A year ago, the Apollo High School boys basketball team ended with a conference title and an eye on the post season. However, it ended shorter than they’d hoped with a devastating loss in the section playoffs. Yet they kept their heads held high, looking forward to the next season and a goal to be conference champs and section champs; a goal they’d set as freshmen.
Jason Allen, head coach of the Apollo team, says, “When we lost last year, we just felt like we let a chance slip away. We’ve just always had a mentality that the 2020 seniors have the talent to get to the state tournament.”
Allen told the team they had to embrace the loss and use it for the next season, and the team set their sights on a new year and worked hard in the off season.
They took advantage of Apollo’s speed and strength training over the summer months, spending a lot of time together and playing in other sports.
“The whole off season we worked a lot together building up our chemistry,” explains senior Chang Hoth, recently named an All-Metro team player. “We had a mindset that we would win sections and go to state.”
This season, that teamwork really showed.
“We jumped out on the season 12-1,” reflects Allen. “The guys started believing we could get there [state tournament]. Then we hit a wall. We lost four games in a row. I think at that time, that challenged me as a coach and them as players as, ‘How are we going to get out of this?’ We went into the Willmar game … and the defining shot in our season was a buzzer beater.”
The team started to “buy in” and believe again. They held themselves accountable on and off the court.
“We really matured,” says Hoth. “We were in it together and left nothing on the court and played with a chip on our shoulder.”
“Coming out of that losing streak really showed our character,” says Allen. “Adversity always builds character.”
Losing those four games in a row took the team out of their chance at the conference championship.
“The momentum [from the Willmar win] went up and created that team spark,” adds senior Jaelyn Williams.
However, the team knew their goal was larger than the conference. They had sights on winning sections and on to the state championship. They worked even harder than before, not only for themselves, but to honor a former player who passed away a few years ago. Win after win, they found themselves exactly where they wanted to be.
Going into the section championship game, it was a “win or go home” mentality. They were feeling confident.
“It was a 50/50 shot,” says Allen.
That morning, in a jarring twist, an announcement was made by the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) restricting fans from the game in order to comply with COVID-19 restrictions put in place by the governor. Only a limited number of family members would be able to attend. The support and spirit they’d felt all season long couldn’t be there to cheer them on.
“Instead of thinking about basketball, it was ‘who can come to the game, who can’t come to the game,'” says Allen. “The players had to start telling this person they couldn’t come, and this person they couldn’t come. It took a while before the players could even start thinking about basketball and the championship again.”
With the help of today’s technology, the game was streamed live. Fans across St. Cloud watched from the safety of their homes cheering on the boys. And there was a resounding echo heard in Alexandria when the team won the championship on the buzzer.
“At first, it [win] was super exciting,” remembers Williams. “Then I looked down at Michael [another teammate] sitting on the floor and it got real emotional because he was already crying [with happiness].”
The team doused Coach Allen with a bucket of ice water in the locker room after the game. The celebration lasted the entire trip home to St. Cloud where they were police escorted back into town with twirling lights in honor of their win. Fans and family members awaited their arrival in the parking lot of the school.
“It all goes to the guys,” says Allen. “They bought in. They played as a team and for one another. Those three things pushed us to the championship.”
They were on the way to state!
The following day, it was announced that the state tournament was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.
“That [cancellation] crushed us to the core,” reflects Allen. “Thursday, we were celebrating, and Friday comes along and we’re ready to have practice and my AD (activities director) calls me in to tell me they [MSHSL] canceled the tournament. It sunk in that so many seniors won’t get to play in a state championship. This was their goal. It hurt.”
Allen turned the negative news to a positive. They accomplished the goal they’d set out to do since they were freshmen. They ended on the best game they’d ever played. It was better to know they made it and didn’t get to play than to not have made it at all.
“We really accomplished a lot,” says Allen. “There were a lot of kids that have come to Apollo and never won a section championship and won the conference championship as juniors. We couldn’t be selfish. This is happening to a lot of teams not just in Minnesota but across the United States. There are just some things in life that are beyond your control and this is one of them. It’s a good life lesson.”
“It was a great season,” says Hoth. “I’ll always be an Eagle.”
The 2020 season is one these boys will never forget. And they will always be champions in our hearts.
Rewatch the full section championship game.
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