ST.

Sunday, March 25, 2001

ST. PAUL – Hayfield walked all over Blue Earth Area at the Section 2A tournament, then they knocked off DeLa Salle at St. Peter. On Friday night, they won by a breath against Glencoe-Silver Lake.

It was a great roller coaster ride that the brakes were put on by the defense of Kenyon-Wanamingo Saturday afternoon at the state championship game at the Xcel Energy Center. The Vikings were whiplashed, 53-30, in their lowest game total all year.

Kenyon-Wanamingo came out strong in the first quarter with a nine-point lead. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 16-7. Hayfield is known for coming on slow in the first half, but by the end of the second quarter they still were trailing, 28-14.

The Vikings were not using the opportunities given them. Twice they missed the first of one-on-one free throws, losing opportunities for four unanswered points. At the end of the third quarter, the Vikings were losing ground with the score at 38-22.

Early in the fourth quarter, it was certain the Vikings were going to be second in state. Clearly the presence of Joe Evert, the Knights’ 6-foot-8-inch center was the brakes that stopped the Vikings’ roller coaster ride. Evert made 16 points. The other top scorer for the Knights was Brent Lurken, a 6-foot-4-inch forward who scored 19 points. The Vikings top scorer was Korey Holtan with nine points.

At the end of the championship game, the 2001 2A All Star Tournament team was announced and three Vikings players made it: guard Willie Hansen, center Jon Severson and forward Aaron Tempel.

Hayfield High School is having a rally to welcome the No. 2 state champions at 2 p.m. today in the high school gym.

Friday’s game

Rip Van Winkle stayed asleep for 25 years and hardly anyone could remember him when he awoke from his slumber.

The Hayfield boys basketball must have been asleep for the last 33 years, but they sure are wide awake now. It was 33 years since the Hayfield boys basketball team made it to state. No one will ever forget this dream team of eight seniors.

Friday night’s game at the Xcel Energy Center had Hayfield behind in the first quarter by 12 points. The Vikings were leaving the Glencoe-Silver Lake Panthers wide open in the first quarter.

Chris Pack, the Viking coach commented about the first quarter: "I stressed to them to get back in there and start playing defensively."

That they did. The team started to play hefty defense and Viking Willie Hansen started scoring. He made two baskets in a row and the second quarter ended with Hayfield behind by seven points, 28-21. They were back in the game.

In the third quarter, the Vikings became the team they have become known for this year. Hansen started to drop the ball in the basket, one after another. He made nine points in all. The third quarter ended with Hayfield behind by only three points, 37-34.

Glencoe started to play as if out of control. They were missing passes and fouling. The quarter was close to ending when Hansen made a free throw and tied the game, 41-41. Hansen made another free throw, taking the Vikings on top for the first time during the game, 42-41.

Neither team could make any more points. The Vikings seemed to be abiding their time on the court with a minute left in the game dribbling and passing the ball back and forth to each other.

Hansen was the top scorer for Hayfield with 14 points and Jon Severson had 11 points. Aaron Tempel led the team in rebounds.

Pack praised his team on their coolness throughout the game.

"There are eight seniors; they don’t get rattled," he said. "This is the way we’ve played all our games, coming back in the second half. We usually knock in more free throws to make it easy on the coach."

Call Sheila Donnelly at 434-2234 or e-mail her at sports@austindailyherald.com.