Austin Packer Boys Basketball

By Rocky Hulne

If the Packers want to get past the firstround of the Class ‘AAA’ state boys basket-ball tournament, there’sone thing they’ll haveto take care of — theball.Austin will open its

first state tournament in30 years with St. PaulJohnson, a squad thatlikes to bring pressureearly and often.That pressure has led

to a lot of points for theGovernors (20-8 over-all) this season as theyare averaging 81 pointsper game.“They’re the fastest

team we will play. Theytry to force the sideline with man-to-manpressure and they try to get steals for lay-ups,” Austin head coach Kris Fadness said.

“If we can protect the basketball and notgive them turnovers and run outs andmake them play a five-on-five game, we’vegot a chance. That’s the challenge.”

The Packers will tipoff with Johnson atnoon Wednesday inWilliams Arena at theUniversity of Min-nesota in Minneapolis.The Govs will look

to Marcus Marshall, a6-2 guard who willplay for Missouri Statenext season, to leadthem as he put up 36points in their sectiontitle win over SaintThomas Academy.“Marcus Marshall is

a stud, and we’ve gotto try and keep him in

check,” said Austin center Joe Aase. “We’rejust going to try and play good ‘D.’ We’regoing to want to slow them down when

they’re on offense.”Fadness said the biggest problem with

preparing for their first round opponent inpractice is that it’s very tough to imitatewhat the Govs do. He said the experienceJoe Aase, Tom Aase and Zach Wessels

gained in playing AAU basketball last sum-mer will be crucial when it comes to match-ing up with Johnson’s athleticism.

2 TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012 AUSTIN DAILY HERALD • THE ROAD TO STATE

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Good Luck at State!

The Austin Packers were given T-shirts after their win over New Prague in the Section 1AAA title gamein Rochester. Herald file photos

Their time to shinePackers state bound for first time in 3 decades

Continues on Page 3

The Austin Packers hold up the Section1AAA championship plaque after defeat-ing New Prague Friday night at the MayoCivic Center in Rochester.

“We cannot simulate them inpractice,” Fadness said. “We haveto just rely on the fact that we’vegot some guys who have playedagainst city kids, and you hopethat some of that experience willshine through. If we play to ourability, we can give Johnson arun, if not beat them. We’ll seewhat happens.”Joe Aase said the Packers

aren’t feeling any intimidation,although its their first time play-ing in a venue as big as WilliamsArena.“We think we have a good

shot to win the whole thing,” JoeAase said. “Johnson’s a toughteam. They’re not a gimmie forsure and they’re going to give usa battle. But we’re not scared ofany team in this tournament.”Austin point guard Zach Wes-

sels will face the brunt of John-son’s full court press. But he’s notfeeling any nerves and he’s look-ing forward to the matchup.“It’s going to be fun to be a

part of. We want to win to state,”Wessels said. “We just have tocontain them and play our game.

We don’t want to stoop down totheir kind of play, and we want tomake them play up to us.”Joe Aase is still taking it in that

he will be playing in the statetournament — something he’sdreamed of most of his life.“It was kind of surreal on Fri-

day from so many perspectives,”Joe Aase said. “It’s nice to be thefirst team in 30 years and it’s niceto be Fad’s first team to go tostate here.”While Austin is pumped to

play at state, Fadness is just hop-ing his team doesn’t get anystage fright. The Packers strug-gled to get going in the Section1AAA title game against NewPrague as they hung on to win43-41.“I know we can compete,”

Fadness said. “We have to play ata high level, and the guys have torelax a little. There were times inthe section championship gamewhere we were like a deer in theheadlights, and we can’t havethat.”

AUSTIN DAILY HERALD • THE ROAD TO STATE TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2012 3

Austin’s Collin Weisert celebrates, right, with teammate Goliath Oboyo as the Packers played Owatonna for the Big Nine titlein Packer Gym this season.


#1 Minneapolis Washburn H.S. (27-2)(H)

Rocori H.S. (18-11)

3/21/2012 @ 10 a.m. • Williams Arena, U of MN

#4 Austin H.S. (23-5)(H)

Saint Paul Johnson H.S. (20-8)

3/21/2012 @ 12 p.m. • Williams Arena, U of MN

#2 DeLaSalle H.S. (23-6)(H)

Detroit Lakes H.S. (22-7)


#3 Grand Rapids H.S. (24-5)(H)

Mankato East H.S. (25-4)


CHAMPION

3/22/2012 @ 12 p.m.Target Center



Loser Semifinal 2

Loser Semifinal 1

3/24/2012 @ 2 p.m. • Condordia University

THIRD PLACE WINNER

2012 State Class AAABoys BasketballTournament

AUSTIN PACKERS(23-5 overall)How they got to state: BeatFaribault 60-17; beat Winona 78-46; beatNew Prague 43-41QRF Ranking: No. 5Points per game: 62.8Points allowed per game: 47.1

ROCORI SPARTANS(18-11 overall)How they got to state: BeatMound-Westonka 80-61; beatOrono 53-49;beat Delano 52-49QRF Ranking: No. 17Points per game: 60.4

Points allowed per game: 56.8

MINNEAPOLISWASHBURN MILLERS(27-2 overall)How they got to state: BeatMinneapolis Roosevelt 82-43;beat TheBlake School 90-72; beat Benilde-St. Margaretʼs 71-66QRF Ranking: No. 3Points per game: 76.4Points allowed per game: 59.1

ST. PAUL JOHNSONGOVERNORS(20-8 overall)How they got to state: Beat

South Saint Paul 100-34; beatSaint PaulCentral 80-68; beat SaintThomas Academy 82-62QRF Ranking: No. 14Points per game: 81.0Points allowed per game: 64.9

DETROIT LAKESLAKERS(22-7 overall)How they got to state: BeatEast Grand Forks 75-60; beatAlexandria64-52; beat Fergus Falls 44-41QRF Ranking: No. 10Points per game: 65.4Points allowed per game: 53.5

DE LASALLE ISLANDERS(23-6 overall)How they got to state: BeatMinneapolis Patrick Henry 72-61;beatBlaine 73-54; beat Spring LakePark 62-55QRF Ranking: No. 4Points per game: 72.6Points allowed per game: 51.6

MANKATO EASTCOUGARS(25-4 overall)How they got to state: BeatDassel-Cokato 74-54; beatWillmar 75-61;beat Waconia 73-66

QRF Ranking: No. 7Points per game: 74.8Points allowed per game: 60.5

GRAND RAPIDSTHUNDERHAWKS(24-5 overall)How they got to state: beatChisago Lakes 74-35; beatHermantown68-47; beat Duluth Denfeld 62-47QRF Ranking: No. 2Points per game: 65.4Points allowed per game: 52.2*QRF ranking is according to minnesota-scores.net and it is based onquality of opponents and scores throughoutthe season.

A look at the Austin Packers and their competition


By Rocky Hulne

Ever since he started play-ing for the Packers, Zach Wes-sels has proven to be a clutchplayer.There was the first round

tournament game againstFaribault his freshman yearwhen he converted a lay-upand free throw to give Austinthe lead for good in a come-back win. There was the timehe scored 29 points as thePackers knocked off MankatoEast earlier this season. And,there was Friday night whenhe poured in 19 points asAustin edged New Prague 43-41 to get to the Class ‘AAA’state boys basketball tourna-ment.Austin head coach Kris Fad-

ness knows what the Packershave in their sophomore pointguard, and a lot of Austin’sgame plan revolves aroundhim.“He’s really good. He’s a re-

ally competitive kid in practiceand games,” Fadness said.“He has that rare ability to justmake plays when they need tobe made. When you havesomebody like that, you putthe ball in his hands when itneeds to be in his hands.”Although he’s playing with

players that have playedlonger and have more experi-

ence than him, Wessels isn’tafraid to lead the way. In fact,he’s become more of a vocalleader as the season has goneone.“I want to be the guy my

teammates can count on. Sofar, it’s happened that wayand they feed off my energy,”said Wessels, who is averaging13.3 points, 4 assists and 3.7steals per game. “I just haveto play my game and that’spretty much it.”Wessels has boosted the

Packers on both sides of theball this year as his defensehas lifted Austin’s full courtpress and his driving abilityhas opened up plenty oflanes.“I think the guys look to

him,” Fadness said. “He has alot of strong leadership quali-ties to him, and he helps getother guys good looks theway he attacks the basket andthe way he draws defenders.Because he can hurt you fromall over the floor, he draws somuch attention to get goodlooks.”As the Packers prepare for

the state basketball tourna-ment, there’s a good chancethe ball will be in Wessels’hands early and often.That’s a good thing for the

Packers.

Packers lean on their floor leader

Austin point guard ZachWessels has led the Packers when they’ve needed him to this season. He will look to fill that role again whenthe Packers play in the state tournament Wednesday. Herald File Photo

Wessels has stepped up in the clutch


By Jason Schoonover

In 1981 and 1982, the Austin Packer boys’basketball team went to back-to-back Min-nesota State Tournaments and came up justshort of a championship.

They haven’t been back since — until now.Thirty years later, past players were excited

to watch the Packers end a long tournamentdrought with a dramatic 43-41 win over NewPrague at Rochester’s Mayo Civic Center Friday.

“This has been a long time coming. ... We’rejust so happy for them,” said Lee Aase, the start-ing center on the 1981 state team.

For Lee, theMarch 16 win had a bonus: Lee’sson, Joe, plays on the team, and his nephew,Tom, flushed a last-second, game-winning dunkto seal the win.

“It’s just really neat,” Lee said of the familyconnections. “That just doesn’t happen.”

While a trip to state may be new in the lastfew decades, Steve Justice, a point guard on the1981 and 1982 teams said Austin has a long his-tory of many trips to state before the 1980s.

“Historically, Austin has been there quiteoften,” Justice said.

But the most recent was 30 years ago.

UpsetJoe Longueville, a guard on the 1981-82

teams, said he still has vivid memories of thedrive to the ‘81 state tournament and staying atthe hotel.

“I can remember it just like it was yesterday,”he said.

Longueville can also remember one of headcoach Howie Strey’s key words of advise beforetaking on powerhouse Minneapolis North: Bequick, but don’t hurry.

Despite an undefeated season, the 1981Packers entered the Minnesota State Tourna-

ment as underdogs.That was largely because they opened the

tournament against defending champion andNo. 1 rankedMinneapolis North, who were alsoriding a long winning streak.

Though Minneapolis was heavily favored,the Packers pulled off the win.

“That was a huge upset,” Lee said.The Packers followed that win with another

victory against undefeated Chaska before fallingto Anoka in the championship.

“I think we were kind of the underdog andsurprised a lot of folks,” said Steve Justice, thepoint guard on that team.

Lee said he can see a lot of similarities be-tween the 1981 team and this year’s Packers, asboth teams have a balanced team, whichmeansopposing defenses can’t focus on one player.

‘An unselfish team’Longueville described the 1981-82 teams as

a hardworking group that grew up playing to-gether since elementary school.

“We were a closeknit group; we cared abouteach other,” he said.

Many of the players would go on to play col-lege basketball, and Longueville opted for col-lege football over hoops after being offered ascholarship.

“We had a lot of talent,” he said.But the team wasn’t just made up of a few

stars. During the ‘81 season, Longueville said,seniors who didn’t start and didn’t necessarilysee much game time had a key role in practice,where they would play hard and challenge thestarters.

“We really had an unselfish team,” he said.Lee Aase, No. 54, goes up for the ball against Minneapolis North player Jay Rundles as Austin’s BruceAnderson, right, looks on. Minneapolis North was the defending state champs, were top ranked andwere riding a long winning streak when the Packers upset them. This picture originally appeared inthe Austin Daily Herald on March 27, 1981.

2 great seasonsThe ’81 and ’82 teams were most recent state qualifiers

Continues on Page 7


No cakewalkWhile the boys returned to state in 1982, it

was no cakewalk, according to Justice. He saidit’s human nature to think it’s easy to go backthe second time, but it’s not.

“Once you’ve done it once, you’re not theunderdog anymore,” Justice said.

Longueville noted basketball wasn’t the onlystrong sport back then, as many other Packerteams went to state and had strong seasons,making the basketball team a target for otherschools.

“We had a lot of great athletics in that era,”he said.

After finishing second at state in 1981, Jus-tice said the team had a target on it’s back thenext year. The boys lost their opening game atstate, but won the consolation round.

Just missing the state title was hard to stom-ach at first, but Lee said he’s come to cherish thememories of going.

“It was tough then. It was really hard then,but there’s no bad memories,” said Lee, whonow works for Mayo Clinic as director of theCenter for Social Media.

On the other hand, Longueville still believesthe Packers should have brought home a statetitle in 1981.

“It still makes me mad to this day,”Longueville said. “It still bothers me that we lostthat game. I thought we were the better team.”

He urged this year’s team to keep focused onthe ultimate goal of a state title.Smalltown celebrities

When the 1981 team returned toAustin, they were greeted with a champi-onship-style welcome. Longueville, whonow owns an Anytime Fitness in Eagan,Minn., said thousands of people turned outfor a rally welcoming the team home.

“It was unbelievable,” he said. “It was10 times more than I thought it was goingto be.”

The attention continued long after that,as Longueville said the players spoke at el-ementary schools, and people even askedhim for his autograph when he was out tothe movies.

“We were just these celebrities comingback,” he said.

A moment to cherishFrom his experience at state, Lee urged

this year’s team be ready for tough com-petition.

“All the teams are good. Everybody’sthere for a reason,” Lee said. “They’re allgoing to be hard for a reason.”

The state tournament can go by quicklyin the larger arenas, so Lee said the boysshould be sure to enjoy every minute of theexperience.

“They’ll look back on it with really greatmemories, but still have to focus on what’sat hand,” he said.

Justice, now a State Farm Insurance agent,said he thought the boys looked a little timid intheir Section 1AAA title game win Friday, andsaid they need to be sure to just play like it’s an-

other game.“The boys just need to relax and just play

basketball like they know how to play,” Justicesaid.

Though it’s been a long time since the lasttrip to state, Justice said many people who

watched the 1980s teams have followedthe boys this season.

“Many generations enjoy what’s goingon this season,” he said.

Hard work pays offFor players from the 1980s teams, the

boys’ current success can be traced backto long before this season. Justice notedthat players and teams really hone theirskills playing in the off-season.

“They really came together this sum-mer,” he said.

Justice and Lee both said the teamsthat excel are the ones that put in thework outside practice and organize pickupgames and workouts.

Many players have participated in sum-mer camps and leagues recently whichLee said has been a key part of their im-provement.

“That’s where you get better, is in theoffseason,” Lee said.

After the boys’ win Friday, Justice saidhe saw a group of boys playing a pickupgame Sunday morning. Justice said thisteam’s success will have a positive rippleeffect for younger players.

Lee, too, said this team’s state berth is farfrom the end, as Austin’s basketball program hasa bright future.

“The future looks really bright for this team,too,” he said.

Joe Longueville puts up the game winning shot in overtimein 1982 against John Marshall.


E-mail: [email protected] 11th Ave. NW, Suite D • Austin, MN 55912

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Ryan Larson pivots around Mankato East's TaylorHayenga during the first half in Packer Gym. Herald file photo

See more games that defined the season on Pages 9 and 10

Gainingmomentum

It was clear from Day 1 that this Packersteam was loaded with talent, but it stillhad to go out and prove it. Here are the

five key games of the season that helpedmold Austin into the squad that clinchedthe school’s first state tournament berth in30 years.

— By Rocky Hulne

Austin 82, Mankato East 73Dec. 20: The Cougars, who eventually qualified for the

state tournament, were coming into to PackerGym boasting the No. 3 ranking in Class ‘AAA’ andAustin’s Joe Aase and Tom Aase were saddled withfoul trouble.So Austin sophomore Zach Wessels did every-

thing he could to keep his team in the game. Hewent inside and outside and when it was all saidand done, he had 29 points, three assists, foursteals and five rebounds.Austin led by as many as 20 early on, but the

Cougars pulled to within four before Austin hit fourstraight free throws to finish them off.

The games that defined Austin’s season


Left: Austin's Goliath Oboyo goes upagainst Rochester Mayo in the first half

Feb. 3 in Packer Gym.

Right: Austin's Zach Wessels goes in for alay-up in the first half against Rochester

Mayo Feb. 3.

Austin 78, Rochester Mayo 47Feb. 3 If you want to know how much Austin

improved this season, simply look at its twomatchups with Rochester Mayo. The Pack-ers lost to the Spartans 53-50 on a buzzer-beating three Dec. 16, but Austindominated the rematch, starting the gameon a 10-0 run and never letting the Spar-tans get close.

Joe Aase poured in 28 points and TomAase added 16 — including his first two ca-reer dunks in a game within a 10-secondspan in the second half.

Owatonna 39,Austin 34Dec. 27It wouldn’t have been

surprising if the Packershad backed down in thisone. Owatonna Gym waspacked and the gamewas as physical as highschool basketball gets.There was holding,

pushing and even a littleshoving. But thereweren’t too many whis-tles.Even so, Austin held a

26-19 lead with 9:46 leftin the contest, beforestruggling to score downthe stretch.While it was a loss,

you walked away fromthat game knowing thePackers had potential todo great things this sea-son, especially when see-ing how down the teamlooked afterwards. Thewords ‘moral victory’weren’t even close totheir minds.


Austin fans mob the court after the Packers’ 61-52 win over Owatonna in Packer Gym.

Austin 61, Owatonna 52March 2If you told the Owatonna Huskies that

they would shoot 46 percent (10-for-22)on three-pointers in a packed PackerGym, I’m sure they would’ve taken it. Andthey probably would have expected awin.But not this time. The Packers shot

slightly better from the arc at 47 percent(8-for-17) and they never trailed through-out the night as they clinched the Big Ninetitle outright.Tom Aase shined the brightest for the

Packers as he posted 18 points, 10 re-bounds, three assists, and four blocks whiledominating the paint against a very physi-cal Huskies team.

Austin's Tom Aase dunks thewinning shot home off a lob passfrom Zach Wessels in the final

seconds of the Section 1AAA titlegame against New Prague Fridaynight in the Mayo Civic Center

in Rochester.

Austin 43, New Prague 41March 16After a year in which their

press had dominated a major-ity of their opponents, it was-n’t quite clicking against theTrojans. The Packers forced 15turnovers, but they weren’tgetting their usual easy lay-upsin transition.Still, Austin showed exactly

what it is made of when it fin-ished the game on a 12-4 runand Tom Aase showed he’s notafraid to be a hero when heslammed down a game-win-ning alley-oop on a pin-pointpass from Zach Wessels.The final play showed what

the Packers have become — acomposed team that doesn’tpanic under high stress.


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The Austin Packers celebrate their last-second win over New Prague in the Section 1AAA championship gameFriday night in Rochester at the Mayo Civic Center.

Austin Packer 2011-12 regular season statisticsNo. Name PPG REB AST STL BLK TO21 J. Aase 15.3 6.7 0.9 1.0 1.4 1.512 Z. Wessels 13.3 3.5 4.0 3.7 0.1 2.424 T. Aase 11.6 7.9 1.3 1.4 2.1 2.60 G. Oboyo 6.0 2.4 1.7 2.1 0.1 1.73 N. Schwab 4.3 1.5 0.8 1.5 0.3 0.410 B. Lukes 4.2 1.5 0.7 1.3 0.0 1.25 Z. Vierkandt 3.8 1.0 0.7 0.9 0.0 0.735 C. Weisert 3.2 1.7 0.9 1.0 0.0 1.020 R. Synoground 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.030 R. Larson 0.9 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.311 T. Olmsted 0.9 0.5 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.433 C. Oberbroeckling 0.9 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.24 A. Nywesh 0.5 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.632 J. Kempen 0.3 0.7 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.322 D. Gatbel 0.2 1.0 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.813 J. Nyikew 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.125 N. Gasner 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.315 A. Bergstrom 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3

Totals 63.6 29.7 11.3 13.3 4.1 12.8Opponents 47.3 26.8 4.1 5.9 1.4 19.3

— Source: Austin Packers

By Rocky Hulne

Austin head boys basketballcoach Kris Fadness knowswhat it’s like to coach in thestate basketball tournament,and he knows what its like towin a title.In his four years at Caledo-

nia before he came to Austinin 1998, Fadness led the War-riors to state three times, andthe team won a Class ‘AA’state title in 1997.While Fadness is glad to get

back to state, he’s not aboutto start celebrating it.“It’s great to get there and

there’s a lot of hoopla withgetting there,” Fadness said.“But it’s not going to feel realgood if we go out Wednesdayand lose. The state quarterfinal

games are an extension of thesections for me, becauseyou’re not guaranteed anextra game until you get tothe semifinals.”With just two days to pre-

pare for a game against St.Paul Johnson Wednesday atnoon, its very important forthe Packers to stay focused.

“I know people are excited,but if we don’t focus on St.Paul Johnson, who is an ex-tremely good basketball team,it’s going to be one and done,and it’s not going to feelgood,” Fadness said. “Youhave to prepare for the nextgame instead of living in thepast, and so far this team hasdone a good job of staying inthe moment and not lookingin the past.”If the Packers rally at state,

they may end up finishingsomething they set out for be-fore the season even began.“We came in here with three

goals,” Fadness said. “One wasto win the conference, one wasto win the section and one wasto win state.”


Austin head coach Kris Fadness celebrates the Packers' win over New Prague in the Section1AAA title game Friday night at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. Herald file photo

FADNESS ATA GLANCECareer record:

272-206Record at Austin:

175-195State tournamentappearances: 4

State titles: 1

Ready for statePacker head coach knows what to expect from tourney

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Austin Packer Boys Basketball