I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.
March 3, 1999
By Devlyn Brooks
The Clearbrook-Gonvick basketball player injured Monday night in a sub-section tournament game at Bemidji State University was sent home from North Country Regional Hospital the same evening with stitches, but nothing more serious, according to Clearbrook-Gonvick officials.
Clearbrook-Gonvick coach Mark Bagaason said a CAT scan of senior center Jon Gerlofs turned up nothing negative, but medical staff were concerned that after the incident he had suffered a seizure -- something the athlete had never suffered previously.
"He has stitches in the back of his head, but everything else checked out," Clearbrook-Gonvick Athletic Director Ron Johnson said Tuesday. "We were very relieved (it was nothing more serious). It was quite a scare. It's a miracle he doesn't have a concussion."
Johnson said the player Gerlofs was absent from school Tuesday, but there was a meeting held in school for his teammates to update them about his situation.
Attempts to reach the Gerlofs family Tuesday were unsuccessful.
Johnson said the situation was unpleasant for everyone involved, but they don't want to blame the Red Lake player -- Byron Graves -- who was charged with a flagrant technical foul and ejected fro the game for causing the incident.
"There's different opinions as to what happened," Johnson said, "but we don't want to hold any one person accountable. We don't want to point fingers. I know (Graves) feels very badly about it."
Coach Bagaason concurred, saying, "I thought the officials handled (the incident) very professionally. And I thought (our team) showed a lot of character and sportsmanship after the incident. We were very proud of how they finished out the game."
Gerlofs was hurt when he got behind the Red Lake defense for a fast break layup and Graves fouled him. He was upended and struck his head on the gym floor, suffering a seizure and requiring extensive medical attenion.
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