Girls' basketball team ends 84-game losing streak with only three players

Either of these things would qualify as an unusual story on their own:

1) A Minnesota high school basketball team stops an 84-game losing streak.

2) A Minnesota high school basketball team ends a double-overtime game with just three players left on the court because of foul-outs, but the team manages to win anyway.

When the two happen to the same team in the same game, though, all you can do is shake your head and wonder if something like that had ever happened before Tuesday. That's when the Climax-Fisher girls' basketball team pulled off both improbable feats, downing Bagley 62-58.

"You're always looking to break that streak. It was something we were hungry for," said Jonathon Vonesh, the program's third-year coach who had yet to preside over a victory. "To do it the way we ended up doing it just makes it more remarkable. Everything was against us."

Climax-Fisher — located in northwest Minnesota — started the game with nine players and a losing streak that spanned several seasons. Five players fouled out and another had played enough minutes between the junior varsity and varsity games that she was done by halftime. It was 5-on-4 for the final four minutes of regulation and 5-on-3 for several minutes in double overtime.

How do you even coach in that situation?

With just three players, the Knights went into a sort of zone defense — one player pressuring the ball, another patrolling the wings and one under the basket.

Defense, actually, wasn't the main issue. Climax-Fisher scored 12 points combined in the two overtimes — all on free throws. Yes, they won without making a basket in the extra sessions.

"The emotions that were running through my body and the kids — there was tears, there was joy, the crowd was going nuts," Vonesh said. "It felt like we won a championship."

On Friday, they'll have something new to play for against Fertile-Beltrami: a two-game winning streak, maybe with all five players finishing the game this time?

"They way I look at is that if these kids have the confidence to compete with three players," Vonesh said, "there's no reason not to feel confident and strong about the next game."