4A: Bison make own mark in history

A lot happened in 1931. Al Capone went to prison for tax evasion. The "Star Spangled Banner" officially became the national anthem. Construction of the Empire State Building was completed.

And Buffalo High School went to the boys' state basketball tournament.

Seventy-six years later, Buffalo returned to state and made some history of its own. The Bison captured the Class 4A boys' basketball championship Saturday night with a 67-65, down-to-the-wire victory over Armstrong at Target Center.

The game capped a dream season that was worth the wait.

Fourth-ranked Buffalo (28-3) finished with an 18-game winning streak. The final victory was filled with drama, including the health of the Bison's scoring leader. Josh Ortmann left Thursday's semifinal game because of a first-half ankle injury and watched the second half from a wheelchair.

He warmed up Saturday with his left ankle tightly wrapped and braced after being cleared to play if he could deal with the pain. He played most of the game and scored nine points.

Darrin Olmscheid led the Bison with 25 points, including the game-winning layup with 2.4 seconds to play. Karl Olson scored 17 and Dee Broadnax had 14.

Alex Rubin led Armstrong (22-10) with 22 points and Carter Biewen had 11.

The score was tied eight times in the first 18 minutes.

Half of Armstrong's first 12 shots were three-pointers, but the Falcons only hit one of them as Buffalo took a 14-9 lead seven minutes into the game. After an Armstrong surge, Ortmann attempted his first shot and made it to put the Bison in front 16-14. Ortmann bombed in a three-pointer with seven minutes left in the game that put Buffalo on top 19-16.

A flurry of threes from both teams followed, with Armstrong's Ben Vathing knocking down two and Buffalo's Broadnax and Olson each hitting one. The Bison led 25-22.

But the Falcons finished the half with another long-distance flurry. A three by Rubin and one by Vathing helped Armstrong take a 30-27 halftime lead.

Buffalo shot 61 percent in the first half yet trailed. The Bison had no offensive rebounds at that point.

Armstrong held Buffalo to two points in the final five minutes of the first half and outscored the Bison 5-0 to open the second half. That put the Falcons in front 35-27, the biggest margin of the night. A three-point play by Rubin made it 38-28 with 14:30 to play.

Buffalo came right back, however. Olmscheid hit a three-pointer and Broadnax converted a three-point play to cut the gap to four with 12 minutes left.

Another basket by Broadnax helped cut the margin to one, and a free throw by Ortmann tied it 40-40 with 9:54 on the clock. Then the threes really began to rain down.

A combined seven three-pointers were made in the next three minutes, the lead changed hands five times and the score was 55-55 with six minutes to play.

Armstrong missed two free throws and couldn't get the ball to drop from the field, either, and Olson made four free throws as Buffalo took a 63-58 lead with 1:09 remaining.

A three by Biewen brought Armstrong within 64-63 with 35 seconds left, and Olson made another foul shot to push the lead back to two. Two free throws by Rubin tied it 65-65 and Buffalo called timeout with 18 seconds on the clock.

The Bison ran the time down until Olmscheid drove the lane and put in a lefthanded layup. Armstrong called timeout with 2.4 seconds left and a halfcourt shot by Rubin missed.

John Millea • jmillea@startribune.com