Prep notes: Former North Dakota State coach Inniger fills in at Park Christian for season

A familiar face stood on the floor clapping his hands and shouting instructions to the Park Christian players. It was Erv Inniger, who guided the Falcons to their first state tournament berth in school history in a "one and done" season.

"I'm an old rookie coach," Inniger said after his squad's 85-50 loss to Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa in the Class 1A quarterfinals at Williams Arena. "It's been an unreal season for me."

Inniger, 69, last coached more than 20 years ago, leaving North Dakota State in 1991 as the school's all-time winningest coach.

"You never lose the love for the game," Inniger said. "That always stays with you."

Inniger will lobby for assistant coach Josh Lee to take over the program next season.

"That doesn't happen very often [returning to coaching 20 years later]," Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa coach Dave Montbriand said.

RON HAGGSTROM

"Zach Wessels is really good," Fadness said with a chuckle. Wessels entered the state tournament as Austin's all-team leading scorer with almost 1,500 points.

"And Bret Lukes, Ajuda Nywesh and Gach Gach have elevated their games to a level that I didn't know they could get to," Fadness said. Nywesh (14.2 points per game) and Lukes (14.1) have actually scored more points than Wessels (13.1) this season.

DAVID LA VAQUE

Saturday's Class 3A championship game between defending champion DeLaSalle and Austin will be the first rematch of a boys' final in more than 20 years. In 1992, Anoka defeated Cretin-Derham Hall for the Class 2A championship. The Raiders beat the Tornadoes for the title the next year.