Three-peat complete: Strong second half helps Minot High capture another state title

Minot Daily News

BISMARCK — A week ago the Minot High School boys basketball team walked off the court as the Bismarck Century Patriots celebrated. They weren’t going to let that happen again.

In a rematch of the West Region final in which Century won 70-64, the Magicians (25-2) redeemed themselves Saturday night in the Class A state championship game with a 56-42 victory to claim the program’s third straight state title at the Bismarck Event Center. It’s the program’s 17th state championship in total. “It’s phenomenal,” MHS coach Dean Winczewski said. “What makes it so special is that you notice the work that the kids put in and the attitude they have to be successful as a team. It isn’t just about having the best players. It’s about having the right group of kids that are willing to sacrifice for each other and do whatever is necessary.” A quick 5-0 start by the Magi on a 3-pointer by Peyton Lamoureux and a fast break layup for KyJuan Johnson was countered by an 10-0 Century run to start the contest. The Magi came close to tying, but the Patriots (22-5) never relinquished the lead before the end of the first half. A steal and converting a three-point play after being clubbed, Johnson had Minot within one at 16-15 with 7:12 left in the half. He then sunk a 3-pointer off a scrappy rebound by Chandler Albertson to make the score 21-20. But, it was Century’s prowess on the glass with a 23-16 advantage and a significantly better shooting percentage from the floor, 36 percent to 26.7 percent, that had the Patriots holding a three-point lead at halftime, 23-20. Century’s Josh Sipes and Lucas Mayer were difficult to contain; Sipes on the outside and Mayer inside. The pair combined for 15 of the Patriots’ 23 first-half points and 11 rebounds. Minot trailed at halftime in all three games at the state tournament. It didn’t matter. “It’s a belief that they are never out of a game,” Winczewski said. “That they are just going to continue to fight. The thing is that throughout the year we have been behind at different times. We don’t want to be, obviously, but they understood that you have to play both halves.” Albertson opened the second half with a pair of triples to give Minot its first lead since blowing the 5-0 advantage at the start of the game. Tied at 27-27, a 3-pointer from Engg and fast break layup for Johnson had restored Minot’s biggest lead of the contest with 13 minutes to play. An Alex Schimke put back on a missed Lofton Klabunde 3-pointer and another uncontested layup for Johnson had the Magi leading 36-30 with 10:52 remaining. Feeling his stroke, Johnson did a little shake-and-bake step-back 3-pointer to extend Minot’s lead to nine, 39-30. Then sized up another from straight away deep to push the lead into double-digits, 42-32. Johnson scored 13 points in the second half for a team-high 21 points. “I always wanted to end my season with a bang and I did it,” Johnson said. “It feels good that I got to lead my team to a victory.” Engg came a rebound short of a double-double with 12 points and nine boards. “This is surreal,” Engg said. “That has been said a thousand times before, I’m sure, by every team that has ever won this. Lucky enough for KyJuan (Johnson) and I, we got to do it three times in a row. We couldn’t have asked for a better career.” A 3-pointer by Schimke had the arena sensing the title with Minot up 51-36 with 4:30 remaining. They were right, as the Magi ran down the clock with smiles appearing on their faces when the clock got down to one minute to go. The last player to touch the ball was Engg, as he threw it up into the rafters as the time expired. The student section quickly greeted him at center court. Minot joins Bismarck (Central) High (1957-59) as the only other school to win three straight state titles in North Dakota. Six Magi seniors had their high school careers come to an end: Engg, Johnson, Brett Lunde, Trevor Banks, Jack Ziegler and Bryce Bechtold. “They are going to be missed,” Winczewski said. “You want to talk about sacrifice. There are kids that didn’t get a ton of time and came to practice and worked with great attitudes. “This is a group of kids you don’t want to say good bye to because of how special they are, the work they put in and just the type of people they are.”