MINNEAPOLIS -- In the Staples-Motley Cardinals' 10 trips to the state boys' basketball tournament, they have played for the championship twice.
The other years they have rebounded from quarterfinal or semifinal losses to play respectably for third or fifth place. They had always demonstrated resilience at state.
Until Saturday.
In the Class AA third-place game against the Minneapolis DeLaSalle Islanders, the Cardinals were unable to locate any energy as they fell 63-48 at the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion.
S-M fell behind 15-6 in the opening quarter and 27-14 at halftime before awakening for a second-half surge that pulled them within 40-31. But it was too little, too late.
"You don't have any trouble getting up to play a semifinal game with Litchfield," S-M coach Lynn Peterson said. "This is the game that is going to challenge you to get yourselves up and be ready to play. Basically, you are in bed at midnight (Friday), you go eat breakfast (Saturday), you pack up and you are ready to go. It becomes a will of how you want to end your season, how you get after people, how you want to do what you are capable of doing.
"It was pretty evident for us that we looked pretty --Êwhat do you want to call it --Êsleepy, dejected, lethargic -- like we didn't have anything to play for. I told the kids (Friday) before we played Litchfield that 296 schools in the state would trade places with us. Even after this loss there are still 296 that would trade places with us. We kind of acted like we were not one of them that wanted to trade places."
DeLaSalle, which had played for the previous three state titles and had won two, overwhelmed the Cardinals with a combination of teamwork and defense. The Islanders, who have three Division I football recruits on their roster and a consensus top 100 basketball recruit in junior Alan Anderson, shot 48 percent (23 of 48) and outrebounded S-M 31-23.
Islanders coach Dave Thorson said it was a measure of each team's character to regroup after semifinal losses and play for third place 12 hours later.
"I thought both teams responded," Thorson said. "We were able to make some shots early but I don't think that's an indication that Staples didn't come out and play hard because I thought they did.
"We talked to our kids about what it means to wear a DeLaSalle jersey, about what our program stands for. It means we are going to play every game regardless of the situation."
Dominique Sims and Anderson were among many Islanders who demonstrated their character. Sims, a 6-foot-2 senior who will play football at Minnesota next season, led all scorers with 18 points on 5 of 9 shooting, including 3 of 4 behind the three-point arc. Anderson, a lean 6-5 forward who is one of 32 juniors nationwide invited to the U.S. Junior National Team tryouts, had 17 points on 6 of 7 shooting and collected four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
"If you take the skills out of it they are 15-20 pounds heavier than us and stronger," Peterson said. "We are not a great one-on-one team that could take the ball to the basket and beat somebody. Jeff Brever did a few times.
"They got after us. They made us put the ball on the floor and we couldn't put the ball on the floor, take it to the basket and beat people. We knew that going in. Whether it was DeLaSalle, Litchfield or Waterville (Elysian-Morristown) every team has its little clicks they wish they could work out. One of ours is strength. The other is our ability to bust people one-on-one."
The Islanders' physical defense limited S-M to 39 percent shooting (15 of 39). They restrained the Cardinals' top scorers, Dustin Hjelmeland and Wade Christensen, confining them to a combined 15 points. Hjelmeland was shackled by three fouls in the first quarter and sat out the second period. Brever led S-M with 11 points and Shannon Webster added 10.
"We have been about defense all year," Thorson said. "We have been about defense since I became the coach here (six years ago) and we will continue to do that. Obviously, it has been proven over the course of time that Lynn is a great defensive coach.
"For those spectators that understand defensive concepts this was a great game to watch. Fundamentally, a lot of good things happened."
DeLaSalle 5 12 13 23-- 63
Staples-Motley 6 8 14 20-- 48
DeLaSalle (22-7)
Alan Anderson 17, David Coyle 5, Dominique Sims 18, Arthur Gardner 4, Elie Jermanous 3, Ronald Richard 2, Mitch Nelson 2, Jay Kaiser 2, Bryce Jones 2, Derrick Robinson. Totals: FG 23-48 (48 percent), FT 12-17 (71 percent).
Staples-Motley (26-3)
Wade Christensen 6, Dustin Hjelmeland 9, Tim Rutten 4, Shannon Webster 10, Jeff Brever 11, Curt Burrows 1, Nate Grandlund 2, Kyle Bendson 2, Dan Lund 1, Adam Barnett 2. Totals: FG 15-39 (39 percent), FT 16-22 (73 percent).
3-point baskets -- DLS 5-12 (Sims 3, Anderson, Jermanous), SM 2-8 (Webster 2). Fouled out -- Barnett. Rebounds -- DLS 31 (Robinson 7), SM 23 (Hjelmeland 5, Brever 5). Assists -- DLS 14 (Anderson 4, Jermanous 4, Barnett 4), SM 9 (Brever 5). Total fouls -- DLS 18, SM 15. Turnovers -- DLS 13, SM 12.
