Delano defies odds to win Class 3A boys' basketball championship over Columbia Heights

Calvin Wishart's NCAA men's basketball tournament bracket? Don't ask.

"It's done," said Wishart, Delano's star senior guard. "I had Arizona."

In keeping with the rash of upsets in the Big Dance, Delano busted many brackets with its 65-61 victory against Columbia Heights. The Tigers became the first unseeded team to win a Class 3A state title in 11 years of state tournament seeding.

Delano (21-11) made the most of its first championship game appearance, rallying from a 33-20 halftime deficit Saturday at Target Center. The Tigers upset No. 4 seed Columbia Heights (22-7) after knocking off third-seeded Mankato East and second-seeded Austin.

"We just kept telling ourselves, 'This is March and anything can happen,' " Wishart said. "We just kept rolling with it and we got a state championship."

Typically, Wishart leads Delano in big games. But he finished with 19 points after averaging 42 in the section playoffs. This time, senior forward Keegan O'Neill emerged with 22 of his game-high 30 points in the second half.

"I can't believe my career ended with a state championship," O'Neill said.

"I told him during the ceremony, 'I've never been more proud of you,' " Wishart said. "He's always been capable of it. I think he's one of the most underrated players in the state. He proved to a lot of people what he could do tonight."

Delano also proved its ability to adapt. Coach Terry Techam switched defenses on the fly in the second half to a rarely practiced 1-3-1 alignment. After a few successful possessions, the Tigers made the experiment their primary weapon down the stretch. They outscored Columbia Heights 45-28 in the second half.

"When they charged back, we didn't respond," Columbia Heights coach Willie Braziel said. "Delano did a good job. That said, when the game got tight, so did the calls. It leaned a little bit their way."

Foul trouble limited Hylanders senior forward Christian Kelly to 12 minutes. He fouled out with 4:31 left.

"He's that glue for us," Braziel said. "He's the guy that gets our rebounds and helps establish our defense."

"We were forced to go to a zone defense because the calls were so tight," Braziel said. "And we're an on-ball defensive team."

Wendell Matthews led Columbia Heights with 21 points and 11 rebounds.