When it comes to St. Croix Lutheran basketball, it pays to be big.

The Crusaders’ starting lineup in the Class 2A, Section 4 championship game on Friday had an average height of just under 6-4. Three players who started were listed at 6-5 or above. All that size has allowed St. Croix Lutheran, the top seed in Class 2A, to create mismatches inside all season even playing across classes.

“We have a few losses on our record, but other than that we’ve been playing excellent basketball, especially of late,” 6-5 senior guard Ade Murkey said after winning the Section 4 championship on Friday. “It seems like in the [section] quarterfinals and semifinals we were playing real good.”

St. Croix Lutheran (27-2) played two of the state tournament’s other top seeds this season, Minneapolis North (Class 1A) and DeLaSalle (3A). The Crusaders lost 72-67 on the road to the Polars on Dec. 8 but defeated the Islanders 67-65 at home on Jan. 28 thanks to a late tip-in by sophomore guard Garett Maag.

“That was pretty cool,” coach Jay Wendland said. “I look at that and say that was probably the biggest regular-season victory that we’ve had here.”

Murkey, who scored 29 points against DeLaSalle, is averaging 21.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. He was named to the Star Tribune’s All-Metro second team, mostly because of his ability to run well and his sense of how to push, spin or jump his way to the hoop.

“He’s got a good feel for the game. When you can put that in with his athleticism, a lot of good things happen,” Wendland said. “The way he slashes to the basket is probably his best offensive characteristic, and he rebounds so well.”

Fellow seniors Trenton Krueger, Aage Rovney and Venkat Valluri also start. Krueger, a 6-6 forward, has committed to Minnesota Duluth. Wendland called Rovney another coach on the floor.

They all helped the Crusaders finish third at state last year, but this season expectations have been raised at the private school in West St. Paul.

Wendland’s message remains simple: “Forget about the seeds and let’s play basketball and do the things that got us here.”

 

Ben Gotz is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune.

Gang’s all here

Jarod Wilken leads Annandale in scoring (15.2 points per game) and rebounding (11.1) while floor general Brock Fobbe dished 115 assists. But not until starting guard Alex Hohenstein returned from a hamstring injury in February did the Cardinals hit their stride. Hohenstein and Fobbe are playing in their fourth consecutive state tournaments.

Too grand

Owen King and Colton Lampert became the seventh and eighth players in Caledonia program history to score 1,000 points. They did it in the same game, a 106-82 victory at Plainview-Elgin-Millville on Jan. 11. They assisted each other on their milestone baskets. King also threw 44 touchdown passes and led Caledonia to the Class 2A football state championship.

Esko record holders

Jaxson Turner set Esko’s single-game assist record with 13 against Moose Lake on Feb. 19. Adam Trapp has 117 blocked shots for a single-season record. His two-year total of 167 blocks already stands as a career record.

DAVID LA VAQUE