Class 4A: Beating rival is nice, but so is a state title

Anthony Tucker found that winning a state title for Minnetonka was sweeter than he expected.

By JOHN MILLEA, Star Tribune

Last update: March 30, 2008 - 1:03 AM

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4A FINAL AT A GLANCE

MINNETONKA 68, HENRY SIBLEY 59

Recap: Minnetonka's stirring second-half comeback resulted in a 68-59 victory against upset-minded Henry Sibley and the school's third state boys' basketball championship. Down 12-0 to start the game and trailing by as many as 22 points in the first half, the top-seeded Skippers turned up their defense and shooting and turned the game around.

Turning point: A dunk by Minnetonka's C.J. Erickson, followed by a steal and three-pointer by Anthony Tucker, resulted in the Skippers' first lead of the night -- 43-42 with 10:50 remaining. They never trailed again.

The quote: "At halftime I held a fist up and told the guys, 'It's pretty hard to shoot when your muscles are clenched.' We starting playing more loose, and things started going better after that." -- Minnetonka coach John Hedstrom

Noteworthy: Tucker finished with a game-high 27 points, 20 in the second half.

DAVID LA VAQUE

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Anthony Tucker would like to amend an earlier statement. After Tucker and his Minnetonka teammates defeated Hopkins in overtime 12 days ago to win a berth in the Class 4A basketball tournament, he was asked if anything could be better than beating the Skippers' arch rivals from H-Land.

"Absolutely not," he said that night.

We returned to the topic late Saturday night. Tucker was wearing a gold medal around his neck and waiting his turn to cut a slice of net from one of the Target Center rims when he was asked once more if anything -- including a state championship -- was better than beating Hopkins.

The Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year smiled and said: "This is better. I was kind of living in the moment then."

Here is why it's better: Henry Sibley held a 22-point lead late in the first half against the Skippers, but Minnetonka cobbled together a memorable comeback to win 68-59 and claim its first state title in 10 years.

Saturday's game was a rematch; Minnetonka won at Henry Sibley 78-74 in December. But this Tonka-Sibley thing is less a rivalry and more a friendship.

Henry Sibley coach Tom Dasovich is a former Minnetonka assistant who credits Skippers coach and athletic director John Hedstrom for helping Dasovich and his wife, Leah, land their first coaching jobs at Minnetonka. (Leah, a former junior varsity girls' basketball coach with the Skippers, still teaches there.)

Dasovich and Hedstrom are Hopkins grads, which brings us to another basketball headline from Saturday. It was confirmed that Royce White, the highly recruited junior forward who was dismissed from DeLaSalle earlier this month, has changed his place of residence, completed the necessary paperwork and this week will become a student at Hopkins High School.

That development is sure to enrage those who believe recruiting plays a role in the success of the Hopkins basketball program.

(Knowing that a firestorm is coming, a Hopkins administrator uttered these two words upon learning that such a high-profile player is headed to his school: "Oh crap.")

Back to the action ...

The Skippers came out shooting blank after blank Saturday, making only six of 24 shots in the first half and falling into that big hole. The problem wasn't jitters, Hedstrom said, but Sibley's defense.

"They did a great job. They had us confused," he said.

The fog began to clear late in the half. Sibley led 33-11 with 3:16 on the clock but didn't score the rest of the half. A three-pointer by C.J. Erickson at the horn made it Sibley 33, Tonka 20.

The Skippers kept whittling away in the second half, using three-pointers to carve the biggest chunks. Tucker -- who finished with a game-high 27 points -- hit a three to give Minnetonka its first lead, 43-42, with 10:52 remaining, and from there the Skippers' championship script played out.

They shot 66.7 percent in the second half, and that will beat just about anybody. Tucker shot 1-for-8 in the first half and 6-for-8 in a 20-point second half.

"I'm living in the moment now," he said before going up the ladder. "It's an incredible feeling to know you're the best."

John Millea • jmillea@startribune.com