Crookston falls to Braham 63-39 in State 2A Championship

By Roman Augustoviz

Star Tribune

      At halftime of the Class 2A championship game on Saturday, Crookston had 23 points and so did Braham's Isaiah Dahlman. The underdogs were not going to shock the prep basketball world this afternoon.

      Dahlman, a lanky 6-7 junior guard with acrobatic moves, finished with 31 points as the Bombers (33-0) defeated Crookston 63-39 at Target Center to win their second consecutive state title and 58th game in a row despite a lackluster second half.

      "I'd like to thank Larry McKenzie of Minneapolis Henry, who three weeks ago kicked our butts in a scrimmage," said Braham coach Bob Vaughan, referring to the coach of one of the state's top Class 4A teams. "[The scrimmage] refocused our team. I don't know if we hadn't scrimmaged them if this would have happened today. ... After that scrimmage we had great practices."

      No. 1-rated Braham had a great start against the Pirates. The Bombers led 15-6 midway through the first quarter and 36-23 at halftime. By then Dahlman had made nine of 13 field goal attempts, including his only three-point try, and four of five free throws for his 23 points.

      "He took it on himself," Vaughan said, "and we knew there was no way they could match up with him."

      "At one point he had outscored us," Pirates coach Greg Garmen said. "We had pretty good defensive pressure on him and a hand up, and he still hit a lot of tough shots. That's why he is who he is."

      Dahlman, one of the nation's top juniors, said the Bombers watched a lot of film on Crookston and studied what the Pirates did.

      "We were really prepared for them," he said. "I don't think anybody was happy with the way we played, but we still got it done."

      After scoring 36 points in the first half the Bombers, who were averaging 84 points coming into the state tournament, had only 27 points in the second half. Crookston, though, had even more problems scoring and managed only 16.

      "In the third quarter the players started talking about how they wanted to be taken out and how they wanted the game to end," Vaughan said. "We lost a little concentration."

      Crookston's other problem besides Dahlman was what was going on underneath the basket. Braham outrebounded the Pirates 42-27, and had a 16-8 edge in offensive rebounds.

      "We had a tough time getting anything done in the paint and that's what got us here, our post play," Garmen said.

      Guard Grant Willhite and 6-5 center Jake Coauette, both seniors, led the Pirates (29-3) with 12 points apiece.

      Crookston, No. 4 in Minnesota Basketball News' state ratings, shot only 27.9 percent from the field despite making 7 of 14 three-point attempts.

      Noah Dahlman, Isaiah's 6-6 sophomore brother, had 10 rebounds to lead the Bombers in that category plus eight points, while 6-5 junior center Kyle Luebeck had nine rebounds, six points and three blocks.

      "We just methodically do things and, when we do things correctly, we're tough to beat because we are athletic, we're tall and we have smart basketball players," Vaughan said. "We kind of wore them down at the end of the second quarter as we do many teams with the traps, the presses."

      Not to mention confidence.

      "I think the whole team has forgotten what it was like to lose," Isaiah Dahlman said.

      A 58-game winning streak, third-longest in state history, can have that effect.