because we win, not because we lost,” he said. “I think the last game there was a lot of pressure on us because people were expecting us to make a run at state. Now that we’re there, we’re going to start going back to our basketball that got us here.”
“After Saturday night, I want to shave it because we win, not because we lost.” -Tommy Olmsted
Austin’s Tommy Olmsted charges in for a layup against New Prague in the first earlier this season in Packer Gym.
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Packers must retain focus
Austin’s Joe Aase gets two in front of Winona’s Daniel Schwartz in the first half of the Section 1AAA semifinal game in Packer Gym.
Well before the season started, the Packer boys basketball team was pretty clear about its main goal. The team wanted to win a state title. And after an undefeated season that almost came to an end in the last two playoff rounds, the Packers are in a position to do just that. If Austin can win three games in four days, its mission will be complete. If not, they can look back at this season as one of the finest in school history. To go 28 games without a loss in anything is amazing, especially in basketball. The winter season is the longest high school sports season, and there are bound to be nights when players just aren’t that pumped up, or maybe they’re focused on something else. There are going to be distractions. To be able to keep pumping out wins — especially when everyone in the Big Nine wanted to make a name for themselves by knocking off the second-ranked Packers — is something to be proud of. The Packers haven’t shot as well in the postseason as they did earlier in the season, yet they’ve found ways to win the last two games. More important, it hasn’t just been one guy making the key plays to win. Ajuda Nywesh hit a layup to win the Winona game, and he had the go-ahead score in the Red Wing game, Joe Aase has hit some huge 3-pointers, Zach Wessels
Rocky Hulne Austin Daily Herald
has had plenty of momentum-changing drives and scores, Collin Weisert has hit key 3-pointers in both wins, and Tom Aase has been a monster on the defensive side of the floor. The more people you have making plays, the higher your chances of winning are. Austin struggled in its last two games, but sometimes you need to struggle to get better. Coaches always say that you learn more from losing than you do from winning. It’s now too late for the Packers to learn from a loss as it would end their season, but a close win can be just as informative. I don’t think the Packers played that bad against Red Wing; they just ran into a very big and physical team, and there weren’t a lot of whistles blowing. It was very similar to the game Austin lost at Owatonna last year, when the Huskies turned the contest into more of a football contest than a basketball game.
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Congratulations
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Good Luck at State!
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AUSTIN DAILY HERALD - THE ROAD TO STATE
The difference between last year’s team and this year’s is Austin eventually faded away and lost to Owatonna after holding a sizeable lead. But on Friday, the Packers saw their sizeable lead completely disappear, and they still had the confidence to get back in it and walk away with a win. If you were at the game, you noticed that Austin didn’t celebrate after winning even though they had just qualified for state in an overtime contest. This team has been focused on the state tournament all season long and hopefully it brings out the best in them, because the margin for error is about to get a lot smaller. Before Austin lost to St. Paul Johnson last year in the state quarterfinals, it hung with the Governors for most of the game. There was even a couple moments where Austin looked like it was moving on. Then fatigue set in, and inexperience took over. The stage was big, the lights were bright and the Packers just weren’t quite up to it. But all five of Austin’s starters played in that game last year, and they don’t want to endure the same result. To avoid that, the Packers will have to relax and play the game they love. They can’t worry about what De LaSalle — who is the hands-down favorite in Class ‘AAA’ — is doing on the other side of the bracket. They just need to relax, smile and play a game of basketball. Getting nervous or scared never won anybody anything, especially in sports. If the Packers can find a way to play on offense like they did in the 80-77 win over Rochester John Marshall in December, and play defense like in the Section 1AAA tournament — where the Packers allowed just 42.3 points per game — they’ll be in good shape. The question is, can they do that? We’ll find out this week.
AUSTIN DAILY HERALD - THE ROAD TO STATE
Austin’s Gach Gach shoots from the corner during the second half against Rochester Century earlier this season in Packer Gym.
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No. 21 12 24 10 4 3 35 11 25 33 22 20 13 5 30 15
Austin Packers 2012-13 regular season statistics
Name J. Aase Z. Wessels T. Aase B. Lukes A. Nywesh C. Weisert G. Gach T. Olmsted N. Gasner C. Oberbroeckling J. Kempen Z. Coffey B. Bumgarner R. Synoground N. Brehmer A. Bergstrom Totals Opponents
PPG 17.7 15.1 11.0 8.6 7.6 3.8 2.4 1.2 1.3 0.9 0.4 0.4 0.8 0.3 0.1 0.1 69.3 47.6
REB 6.5 3.7 5.6 2.0 2.8 2.7 1.2 0.8 0.3 0.4 0.7 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.4 0.2 28.3 27.9
AST 1.7 4.6 2.9 2.0 1.3 1.7 0.6 0.8 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.2 16.1 8.8
STL 1.3 3.2 2.1 1.9 2.1 1.6 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.0
13.5 5.8
BLK 1.2 0.1 2.5 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.3 1.1
TO 1.4 2.7 2.1 0.9 1.6 0.9 0.6 0.6 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.4 0.0 0.4 0.0
11.3 20.4
— Source: Austin Packers
ABOVE: Austin guard Zach Wessels gets a layup Friday night in the first half of the Section 1AAA Tournament championship against Red Wing at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. RIGHT: Austin’s Gach Gach is fouled by Mankato East’s Jordan Grams during the first half game in Packer Gym.
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AUSTIN DAILY HERALD - THE ROAD TO STATE
A look at the Austin Packers and their competitors
AUSTIN PACKERS (28-0)
QRF Ranking: No. 1 Points per game: 69.3 Points allowed per game: 47.7 Road to state: Austin 71, Kasson-Mantorville 35; Austin 51, Winona 49; Austin 52, Red Wing 43 (OT)
MARSHALL TIGERS (27-2)
QRF Ranking: No. 10 Points per game: 68.6 Points allowed per game: 48.7 Road to state: Marshall 71, New Ulm 34; Marshall 66, Mankato West 61; Marshall 56, Waconia 48
DE LASALLE ISLANDERS (26-1)
QRF Ranking: No. 2 Points per game: 80.6 Points allowed per game: 49.5 Road to state: DeLaSalle 91, St. Paul Como Park 47; DeLaSalle 80, Fridley 42; DeLaSalle 71, Spring Lake Park 61
ST. PAUL JOHNSON GOVERNORS (21-7)
QRF Ranking: No. 6 Points per game: 81.0 Points allowed per game: 61.1
Road to state: St. Paul Johnson 71, South Saint Paul 30; St. Paul Johnson 76, St. Thomas Academy 48; St. Paul Johnson 58, St. Paul Central 46
THE BLAKE SCHOOL BEARS (22-7)
QRF Ranking: No. 13 Points per game: 67.7 Points allowed per game: 56.3 Road to state: The Blake School 77, Benilde-St. Margaretʼs 62; The Blake School 79, Richfield 73, OT; The Blake School 47, Holy Family Catholic 41
GRAND RAPIDS THUNDERHAWKS (20-9)
QRF Ranking: No. 14 Points per game: 68.4 Points allowed per game: 52.5 Road to state: Grand Rapids 74, North Branch 68, OT; Grand Rapids 59, Chisago Lakes Area 57, OT; Grand Rapids 64, Cloquet 58
SARTELL-ST. STEPHENS SABRES (17-12) QRF Ranking: No. 18 Points per game: 58.5 Points allowed per game: 55.9
Road to state: Sartell-St. Stephens 74, Sauk Rapids-Rice 41; Startell-Stephens 50, Thief River Falls 46; Sartell-St. Stephens 57, Fergus Falls 55
DELANO TIGERS (26-3)
QRF Ranking: No. 7 Points per game: 71.4 Points allowed per game: 52.3 Road to state: Delano 96, Becker 45; Delano 61, Orono 46; Delano 66, St. Cloud Apollo 56 *QRF rankings from minnesota-scores.net, and are based on quality of opponents and scores throughout the season.
Sartell-Saint Stephens (17-12) 3/20/2013 @ 10 a.m. • Williams Arena, U of MN
#1 De LaSalle (27-1)(H)
#5 Saint Paul Johnson (21-7)
3/21/2013 @ noon Target Center, Minneapolis
3/20/2013 @ noon • Williams Arena, U of MN
#4 Delano (26-3)(H) 3/23/2013 @ 6 p.m. Target Center, Minneapolis
CHAMPION
Blake School (The) (22-7) 3/20/2013 @ 2 p.m. • Williams Arena, U of MN
#2 Austin (28-0)(H)
Grand Rapids (20-9)
3/21/2013 @ 2 p.m. Target Center, Minneapolis
3/20/2013 @ 4 p.m. • Williams Arena, U of MN
#3 Marshall (27-2)(H)
2013 State Class AAA Boys Basketball Tournament
Loser Semifinal 1 3/23/2013 @ 2 p.m. • Condordia University, St. Paul
Loser Semifinal 2 (H) AUSTIN DAILY HERALD - THE ROAD TO STATE
THIRD PLACE WINNER TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2013
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Packers 2012-13 schedule/results
DATE OPPONENT SCORE W/L (RECORD) W (1-0, 0-0) Dec. 1 Kasson-Mantorville 88 - 54 Edina 66 - 62 W (2-0, 0-0) Dec. 8 Dec. 11 Albert Lea 72 - 71 (2OT) W (3-0, 1-0) Dec. 14 Rochester Mayo 68 - 34 W (4-0, 2-0) Dec. 18 Mankato East 72 - 36 W (5-0, 3-0) Dec. 21 Red Wing 64 - 52 W (6-0, 3-0) Dec. 28 New Prague 86 - 58 W (7-0, 3-0) Dec. 29 Eastview 68 - 63 W (8-0, 3-0) Mankato West 56 - 45 W (9-0, 4-0) Jan. 4 Jan. 5 Waseca 70 - 54 W (10-0, 4-0) Jan. 8 Faribault 80 - 44 W (11-0, 5-0) Jan. 11 Rochester Century 74 - 24 W (12-0, 6-0) Jan. 15 Winona 63 - 38 W (13-0, 7-0) Jan. 17 Rochester JM 80 - 77 W (14-0, 8-0) Jan. 19 Westby 71 - 48 W (15-0, 8-0) Jan. 22 Mankato East 75 - 53 W (16-0, 9-0) Jan. 25 Owatonna 67 - 46 W (17-0, 10-0) Feb. 1 Rochester Mayo 64 - 39 W (18-0, 11-0) Feb. 8 Mankato West 83 - 41 W (19-0, 12-0) Feb. 9 Albert Lea 80 - 53 W (20-0, 13-0) Feb. 12 Faribault 78 - 31 W (21-0, 14-0) W (22-0, 15-0) Feb. 15 Rochester Century 53 - 38 Feb. 19 Winona 61 - 53 W (23-0, 16-0) Feb. 23 Rochester JM 66 - 47 W (24-0, 17-0) March 1 Owatonna 60 - 48 W (25-0, 18-0) Section 1AAA boys basketball tournament W (26-0, 18-0) March 6 Kasson-Mantorville 71 - 35 March 9 Winona 51 - 49 W (27-0, 18-0) 52 - 43 (OT) W (28-0, 18-0) March 15 Red Wing
Source: mshsl.org
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Austin’s Zach Wessels reaches for a rebound with Mankato East’s Brandon Adema during the first half earlier this season in Packer Gym.
AUSTIN DAILY HERALD - THE ROAD TO STATE
From player to assistant coach 2002 AHS grad returns in new role with Packer basketball team By Rocky Hulne sports@austindailyherald.com
Corey Christopherson has come full circle. The 2002 Austin grad spent his high school days playing basketball under head coach Kris Fadness, and now he’s one of the top assistant coaches in Fadness’ program. The transition has been a smooth one for Christopherson, and Fadness is glad to have him on the staff. “When there was a chance to get him back in the district, it was nice to get him locked in,” Fadness said. “I know he’s just waiting for me to hang up my cleats, but unfortunately I don’t know what the heck I would do with my life when I do that. I don’t know when that will happen.” Christopherson, who has been an assistant coach with the Packers for six years, played point guard for a Packers team that finished third in a loaded Big Nine Conference in 2002. Rochester John Marshall had
AUSTIN DAILY HERALD - THE ROAD TO STATE
Christopherson helped coach the Austin two future Division I college players on its junior varsity team that went 17-7 overall this team, but the Packers still had a solid year as season, and Fadness said Fadness said they were the two are always on the “three shots from a consame page, so he doesn’t ference title.” Christopherson went interfere with the JV. Christopherson recalls on to play at Rochester coaching Joe Aase and Community and TechniTom Aase when they were cal College for two years, freshmen. and when he transferred “We were going to to Winona State, he took work everything through on coaching with St. Tom and that lasted 10 Mary’s University as an asgames. Then we had to sistant coach. Christomove him up to varsity,” pherson coached at St. Christopherson said. “Joe Mary’s for three years beput up huge numbers for fore coming back to -Kris Fadness on us, and Zach Wessels and Austin, where he has enCorey Christopherson Bret Lukes were running joyed all of his time. through the Big Nine in “I love where I’m at eighth grade, so we knew right now at the elemenwhen you matched those groups, you were tary school, and coaching at the high school,” going to have something special.” Christopherson said. “It’s been great.”
“When there was a chance to get him back in the district, it was nice to get him locked in.”
Austin junior guard Ajuda Nywesh put in a lot of time on the JV last season, and he said Christopherson is a solid coach. “He’s a good coach and he tells you what you’ve got to do to win,” Nywesh said. “He definitely knows what he’s doing.” Christopherson, who would like to be a head coach someday, has soaked up a lot of knowledge from Fadness. “Coach Fadness is one of the best coaches around,” Christopherson said. “You know that when you play for him, and you know it more when you coach with him. I’ve learned a ton, from scouting to preparation, to skill development. He knows as much as anyone I’ve been around.” Christopherson is excited the Packers are playing in their second straight state tournament after a 30-year drought, and he also likes what the future holds for the program. “What’s really exciting is we’ve got talent down the line still,” he said. “There are some teams coming up that’ll be good.”
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Games of the year Dec. 8: Austin 66, Edina 62 Austin showed it meant business in just its second game of the season, as it took down Edina, which featured Graham Woodward, a point guard who has committed to Penn State University. The Packers shot lights out as they hit 45 percent (9-for-20) of their 3pointers, and Joe Aase led the way with 27 points. Edina qualified for the Class ‘AAAA’ state tournament and is seeded No. 3.
Dec. 11: Austin 72, Albert Lea 71 (2OT) Austin junior Zach Wessels showed how clutch he can be as he kept Austin’s long winning streak against Albert Lea alive by drilling a 15-foot jump shot with 1.5 seconds left to give the Packers a win against their rivals. The Packers beat AL later in the year to push their winning streak to 14 games over the Tigers.
Austin’s Tom Aase shoots a short jumper in the first half of the Section 1AAA championship Friday night at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.
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game of the season when the up-and-coming Rockets came to town on a mission to take first place in the Big Nine. In front of a packed house in Packer gym, Joe Aase netted a career-high 34 points and went 8-for11 on 3-pointers, and Zach Wessels finished with 23 points and 8 assists. Austin led by as many as 19 points in the first half.
March 9: Austin 51, Winona 49 (Section 1AAA semifinal) It was a worst-case scenario for the Packers — Austin came out flat
and Winona was scrappy. The Winhawks led by 11 in the first half, which was Austin’s biggest home deficit in two years and its biggest total deficit this season. But the Packers had an answer. Austin used a 14-2 run to get back in the game, and Joe Aase and Zach Wessels made the two biggest plays of the season to close out the win. Aase, who scored 22 points, drilled a contested 3-pointer to tie the game at 49. Then, on Austin’s final possession, Wessels tipped a loose ball to Ajuda Nywesh for a layup to put the Packers ahead for good with four seconds left.
March 15: Austin 52, Red Wing 43 (OT) (Section 1AAA final) The Packers bent, but they didn’t break. Austin led for most of the second half, but when it missed two of three free throws and committed one turnover in the last two minutes, the Wingers were able to tie the game with a late put-back to force overtime. In the extra session, the Packers seized control as Joe Aase hit an early 3-pointer and Ajuda Nywesh put Austin up for good with an up-and-under move that made it 45-43. Zach Wessels had 19 points in the win, and Aase had 18.
Jan. 17: Austin 80, Rochester JM 77 Austin played its best
AUSTIN DAILY HERALD - THE ROAD TO STATE