High school boys basketball continues astounding improvement under four-class tournament

Championship Saturday in the Minnesota state boys basketball tournament started shortly after 11 a.m. with Fertile-Beltrami playing Cherry in the Class 1A final at “historic” Williams Arena, which is a more complimentary adjective for the giant silo than “ancient.”

The main attraction was Isaac Asuma, the star of Ben Johnson’s freshman recruiting class for the 2024-25 Gophers. That means, the 6-3 guard from Cherry rates ahead of the other half of that current group — Alexandria’s 6-9 forward Grayson Grove.

Fertile-Beltrami played three overtimes Friday to reach the title game. On Saturday morning, the Falcons needed 5½ minutes to remove their zero on the scoreboard.

By then, Asuma, brother Noah, cousin Isaiah and the rest of the Tigers were already flying. They sped away to a 78-40 victory, a first state hoops championship for Asuma Nation and the first in any class for an Iron Range team since Chisholm in 1991.

The lone concern for Ski-U-Mah fans over Asuma’s effort here would be that he could have a tough time adjusting to the small and quiet crowd when the Gophers start playing their traditional nonconference schedule in November.

There were three times as many people in orange supporting the Tigers on Saturday than there are in Cherry Township (approximately 865). And there was an equal red-clad following across the way from bustling Fertile and its smaller partner, Beltrami.

There was a distant memory of Fertile-Beltrami holding a significant place in state tournament history and there it was: Minneapolis North 80, Fertile-Beltrami 47 in the 1996 championship game.

This was the second and last year of an experiment pushed by the state coaches to regain the magic of the one-class, eight-team “State Tourney” that annually filled Williams Arena through 1970.

A two-class system started in 1971, with a playoff game played between the Classes 2A and 1A winners on Monday night. Crowds were huge at the start, the playoff games were excellent with Class 1A winning two of the five, but it was decided Wednesday through Monday was too much for spectators to handle.

The two-class system lasted from 1976 to 1994, crowds declined and the experiment of a 16-team tournament with somewhat mingled seedings was attempted for 1995-96.

Minneapolis North won both, beating Staples-Motley 54-52 in 1995, then whipping Fertile-Beltrami 80-47 in 1996.

That North blowout and an empty feeling from the smaller outstate schools put an end to the experiment. A four-class system was installed for the boys tournament in 1997 and it has remained thus.

And all of us nostalgic for those days of 18,000-plus in a smoke-filled Williams Arena in the one-class days — well, I have news for me and everyone else who has suffered from that malady:

We haven’t been watching enough top-of-the-hoops chain, summer AAU-fueled boys basketball in our fair state.

Lou Nanne spent his final year as the analyst on the state boys hockey waxing as usual about Minnesota’s amazing improvement in the quality of play.

Great salute, Louie, but the fact the arenas aren’t bursting with people in four-class basketball definitely lessens the praise for the equal improvement at the top of Minnesota’s high school preps.

Game 2 on Saturday was Totino-Grace and Mankato East for the 3A title. East was very good, but in the end, the eye-popping talent assembled by coach Nick Carroll and the Eagles was too much — even for a team with 6-7 Carson Schweim, a senior certain to become a big contributor for Minnesota State Mankato.

This was Totino-Grace’s third consecutive title, this time with Isaiah Johnson-Arigu, 6-7 and playing his last prep game before heading to the Miami Hurricanes, at the top of Carroll’s talent pool in the 73-64 victory.

Johnson-Arigu’s Ieaps were astounding, particularly with six minutes left and Chace Watley throwing him a high lob, and Johnson-Arigu arriving at high speed, soaring for a one-handed dunk. Friend and foe alike shook the Barn with shouts, and Anthony Edwards would’ve done the same if he was there.

This was happening in Minnesota basketball in 2024 AD. And while there’s no old basketball guy who loves the tale of the 1960 Edgerton Dutchmen more than me, I can rack my brain and not recall this:

LeRoy Graphenteen throwing a lob a foot above the rim for a flying one-handed dunk for Dean Veenhof.

Four classes or not, you can be an extra-old-timer and appreciate the yearly, astounding improvement that continues to take place in our high school hoops.