DeLaSalle Wins Fifth Straight State Championship

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Fresh off another 3A state championship, it didn't take long for DeLaSalle coach Dave Thorson and his players to get questions about moving up to Class 4A. Senior Samm Jones said his friends at 4A schools sometimes tease him about playing with "smaller schools."

"Winning at any level takes a lot of heart," Jones said.

Especially winning five consecutive titles at any level.

Gabe Kalscheur scored 27 points to lead DeLaSalle to a 79-56 victory over Fergus Falls in the 3A title game on Saturday night. With the win, the Islanders became the first boys team in Minnesota history to win five straight state championships.

The top-seeded Islanders (24-4) won their 10th state title in school history. All but two of those championships came under the guidance of Thorson, who notched his 500th-career coaching victory on Saturday.

"I don't keep track of any of that," Thorson said, preferring to talk about his players. "Personally, I just think it means I've been around a long time."

Jones had 14 points and Goanar Mar added 13 DeLaSalle.

Harrison Christensen scored 22 points to lead the third-seeded Otters (28-4). Fergus Falls entered the tournament allowing 55.5 points per game — the Islanders passed that mark midway through the second half. On offense, the highest-scoring and winningest team in school history struggled against DeLaSalle's stingy man-to-man defense.

The Otters stayed close early in their first-ever boys state title game and pulled to 21-20 on Matthew Monke's 3-pointer with 6:56 to play in the first half. But the Islanders used perimeter shooting to fuel an 11-run. Kalscheur had six points during the stretch, including one 3-pointer and three free throws after getting fouled behind the arc.

The Islanders shot 6 of 10 from 3-point range in the first half.

"If that number is 3 for 10 we've got a ball game," Otters coach Matt Johnson said. "Once they stretched that lead and hit those shots, it made it tough to grind back in it."

Christensen hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 71-63 with 1:45 to play. But Jones made the first of two free throws, and Mar followed the ensuing miss with a put back to stretch the lead back to 13.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Thorson ran onto the court to hug his players.

"At the beginning there was a lot of talk about how we lost of lot of starters, and a lot of players," Samm Jones said. "That was a chip on our shoulder because we really thought that we work hard too, we can get this done. . It's just really satisfying to be able to win a championship at the end of the year."

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