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Mar. 18—MINNEAPOLIS — Dan and Jack Gross have attended state tournaments as fans for years.
But this season's state tournaments in March will bring a little madness for the father-son duo of the
.
Dan, in his first year as head coach, and Jack, a star guard, have come together to help lead the Warriors to their first Class A state tournament appearance in program history.
The Warriors earned their first state berth behind a 76-49 rout of Madelia in the Section 2A championship at the Taylor Center's Bresnan Arena in Mankato on March 13.
It's been a long time coming for BOLD.
Olivia made a Class A state appearance in 1919 and Bird Island-Lake Lillian won back-to-back Class A state titles in 1980 and '81.
BOLD (20-10) is seeded eighth and plays No. 1 Cherry in the Class A state quarterfinals at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Target Center.
"We're gonna go do what we do and enjoy it at the same time," Dan Gross said. "These guys enjoy competing, so they're gonna enjoy the games, but at the same time, we're just happy we get to hang out together for another week."
All that comes with a handful that is Cherry.
The Tigers (29-1) are the reigning Class A state champions and return to the state tournament for a fourth consecutive season and fifth time overall.
Cherry throttled Deer River in a 77-56 win in the Section 7A championship at the University of Minnesota-Duluth's Romano Gymnasium on Friday.
"We were waiting for this day (the section championship) all year to get a chance to go back (to the state tournament)," said Jordan Christianson, who is in his sixth year as the Tigers' head coach. "We're pretty excited that we got it done."
Cherry's one loss came against Red Lake County in a 78-77 defeat at Bemidji State University. The Rebels (29-2) are the third seed.
The Tigers have quite the list of quality wins.
Cherry has beaten Dawson-Boyd and Nevis, seeded No. 2 and No. 4 in the Class A state tournament, and Ada-Borup-West, which finished in 10th in the Class A rankings by Minnesota Basketball News.
The Tigers also have wins against Class AA teams Barnum, Duluth Marshall, Esko, Mesabi East, Minneapolis North, Moose Lake-Willow River and Morris/Chokio-Alberta and Class AAA teams Duluth Denfeld and Rock Ridge.
"These guys are really, really competitive," Christianson said of his Tigers. "They're just a really competitive group of guys."
Cherry's starting five features cousins Isaiah and Noah Asuma. Noah's older brother, Isaac Asuma, is a freshman guard at the University of Minnesota. Both are listed at 6-foot-2. Isaiah is a guard and Noah is a guard/forward.
Also in the starting lineup are Carson Brown, a 6-2 senior guard, Ayden Cappo, a 6-4 senior forward, and Noah Sundquist, a 6-3 senior guard who scored 28 points in the 7A championship against Deer River.
"Cherry's very good," Dan Gross said. "Very athletic, very skilled."
BOLD plans to keep its game plan simple.
"We're gonna go out and do what we've been doing," Dan Gross said. "Compete hard on defense — gotta get stops there. Offensively, just keep working downhill and keeping everybody involved."
Jack Gross leads the Warriors with a team-best 21.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and a team-high 5.4 assists per game. The 6-5 senior is shooting 52% from the field.
Will Penkert, a 6-3 senior forward, has posted 19.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest. Owen Baumgartner, a 6-3 junior forward is averaging 8.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Hudson Vosika, a 5-10 senior guard, is contributing 7.2 points, 4.5 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 3.4 steals per contest.
"They're excited," Dan Gross said. "They're a group of kids that love to compete so to be able to go and compete at the highest stage, they're all in on it."
Christianson and his Tigers know how hard it is to win a state title, but they hope to do it for the second time in four years.
"It's the state tournament," Christianson said. "There is no easy game down there."
— Owen Baumgartner, 6-3 junior forward
— Jack Gross, senior, 6-5 guard
— Will Penkert, senior, 6-3 forward
— Hudson Vosika, senior, 5-10 guard
— Daylen Weber, senior, 6-0 guard
Off the bench
— Owen Flann, senior, 5-11 forward
— Tyler Ruschen, junior, 5-8 guard
— Isaiah Asuma, sophomore, 6-2 guard
— Noah Asuma, junior, 6-2 guard/forward
— Carson Brown, senior, 6-2 guard
— Ayden Cappo, senior, 6-4 forward
— Noah Sundquist, senior, 6-3 guard
Off the bench
— Mason Heitzman, senior, 5-11 forward
— Kalub Brown, junior, 5-11 guard/forward
— Ian Kimmes, junior, 5-9 guard
Thursday at Target Center
No. 1 Cherry vs. No. 8 BOLD, 11 a.m.
No. 4 Nevis vs. No. 5 Henning, 1 p.m.
No. 2 Dawson-Boyd vs. No. 7 Heritage Christian Academy, 3 p.m.
No. 3 Red Lake County vs. No. 6 Goodhue, 5 p.m.
Friday at Williams Arena
Quarterfinal winners, noon and 2 p.m.
Friday at Gangleoff Center, St. Paul)
CS1: Losers of Q1 and Q2, noon
CS2: Losers of Q3 and Q4, 2 p.m.
Saturday
Championship, 11 a.m. at Williams Arena
Third-place, 10 a.m. at Gangelhoff Center
Consolation, 8 a.m. at Concordia University's Gangelhoff Center
Continue reading...
But this season's state tournaments in March will bring a little madness for the father-son duo of the
.
Dan, in his first year as head coach, and Jack, a star guard, have come together to help lead the Warriors to their first Class A state tournament appearance in program history.
The Warriors earned their first state berth behind a 76-49 rout of Madelia in the Section 2A championship at the Taylor Center's Bresnan Arena in Mankato on March 13.
It's been a long time coming for BOLD.
Olivia made a Class A state appearance in 1919 and Bird Island-Lake Lillian won back-to-back Class A state titles in 1980 and '81.
BOLD (20-10) is seeded eighth and plays No. 1 Cherry in the Class A state quarterfinals at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Target Center.
"We're gonna go do what we do and enjoy it at the same time," Dan Gross said. "These guys enjoy competing, so they're gonna enjoy the games, but at the same time, we're just happy we get to hang out together for another week."
All that comes with a handful that is Cherry.
The Tigers (29-1) are the reigning Class A state champions and return to the state tournament for a fourth consecutive season and fifth time overall.
Cherry throttled Deer River in a 77-56 win in the Section 7A championship at the University of Minnesota-Duluth's Romano Gymnasium on Friday.
"We were waiting for this day (the section championship) all year to get a chance to go back (to the state tournament)," said Jordan Christianson, who is in his sixth year as the Tigers' head coach. "We're pretty excited that we got it done."
Cherry's one loss came against Red Lake County in a 78-77 defeat at Bemidji State University. The Rebels (29-2) are the third seed.
The Tigers have quite the list of quality wins.
Cherry has beaten Dawson-Boyd and Nevis, seeded No. 2 and No. 4 in the Class A state tournament, and Ada-Borup-West, which finished in 10th in the Class A rankings by Minnesota Basketball News.
The Tigers also have wins against Class AA teams Barnum, Duluth Marshall, Esko, Mesabi East, Minneapolis North, Moose Lake-Willow River and Morris/Chokio-Alberta and Class AAA teams Duluth Denfeld and Rock Ridge.
"These guys are really, really competitive," Christianson said of his Tigers. "They're just a really competitive group of guys."
Cherry's starting five features cousins Isaiah and Noah Asuma. Noah's older brother, Isaac Asuma, is a freshman guard at the University of Minnesota. Both are listed at 6-foot-2. Isaiah is a guard and Noah is a guard/forward.
Also in the starting lineup are Carson Brown, a 6-2 senior guard, Ayden Cappo, a 6-4 senior forward, and Noah Sundquist, a 6-3 senior guard who scored 28 points in the 7A championship against Deer River.
"Cherry's very good," Dan Gross said. "Very athletic, very skilled."
BOLD plans to keep its game plan simple.
"We're gonna go out and do what we've been doing," Dan Gross said. "Compete hard on defense — gotta get stops there. Offensively, just keep working downhill and keeping everybody involved."
Jack Gross leads the Warriors with a team-best 21.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and a team-high 5.4 assists per game. The 6-5 senior is shooting 52% from the field.
Will Penkert, a 6-3 senior forward, has posted 19.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest. Owen Baumgartner, a 6-3 junior forward is averaging 8.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Hudson Vosika, a 5-10 senior guard, is contributing 7.2 points, 4.5 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 3.4 steals per contest.
"They're excited," Dan Gross said. "They're a group of kids that love to compete so to be able to go and compete at the highest stage, they're all in on it."
Christianson and his Tigers know how hard it is to win a state title, but they hope to do it for the second time in four years.
"It's the state tournament," Christianson said. "There is no easy game down there."
— Owen Baumgartner, 6-3 junior forward
— Jack Gross, senior, 6-5 guard
— Will Penkert, senior, 6-3 forward
— Hudson Vosika, senior, 5-10 guard
— Daylen Weber, senior, 6-0 guard
Off the bench
— Owen Flann, senior, 5-11 forward
— Tyler Ruschen, junior, 5-8 guard
— Isaiah Asuma, sophomore, 6-2 guard
— Noah Asuma, junior, 6-2 guard/forward
— Carson Brown, senior, 6-2 guard
— Ayden Cappo, senior, 6-4 forward
— Noah Sundquist, senior, 6-3 guard
Off the bench
— Mason Heitzman, senior, 5-11 forward
— Kalub Brown, junior, 5-11 guard/forward
— Ian Kimmes, junior, 5-9 guard
Thursday at Target Center
No. 1 Cherry vs. No. 8 BOLD, 11 a.m.
No. 4 Nevis vs. No. 5 Henning, 1 p.m.
No. 2 Dawson-Boyd vs. No. 7 Heritage Christian Academy, 3 p.m.
No. 3 Red Lake County vs. No. 6 Goodhue, 5 p.m.
Friday at Williams Arena
Quarterfinal winners, noon and 2 p.m.
Friday at Gangleoff Center, St. Paul)
CS1: Losers of Q1 and Q2, noon
CS2: Losers of Q3 and Q4, 2 p.m.
Saturday
Championship, 11 a.m. at Williams Arena
Third-place, 10 a.m. at Gangelhoff Center
Consolation, 8 a.m. at Concordia University's Gangelhoff Center
Continue reading...
