An Iron Range family starred for one basketball team; the next generation stars for another

Ron Haggstrom, David La Vaque, Jim Paulsen will cover eight games at two sites, and they’ll interview players and coaches, fans and administrators for stories beyond the games. Find out what they learn here, and come back often to see their latest.

8:20 a.m.

The Lamppa family used to be the focal point of the Embarrass boys basketball team’s starting lineup back in the good ol’ days.

It has transitioned to Rock Ridge’s girls basketball program. Rock Ridge is in its first year as a new school, the combination of Virginia and Eveleth-Gilbert. The girls basketball team is in its second year together.

Senior Emma Lamppa starts alongside her twin sisters, sophomores Maija and Alexis. Freshman Sophia, a cousin, comes off the bench.

All four scored in Rock Ridge’s 67-50 loss to No. 3-ranked Alexandria in the Class 3A girls basketball state quarterfinals Wednesday at the Maturi Pavilion. Alexis paced the sisters with 17 points while Maija had 10. Emma finished with two and Sophia scored one for the No. 8-ranked Wolverines (26-4).

“It was surreal for me seeing the whole family in the stands,” Alexis said.

Assistant coach Kyle Lamppa is Sophia’s father.

“Our motto has been ‘Fiercely United,’ " Wolverines coach Byron Negen said. “Going from being fierce opponents to ‘Fiercely United’ has been a smooth transition for this team.”

It doesn’t hurt having a good portion of your lineup coming from one family.

RON HAGGSTROM

. . .

Hopkins reached the past two Class 4A championship games, but the team returned only one senior with state tournament experience this season. It might have caused some program outsiders to doubt the Royals’ ability to make a third consecutive title game, but junior guard Tatum Woodson and the rest of the team were confident this season wouldn’t be different.

“To you all, it seems insane because we used to all be on the bench. We didn’t get much playing time,” Woodson said. “But I think from us, we knew we were going to be here from the beginning of the season, so we’re not surprised with this outcome. We’re grateful for it, but we knew we were going to be here.”

JIM PAULSEN

. . .

6:12 p.m.

She said before the tournament that she loves playing at Williams Arena and was looking forward to it, but stopped short of calling it her favorite court.

She left that designation to an outdoor court in New York City, where she played during a Nike Girls’ Basketball Jamboree last summer. It wasn’t the famed Rucker Park in Harlem, but it was a lot like it, she said.

“They built a court right in the middle of the city. That was so great,” McGill said. “I was on a team full of bucket-getters, the best from their states. It was a good place to play.”

JIM PAULSEN

. . .

No secrets or surprises were anticipated in the Class 4A semifinals with the four teams entering tonight’s games having faced each other in the regular season.

Three of them — Hopkins, Minnetonka and St. Michael-Albertville — see each other twice a year in Lake Conference play. Hopkins and Minnetonka were each 3-1 in those games, splitting their head-to-head matchups and beating St. Michael-Albertville twice. The Knights were 1-4 against the other semifinalists. Their victory came against Maple Grove, which lost to all three in nonconference play.

JIM PAULSEN

. . .

5:56 p.m.

These days, the boys and girls play a regular-season doubleheader, and this season’s meetings on Dec. 22 at Benilde-St. Margaret’s went DeLaSalle’s way. The Islanders girls won their game 78-65 but recognized the need for a major asterisk: Red Knights senior guard OIivia Olson missed the game. Olson, who signed with Michigan, scored a game-high 32 points for the Red Knights in Thursday’s semifinal victory over Stewartville and should be on the court in the upcoming matchup.

Postseason meetings aren’t counted toward the Christian Brothers Cup rivalry, but players won’t need winning that trophy as motivation at 6 p.m. on Saturday, when the teams meet at Williams Arena in the Class 3A championship.

DAVID LA VAQUE

. . .

2:47 p.m.

Baker was wearing a clear mask due to a broken nose suffered against Perham in December and had a brace on her right knee after tearing her ACL in the summer of 2022.

“She has more velcro than anything,” Underwood coach Brian Hovland joked.

The senior guard had three points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals in the Rockets’ 64-52 victory over Southwest Minnesota Christian in the Class 1A girls basketball state quarterfinals Thursday at the Maturi Pavilion.

“It was a lot of fun being out there,” Baker said. “I have dreamt about this for a long time. It was awesome.”

Baker was sidelined her entire junior season with the knee injury and couldn’t play for the Rockets in the state tournament a year ago.

RON HAGGSTROM

. . .

3:14 p.m.

Stewartville girls basketball coach Tanner Teige heaped nothing but praise on Benilde-St. Margaret’s Olivia Olson after the senior guard, who signed with Michigan, scored a game-high 32 points in Thursday’s first Class 3A semifinal.

“She’s a player who you can tell works hard,” Teige said. “There’s a reason she’s going to Michigan. She’s a good player who can score from all three levels. And she’s physical. You don’t find many 6-foot-2 girls that can move the way she can and also play with their body the way she can. She’s a tough matchup.”

“We’ve always had an attack mentality,” Red Knights coach Tim Ellefson said. “When my starters are in there, it’s pretty much attack, attack, attack. If we’re ready to call the game over, that’s when I take them out. So I’m not upset about [Olson’s three-point attempt] at all.”

DAVID LA VAQUE

. . .

3:26 p.m.

As it had all season, Stewartville’s girls basketball team played Thursday without sophomore forward Ella Theobald.

“She’s slowly starting to get cleared to be able to do different things,” Tigers coach Tanner Teige said. “But we’ll have her this summer to be full go for November.”

DAVID LA VAQUE

. . .

1:17 p.m.

Mayer Lutheran coach Kris Gustin sat calmly on the bench. His youthful Crusaders were endearing a learning experience.

“They [Goodhue] are a good team,” Gustin said. “They were pretty aggressive, tenacious.”

Traits he hopes carry over to the Crusaders (19-11) in their development. Their 12-player roster only has two seniors and one junior. Their top two scorers are sophomore sisters, Clara Keaveny (15.2 points per game) and Izabelle Keaveny (14.1).

“We are definitely a young team,” Gustin said. “I think we were in a good spot this year.”

RON HAGGSTROM

. . .

It’s Day 2 of the Minnesota girls basketball state tournament.

The tournament field hasn’t quite been cut in half for the four classifications. Class 1A will round out the equation today at the Maturi Pavilion while the two largest classes, 4A and 3A, will be seeking championship aspirations next door at Williams Arena.

It will all get started at 11 a.m. with Goodhue fans making the trek up Highway 52 and the Mayer Lutheran faithful hoping on Highway 7 for the opening Class 1A quarterfinal matchup. Goodhue (25-5) and defending state champion Mountain Iron-Buhl (27-3) are heavy favorites to meet in the finals.

An hour later, Class 3A will ramp it up in the semifinals. Private-school powers Benilde-St. Margaret’s (25-5), the defending state champion, and DeLaSalle (26-3) will have their hands full with enthusiastic contingents from opposite directions in the state in Stewartville (22-8) and Alexandria (25-5). Benilde-St. Margaret’s defeated Stewartville 66-60 in the championship a year ago and also 74-48 in the middle of January 2024. Is the third time a charm? DeLaSalle and Alexandria is a matchup worthy of the finals, but one won’t make it to championship Saturday.

The four heavyweights remain in Class 4A. The way traffic comes to a standstill on Interstate 494, it just might be time to put down a basketball court for curious onlookers. Lake Conference powers Hopkins (26-3), Minnetonka (27-2) and St. Michael-Albertville (23-7) hold down the top three seeds while Maple Grove (25-4) is No. 4. The Knights and Crimson will have a difficult time knocking off the Royals and Skippers.