The moments felt pitch-perfect, all of them. Teenagers celebrating wildly with teammates, basking in the euphoria that comes with being state champion.
They will remember that feeling for the rest of their lives, the eruption of joy as the final seconds ticked off, but also gratitude in being able to compete in a state tournament in a season that appeared to be hanging by a thread.
Unlike last year, when COVID-19 was still in its beginning stages, both the boys' and girls' basketball tournaments crowned champions this weekend. Eight winners total. And eight opponents that came so close but deserve a standing ovation, too.
The athletes wore masks during practices and games all season. They endured a delay to the season, then stops and starts when positive tests hit. They played games shorthanded while teammates quarantined at home. And a few programs got shut down before the playoffs even began, an absolute bummer for those kids and communities.
"I do feel bad for those teams that didn't get the opportunity," said Chaska girls' coach Tara Seifert, whose Hawks won the Class 4A title.
Seifert's team knows well how fragile the journey to a state championship felt. A positive test caused Chaska to cancel its final six games of the regular season. The Hawks couldn't play or practice for two weeks. Their first section playoff game came on their first day back together.
"We are very grateful that we got to play in the postseason," Seifert said. "It gave us a huge drive to say, hey, it almost all got taken away from us and we're going to make the most of it."
The Wayzata Trojans, who won their first boys' state title since 1959, had a particularly close bond inside their locker room this season, according to coach Bryan Schnettler. His players loved coming to practice and being together, probably because everyone has spent so much time apart the past 12 months.
