Reusse: Tragedy tinges Orono’s appearance in the boys basketball state tournament

The Orono basketball team checked into a downtown Minneapolis hotel Tuesday for its appearance in the Minnesota boys state tournament. This is a 32-team, four-class extravaganza that requires two sites.

One of those, Target Center, was unavailable Wednesday, because of the Timberwolves requiring it for the purpose of giving away a home game to the lowly New Orleans Pelicans.

Which meant, the 24 teams in the three larger classes would be starting play a day earlier than the norm.

The Spartans made it through the Tuesday quarterfinals of the loaded Class 3A bracket with an 87-71 win over always dangerous DeLaSalle.

Mankato East, the No. 1 seed, had an easy time with the bracket’s one overmatched entry, St Paul Harding, and that set up a noon semifinal Thursday at Williams Arena. This would be a rematch of a Feb. 1 neutral-site game won by East, 83-77.

Orono was in need of a place to practice Wednesday. “Checked with St. Thomas, and that gym was unavailable,” coach Barry Wohler said. “Then I called about using the Gophers practice facility and was told, ‘With what we have going on right now, that might not be a good idea.’ ”

The goings-on would be the Gophers being in the midst of hiring a new coach.

Wohler finally decided to put the players on a school bus and head back to Orono to use their home gym for a 3 p.m. practice. The varsity and the JV were all there, along with a handful of coaches.

Mark Sembrovich, a Ziggy Kauls man from way back at Mounds View High School and with many other stops, was standing next to Wohler at midcourt. Two groups were 5-on-5, Wohler would look at his phone, call a play, perhaps get an opinion from the senior sage next to him, and call out another.

The preparation was done around 4:20, the players gathered, Wohler and other assistants said a few words, then they huddled up, raised arms to slap hands, and in unison offered one word:

“Luke!”

There was also a jersey with “Luke 1″ near the circle, this in honor of Lucas Knudson, a senior, a team leader, a point guard, involved in a fatal, one-car accident on a drive home on a Sunday night.

It was Nov. 16, and Wohler’s Spartans would be having the first practice for a season of sizable expectations the next day.

Wohler was given the stunning information of Knudson’s death close to 6 a.m. Monday. The news then reached the close friends he’d had since early grade school, then to others on the team, and then to the crowded hallways of Orono High School.

“We talked about it, and decided Luke would want us to have a first practice, but after 15 minutes we called it off,” Wohler said. “And then the next day, seeming to be driven by Luke’s spirit, we had perhaps the most intense two-hour practice we had all season.”

Nolan Groves has been the 6-foot-5 guard/superstar for the Spartans, one of the five finalists for Mr. Basketball, and is headed to Yale in August, where he will play for coach James Jones. He talked about Knudson for a few minutes after Wednesday’s practice.

“I think about Luke every day,” Groves said. “We met as young kids. He was a best friend.”

Groves managed a slight smile and said: “Luke had an extreme personality. Most of the time it was for the best, but not always.

“He brought that edge to basketball, to playing point guard. He wasn’t pass-first, though. If a three was there, he took it.”

Tyler Shannon has been a junior reserve for the Spartans, and Knudson’s close friend since fourth grade.

“What I’ve noticed is going through the day there’s suddenly a memory of Luke,” Shannon said. ”Usually, that lasts for a few minutes, but before a recent game … I just cried for an hour, starting around 5 o’clock."

Nate Chavez was another senior standout, a 6-7 forward, a rebounder and shooter. The Spartans wound up playing most of the schedule without him.

He had a torn ACL in practice before the season started, managed to come back for five games with a wrap. Then he twisted the knee again and had shut down his basketball.

Chavez has remained a regular at practices and said Tuesday: “Every practice, every little thing, Luke comes to mind.”

On Thursday afternoon, with the active Spartans still in a locker room after a two-point loss, 64-62, Orono fans were gathered on the corridor level of Williams Arena. Chavez had arrived and was in a conversation with Luke’s parents, Renae and Brian, and sister Lauren, here from Johns Hopkins.

“We have gone to all of the team’s games, and the players — Luke’s friends — have reached out to us in an amazing manner," Renae said. “I do believe we have helped each other.”

Luke’s mom then paused for a moment and said: “Two points! We were so close.”