Albany reigns as an undefeated Class 2A boys basketball champion after holding off Waseca

Albany head coach Cory Schlagel called his players “creatures of habit.”

Senior forward Sam Hondl needs his gameday nap. Some players like to lift in the morning before state tournament games. It’s what Schlagel said is their “business approach.”

And, now, the Huskies have a new habit: winning state championships.

No. 1 seed Albany won its second Class 2A state title in the past three years with a 70-63 victory over No. 2 Waseca on Saturday at Williams Arena. The Huskies (32-0) became the first undefeated state champion since 2012.

“No team has done this before here at Albany,” Hondl said. “Last year [in the semifinals], that last loss hurt, but ever since then, we knew, the next year, we just want to get back to the top.”

Albany took advantage of the Bluejays’ cold shooting early with a 15-4 lead, but the 2021 champs clawed their way back, willed by brothers and guards Deron and Damarius Russell.

Schlagel called them “flat-out shotmakers,” the pair one-upping one another with deep threes and smooth floaters to tie the game with under 10 minutes to go.

Damarius, a senior, finished with 22 points and seven steals. Deron, a junior, had a game-high 32 points.

“If you come up here with confidence, you think you can play with any team, any player, good things are going to happen,” Deron said.

But Albany kept its edge late, led by the Huskies’ All-Minnesota duo of senior guard Zeke Austin and Hondl. Senior Elliott Burnett went 3-for-3 from three in the second half to help fend off the Bluejays (31-1).

“We had to take it into our own hands since we have the most experience,” said Austin, who finished with a team-high 27 points and five steals. “And having [seniors] that can do that makes a team really hard to beat.”

Defended tightly in the paint in Albany’s semifinal win over Caledonia, Hondl had more luck Saturday using his 6-7 size in the post, scoring 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting.

After a Deron Russell layup cut Albany’s lead to 64-63 with a minute to go, Waseca pressed high like it had all game, looking to force another of Albany’s 23 turnovers.

“We had more turnovers tonight than we probably had in the last month combined,” Schlagel said. “We never played against anything that fast.”

But late, when it mattered most, the Huskies were able to bust the pressure. Hondl fed Austin and junior Braeden Justin for layups, forcing Waseca to foul.

Even after a season with only one other single-digit victory, Schlagel insisted, “these guys don’t panic.”