Late basket lifts Prior Lake boys' coach to thrilling start

The tenure of Dan Rubischko as the Prior Lake boys' basketball coach got off to an exciting start Friday night.

Senior guard Tevin Grant scored after grabbing an offensive rebound with 4.5 seconds remaining, giving the Lakers a wild 68-66 nonconference victory over Henry Sibley in first-year coach Rubischko's debut. Grant had four points on the night.

"Tevin is athletic and one of the smaller players on the court," Rubischko said. "His major responsibility is to defend the opponent's best perimeter player. I've told the team from Day 1 that I measure a person's ability not by their height, but by their attitude and effort. That's why Tevin is a proven winner!"

Rubischko replaced Alex Focke, who left the Lakers after three seasons and accepted an assistant coaching position with Hamline University's men's basketball program.

Senior guard Jon Sobaski paced the Lakers with 19 points, including the 1,000th of his career. Sobaski, who became the fourth player in school history to reach the milestone, signed a letter-of-intent with North Dakota State earlier in November.

"Jon is a very special player," Rubischko said. "Every day in practice he amazes us with his offensive ability and how he makes others around him a better player."

Two juniors, center Connor Bair and forward Austin Heidecker, led the Lakers' frontcourt. Bair had a double-double (15 points and 13 rebounds) while Heidecker finished with 14 points.

Both Adams and Stortz teach in the school district. Adams is a seventh-grade social studies teacher while Stortz is a physics teacher at the high school.

The Sabres will become a high school squad this spring, making the climb from a club team.

• Northfield junior Bailey DuPay won her third consecutive Class 1A diving title in the girls' swimming state meet last Wednesday at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. DuPay posted a winning score of 397.55 points. She won the previous year with a mark of 394.25.