Red Wing's 12-year dry spell finally over; Wingers back in 25th state tournament

Doug Toivonen was expecting a state tournament trip as Red Wing's coach to come more promptly. Though it might have been delayed, it came at an ideal time for his family.

He will be joined on the elevated floor of Williams Arena by his son, Travis, a senior forward and the Wingers' leading scorer. It marks the school's 25th state tournament appearance, the first under its current mentor.

"Basketball is pretty important to our community," Coach Toivonen said. "It's nice to bring the kids back to the state tournament after a 12-year drought."

Toivonen took over for Kraig Ulveling after the 2003-04 season, the last state tournament appearance by the Wingers. He served as an assistant coach under Ulveling, and has been a member of the coaching staff for over 20 years.

"Kraig did a good job of motivating kids," Toivonen said. "Once you start winning, success follows."

The Wingers made six consecutive state tournament appearances from 1999-2004.

The Class 3A, No. 2 Wingers (27-2) lost their previous four Section 1 championship games before defeating Northfield 67-51 in the finale this year. They will face Simley in the state tournament quarterfinals at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

They didn't reach the section finals again until 2013. It started a string of three consecutive setbacks in the title tilt, two to Austin and one to New Prague.

"We didn't play as well as we wanted to in any of them," Toivonen said. "It was frustrating."

This season has been anything but frustrating, as the Wingers played at a high level from the start, winning their first 21 games. One of their two setbacks came on a half-court buzzer-beater, and they swept both games from Class 4A, No. 11 Rochester John Marshall.

"We knew we were going to have a solid team, but the kids came together really quickly," Toivonen said. "We haven't faced a lot of adversity."

The 6-4 Travis averages 18.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.

Guard Ben Munson averages 15.1 points per game and forward Joe Sevlie 13.4. Both are seniors.

"We have started five seniors every game this year," Toivonen said. "They are fun to watch."

Toivonen hopes to have the opportunity to see and coach them three more times. Teams losing in the state quarterfinals are done.