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 17, 1999
By Devlyn Brooks
MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Concordia College Memorial Auditorium spelled doom for the Red Lake boys' basketball team for the second straight year, as they fell 68-51 to Section 5A champion Fergus Falls Hillcrest Lutheran Academy here Tuesday.
The loss was eerily reminiscent of the Warriors' state quarterfinal loss to Norman County East last year at Concordia, during which Red Lake was outplayed as well. Norman County East advanced to win last year's Class A state championship.
Just as the Warriors dominated their opponents on defense, on the boards and in shooting percentage all season, they were just as easily handled by Hillcrest in this year's state quarterfinal.
Not only did the Comets contain the Warriors' main threats in Delwyn Holthusen and Gerald Kingbird, but they held Red Lake to 32 percent shooting from the field and only three three-pointers all game.
"Our shots just didn't fall, and they shot extremely well," Red Lake assistant coach Bill Rutledge said after the game "They did a nice job on boxing us out, and keeping us to one shot. Down low they really did a nice job on Delwyn."
In fact, Kingbird and Holthusen, who together averaged more than 50 points per game during the season were held to only 37 -- many coming after the game was already decided -- and were never given open, uncontested shots.
Holthusen had two and three Comets guarding him the entire game, and when the ball was passed back to the perimeter, Hillcrest was able to hustle back in place to guard the outside threat of Kingbird.
"Defense has carried us the entire season. You think back to all the defensive drills you do in the dead of winter, in January ... our boys saw them pay off tonight," Comet coach Gregg Preston said. "All season long they have played just superior defense."
Preston said the Comets' game preparation included only two factors -- Holthusen and Kingbird. In fact, he added, they basically forgot about the remainder of the team.
"(Holthusen) is one of the best players we've seen all season. Somehow we were able to double him and get back and help," he said. "And John Kilde did a job on Kingbird. I don't know how many points (Kingbird) finished with (14), but Kilde did a job on him."
Right from the tip of the ball, Hillcrest Lutheran took an aggressive approach to playing the Warriors. They pressured the ball handlers on defense, and generally disrupted the Red Lake flow anywhere on the floor.
In the first quarter, Joe Nayquanabe led the Warriors with six points, and Holthusen added five -- but it was the only quarter he dominated the paint. Meanwhile, the Comets posted 16, eight points coming on uncontested layups by beating Red Lake off the dribble.
The two teams fought to a defensive 8-8 tie in the second quarter, and the tension mounting in the Red Lake starters was palpable as they walked to the locker room facing a 24-21 halftime disadvantage.
But for a brief moment in the second half, the Warriors looked like the powerhouse team they could be.
Red Lake scored the first eight points of the second half and had a 12-4 run to take a 33-28 lead with about three minutes remaining in the third quarter. They looked poised to charge through the rest of the game into the state semifinals, when disaster struck.
With a loose ball here and a missed Red Lake shot there, the Comets reversed the momentum and rattled off a 9-2 run - again on quick-hitting layups -- to finish the third period.
And they didn't let up.
Before Red Lake could recover -- and some may argue they never did -- Hillcrest had posted a 23-2 string and take a 50-35 lead.
Red Lake fell further behind late in the fourth when they were forced into a desperation game, and they never came closer than 15 points after that back-breaking Comets' run.
"(Red Lake) came out in the second half, and I thought, 'Here we go.' We had heard about the 'Red Lake avalanche,' and I thought here comes the Red Lake avalanche," Preston said of Red Lake's third quarter rally. "They are so talented, so scary. But we called a timeout and got the kids settled down. In the fourth quarter we had our own avalanche."
The loss abruptly ended the Holthusen/Kingbird era in Red Lake that began about as quickly two years ago in a state semifinal game versus Wabasso. Trailing by 17 points, Kingbird led his team on a shooting barrage that left the score tied at the end of regulation. Wabasso eventually won in overtime, but the game made Holthusen and Kingbird, not only local, but statewide stars.
"They had a heck of a career," Rutledge said of the duo. "When they look at what happened during their high school career, they need to focus on the good things."
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 16 8 13 31 -- 68
Red Lake 13 8 14 16 -- 51
HILLCREST LUTHERAN ACADEMY (24-2) 68
John Kilde 4-9 2-3 11, Ryan Garvin 2-7 0-0 5, Dan Scheid 6-14 0-0 13, Nick Hansen 11-17 1-2 23, Daniel Berge 5-11, 2-2 12, Jesse Arbuckle 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Schmidt 0-0 2-2 2, Douglas Rogness 0-0 0-0 0, Kjetil Vilkensen 1-1 0-0 2. Team Totals -- 29-59 7-9 68.
RED LAKE (24-2) 51
Gerald Kingbird 6-19 0-1 14, Harold Graves 1-7 0-0 2, Joe Nayquanabe 4-10 0-1 8, Byron Graves 1-1 0-2 2, Delwyn Holthusen 7-18 8-11 23, Clyde Perkins 1-6 0-0 2, Dustin Thunder 0-0 0-0 0. Team Totals -- 20-61 8-15 51.
3-pointers -- HLA 3-13 (Kilde 1-4, Garvin 1-5, Scheid 1-4), RL 3-26 (Kingbird 2-13, H. Graves 0-4, Nayquanabe 0-4, Holthusen 1-1, Perkins 0-4). Rebounds -- HLA 39 (Hansen 9), RL 39 (Holthusen 14). Assists -- HLA 20 (Garvin 6), RL 3 (Kingbird 2). Turnovers -- HLA 11 (Scheid 7), RL 15 (Kingbird 5, Holthusen 5). Blocks -- HLA 0, RL 1 (B. Graves 1). Steals -- HLA 8 (Scheid 4), RL 10 (Kingbird 3, H. Graves 3). Total Fouls -- HLA 14, RL 12. Fouled out -- none. Attendance -- 5,000.
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