Stormin' to state: Red Lake beats Stephen-Argyle for trip to state

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

March 13, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

CROOKSTON, Minn. -- If it's not one it's the other.

On Thursday, Delwyn Holthusen led the Red Lake Warriors into the Section 8A championship with 33 points and a dominating inside performance.

On Friday, fellow senior and team leader Gerald Kingbird led the team into their third straight state tournament with a majestic touch from the outside, shooting 12-of-20 from the field and 8-of-11 from behind the three point line for a game high 36 points.

Red Lake crushed Sub-Section 32A winner Stephen-Argyle Central 78-50 with an impressive 28-point fourth quarter, much of that on account of either Kingbird's shooting or defense. In the evening's first game, the Win-E-Mac Patriots the third place title in the section.

The victory marks the Warriors third straight Section 8A championship, and probably the team's most memorable, being it was Kingbird's and Holthusen's last hoorah.

Neither team came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter, with Stephen-Argyle having three or four shots rim in and out and Red Lake looking just plain tense.

But with 2:31 left in the first, Warrior guard Joe Nayquanabe hit a three-pointer that sparked a 10-4 Red Lake run to finish out the period.

Kingbird fueled the fire less than 20 seconds after Nayquanabe, with a second trey, which foreshadowed his incredible night to come. After the dust settled, he finished with 8 three-pointers -- two late in the game which were beyond the National Basketball Association's three-point line and looked like impossible playground shots.

"Tonight, when I started to get hot, my shots just kept falling," an unusually animated Kingbird said during the postgame celebration. "It felt comparable to the (state seminal two years ago against) Wabasso. It felt like I was the only out there -- shooting all alone. Just like shooting practice."

But Storm coach Jim Guetter summed up Kingbird's performance more like the rest of the people in the building described it: "Man, can that Kingbird shoot. Holy God."

The Warrior offense that sputtered in the first, settled down and took a methodical control in the second quarter.

Not only Kingbird continue to smoke the nets, but Holthusen came alive in the quarter, and the Storm didn't stand a chance. After establishing himself in the middle, Holthusen scored five of his 20 from his post position, while Kingbird stroked three treys and made three straight free throws after being fouled on his fourth of the quarter.

Red Lake took a 32-18 lead into half.

In the third, the Storm returned to post a 18-17 advantage in the quarter, much like the small third quarter rally Win-E-Mac had versus Red Lake in the semifinal game Thursday night.

But with 4:15 remaining in the quarter, Holthusen stripped the ball from the Storm's Ryan Safranski, cruised three-fourths the length of the court and finished with a commanding one-handed dunk -- his only slam of the section tournament -- and gave Red Lake a 42-25 lead.

That play sparked a frenzied reaction in the Red Lake crowd and the rest of the Warriors team.

Although the Warriors limped through the rest of the third quarter, being outscored 11-7, the game was never again in question.

In the fourth, Lysaker Gymnasium's hardwood court magically metamorphized into a stage with Kingbird front and center.

With a quiet flair all his own, he netted 18 points in that period -- the last six coming on two three pointers with less than a minute left in the game. On his final shot, he took a Byron Graves' fast break pass, pulled it down and drilled home a 24-foot trey that brought the curtains down.

He promptly stepped to the side of the court and high-fived Red Lake coach Jack Desjarlait, a rare form of celebration for the coach.

"This (title) was the most special because it was Delwyn's and my last year together," Kingbird said. "We wanted to put on a show for the crowd, and go back to the state tournament."

And back they are.

Red Lake will play the winner of Section 5A at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Concordia College of Moorhead.

Stephen-Argyle Central 6 12 18 14 -- 50

Red Lake 11 21 17 29 -- 78

STEPHEN-ARGYLE (21-5) 50

Reece Setterholm 4-10 0-3 8, Darin Adolphson 2-4 0-0 4, Bartt Stoltman 2-7 0-0 4, Jared Hanson 5-14 2-2 12, Michael Wagner 6-10 0-1 13, Bret Stoltman 0-0 0-0 0, Jeremy Safranski 0-0 0-0 0, Kevin McLean 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Safranski 0-0 0-1 0, Andy Aakre 1-3 2-2 4, Joey Safranski 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Brian Robertson 0-1 0-0 0. Team Totals -- 22-54 5-13 50.

RED LAKE (25-1) 78

Gerald Kingbird 12-20 4-5 36, Harold Graves 1-7 0-0 2, Joe Nayquanabe 4-9 0-1 10, Byron Graves 2-3 2-2 6, Delwyn Holthusen 8-15 4-6 20, Clyde Perkins 1-1 0-0 2, Jon Mountain 0-0 0-0 0, Dave Rosebear 0-0 0-0 0, Scott Pemberton 0-1 0-0 0, Dustin Thunder 0-1 0-0 0, Chris Branchaud 0-0 0-0 0, Gary Strong 0-0 0-0 0, Dalton Walker 0-0 2-2 2. Team Totals -- 28-57 12-16 78.

3-pointers -- SAC 1-10 (Setterholm 0-2, B. Stoltman 0-2, Hanson 0-3, Wagner 1-2, Roberton 0-1), RL 10-15 (Kingbird 8-11, H. Graves 0-1, Nayquanable 2-3). Rebounds -- SAC 25 (B. Stoltman 5, Hanson 5), RL 32 (Holthusen 15). Assists -- SAC 10 (B. Stoltman 3), RL 13 (Kingbird 4). Turnovers -- SAC 17 (Adolphson 4), RL 14 (Nayquanabe 4, H. Graves 4). Blocks -- SAC 1 (Wagner 1), RL 4 (H. Graves 2, Holthusen 2). Total fouls -- SAC 17, RL 16. Fouled out -- SAC (none), RL (Holthusen).