Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Minnesota State High School League is ready to crank up the pace in high school basketball.

The league approved the addition of a 35-second shot clock on Thursday and boys and girls teams will begin using the clock in the 2023-2024 season. The extended deadline should give schools a chance to raise funds for the clocks and prepare for the change.

One area school that has already installed shot clocks is Hayfield High School, which brought them in a couple of years ago in anticipation of the change. The clocks cost $4,500 with installation costs included and the Vikings have used them in non-conference games.

Hayfield head boys basketball coach and athletic director Chris Pack said it went well when the clock was used. He said there were very few shot clock violations in the games that used the shot clock over the last three years.

“We rarely approached zero seconds, to be honest. We had no trouble finding people to run it and they have all done a great job doing it,” Pack said. “I think it is a good thing. Not that it has happened a lot over time, but it takes the stalling part out of the game. It will make the end of close games cleaner where you don’t have to start fouling as early. I see it as a positive thing.”

Austin head coach Kris Fadness is on the section committee and has been trying to make shot clocks happen for the past decade. He’s glad to finally get them to the high school level.

“People don’t want to pay money to see someone hold the ball. It’ll be good for the game. The kids want it and it’ll make it a more entertaining game,” Fadness said. “It’s a natural progression and it needs to happen. In basketball, we kind of emulate the higher levels and we were going to keep pushing this until it happened.”

The clocks will come with a cost and Fadness is hoping this is an opportunity for AHS to boost up some of its scoreboards across the district.

“We’re in desperate need of scoreboards in all sports for Austin,” Fadness said.