austin packers - one win short

By Rocky Hulnesports@austindailyherald.com

The Packers simply ranout of magic.Austin couldn’t find its

shot as the De LaSalleIslanders took the Class‘AAA’ boys basketballstate title from them bya score of 50-33 at theTarget Center Saturday.The Packers (30-1

overall) trailed by asmany as 16 and pulledto within 40-30 whenZach Wessels hit a run-ner with 6:41 left in thegame. The Islanders (30-1 overall) responded byplaying stall ball as theyran out the clock and hitfree throws the rest ofthe way.“You just think the

run’s never going toend,” said Austin seniorTom Aase, who finishedwith 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go alongwith six rebounds andthree blocks.Austin head coach Kris

Fadness said it will be

tough to put togetheranother group that canmake a run like thisteam, which went to

state for the first time in30 years and took sec-ond place this season.“When you’re an out-

state public school, it’stough to compete withmetro private schools,”Fadness said. “We hadtwo years where we fig-ured it was our bestchance to win state. It’sgoing to be a lot to asksomeone to repeat whatthese guys just did.”Aase, who will play at

Division II Sioux FallsUniversity next season,

started the game with atwo-handed jam andblocked a dunk attemptby James Lawson as heended his high schoolcareer with a bang.“I just wanted to sell

out on it all,” Aase said.“It’s a great way to goout.”Joe Aase, who will play

at Division I DavidsonCollege next season,ended his career with atough night as he went1-for-10 from the fieldand scored just two

points.As a team, the Packers

shot just 37 percentfrom the field, but theyheld the Islanders to 38percent shooting. Eachteam finished with a sea-son-low point total inwhat turned out to be adefensive battle.“Our shots just weren’t

going in,” said Wessels,who finished with eightpoints and fourrebounds. “But weplayed great defense.They’ve got threeDivision I guys, andthey’re really good. ReidTravis is so great.”Austin held Travis to

17 points, and theIslanders made theirbiggest move when LukeScott, who used to playAAU basketball with theAases, hit a pair of 3-pointers from the base-line to cap a 23-6 DeLaSalle run that lastednearly 16 minutes.Wessels, a junior who

has already received anoffer from Sioux Falls,said it’s going to betough to move on with-

out a strong group ofseniors.“I’ve played with those

guys for three years,”Wessels said. “It’s goingto be hard, but changealways comes.”Tom, Joe and Wessels

were all named to theClass AAA all-tourna-ment team along withthe best of St. PaulJohnson, Marshall andDe LaSalle.Austin hung with De

LaSalle for quite a whileuntil the end of the firsthalf when the Islandershad an 11-point lead,which tied Austin’slargest deficit of the sea-son (Winona and TheBlake School).With seven minutes to

play, it still looked as ifAustin had a shot after aTom Aase 3 lifted theteam and the crowd,and brought the Packerswithin 12. Tom scoredon the next possessionwith a layup, as well, butDe LaSalle sat on its 10-point lead and playedkeep-away. The Islandersonly shot 55.6 percentfrom the free throw linein the second half, butthey still had 10 of theirpoints come from theline, compared toAustin’s total of 16points in the secondhalf. Austin shot 63.6percent from the freethrow line, but it onlyhad five attempts allnight.

De LaSalle 28 22 — 50Austin 17 16 — 33

Austin scoring: Tom Aase, 14;Zach Wessels, 8; Collin Weisert, 5;Joe Aase, 2; Bret Lukes, 2; AjudaNywesh, 2; field goals: 36 percent(14-of-38); three-pointers: 15 per-cent (2-of-13); free throws: 63.6percent (3-of-5); rebounds: 22(Tom Aase, 6; Joe Aase, 5);turnovers: 15

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www.austindailyherald.comVolume 121, No. 71 Copyright 2013 • Austin Newspapers Inc.

March 24, 2013

One win short

Packers fall in state title game,finish magical season at 30-1

“You justthink the run’snever going

to end.”-Tom Aase

Austin's Joe Aasewalks off the court following the Packers' 50-33 loss to De LaSalle in the Class ‘AAA’ state championshipSaturday night at the Target Center. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Austin's Ajuda Nywesh goes in for a layup inthe second half of the title game.

Austin captains TomAase, from left, ZachWessels, Joe Aase and CollinWeisert accept thePackers runner-up trophy after the title game.

By Kevin Cosskevin.coss@austindailyherald.com

The Wagner family decided theyweren’tgoingtomisstheboysstatebas-ketballchampionshiponSaturday,evenif it meant pushing everything elseaside.

“My family and I have delayed ourvacationbytwodays,”saidPatWagner,asenioratAustinHighSchool.

As the Packers basketball teamfoughtitsopponentsonthecourtatthestatetournamentinMinneapolis,Wag-ner was one of a handful of studentsthat led the charge from the stands.Theirgoalwassimple:tokeeptheirfel-lowstudentsrooting for theteam.

“Theguysinthefrontrow,wereallykeepthecheers,”saidGabeKasak,whoalso encourageshis fellowstudents tostay high-energy. “It’s our job to keepthemgoingandkeepthempumpedup.”

The turnout at the state games thisyear remind him of last year’s first-roundstategame,whereKasaksaidthestandswereaseaof redgoingbackas farashecouldsee.

“You look back and thewhole crowd’s got theirhandsup,”Kasaksaid.

WagnersaidAustin’sstu-dentsectionhasalwaysbeenenthusiastic, but it’s easierfor oneor twopeople to rallythe spirits of the smallercrowds at a regular seasongame than to keep hundreds of fanslively.Accordingly, the school hashadsix or sevenunofficial student sectionleaderspumpingupthecrowd.Somein-tentionally stay toward theback rowstomakesurestudentsinthenosebleedsarenot leftout.

The games are away for older stu-dents to carryon the traditionof pass-ingdowncheersandchantstoyoungerstudents,whoultimately goon to take

theirpredecessors’place.The crowd—students andparents

both—getascaughtupinthegameandfocused on awin as the players them-selves.

“There’s this kind of feeling the

crowdgets,”Kasaksaid,callingtomindthe suspense that lingersduring tensemomentslikefreethrows.“Youfeellikeyou’reaffectingthegame.”

There’s no system for determiningwhich students will take the lead oncheersandchants,thoughWagnersaidit helps if those students aren’t shyabout raising their voices in front ofschooladministrators.

“It’s justwhoever’s the loudest andmost obnoxious,”Wagner saidwitha laugh.

Math teacherand track and

field coach Tony Einertson said thesheernumberof students going to thegames — which reached about 600Thursday—showedstudentswere se-riousaboutsupportingtheirteam.Buttheyweren’t theonlyones.

“You also see it from theteachers,”Einertsonsaid.“Itshows the respect the teach-ershave for thestudents.”

Afterthebellrangandtheschool day endedThursday,about 30 teachers remainedwatching the game, alongwith a number of youngerpeople.

“It’sbeenagood thing fortheschool,”Einertsonsaid.

Whilekeepingahighenergylevelinthestudentsectioniseasywhenthebas-ketballteamisdoingwell,Wagnersaidstudents shouldn’t giveup if thePack-ers fallbehind.

“That’swhen it’s evenmore impor-tant,”hesaid.

As forWagner andhis family, theyharborno regrets pushing back theirvacation.Wagner summarizedhis fa-ther’swords:20yearsfromnow,thefam-ilywon’trememberanextradayof ski-ing inColorado.But theywill remem-bercheeringonthePackersastheyviedfor thestatebasketball championship.

AUSTIN PACKERSSunday, March 24, 20132 Austin Daily Herald

A rolling list of text may not be the mostexciting way to follow a sports game by alongshot. But people had fun with it,including me, and it added a layer ofimmediate interaction not available forAustin Packers fans anywhere else.

People from Florida, Texas, Arizona,Wyoming and even Kuwait tuned in — andparticipated in — the live blog ataustindailyherald.com to follow and commenton the Packers boys basketball team throughsections and the state tournament.

Packer support has been huge at everygame, with fans turning out in biggernumbers than opposing teams’ fans. But forthe thousands of those who have been stuckat work, out of the radio coverage area,unable to find the games on television — orfor those who wanted to interact with otherfans while simultaneously following thegames through other media — intermittentupdates on a little, rectangular screen havebeen more than enough. One follower wasstuck in school but was able to find out whatwas happening roughly four seconds after me.

The updates may not be instantaneous likeon television, but the pauses in betweencreate more drama, and the blog has actuallybeen slightly ahead of video and audiobroadcasts at times. Everybody following wasitching to know what happened. Peopleconstantly asked for time updates, especiallyat the end of games. One blogger even went asfar as to tell me to “type faster.”

Through five games, the live basketballblog has been a learning experience. Havingsports editor Rocky Hulne at my side hasallowed for interesting stats and commentarythat in other formats may not have beenavailable.

Thanks, fans, for following us through allthe drama in the playoffs. But that may not bethe end of it. The whole live blog concept canimprove, and it begs the question, “How elsecan it be used?”

Email Matt Peterson at matt.peterson@austindailyherald.com.

Live Packers bloghas given fansinteractivity

Matt PetersonHerald reporter

Austin fans pack the Target Center as they wait for the Class AAA championship featuring Austin and De La Salle Saturdaynight at the Target Center. Gabby Wagner for the Austin Daily Herald

Community rallies around Packers

Zach Wessels drives against De LaSalle in the first half of thetitle game. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Austin band member William Bjorndal plays the cymbal during the game.Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

“There’s this kind of feeling

the crowd gets. You feel like

you’re affecting the game.”

-Gabe KasakAustin High School student

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Brokerage, investment and financial advisory services are made availablethrough Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC.

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Packers produced playoff dramaThe Austin Packers

regular season was notnearly as dramatic as its

postseason this year.The only game

Austin was really in

danger of losing was adouble overtimecontest against AlbertLea where Zach Wesselshit a buzzer beater to

give his team a 72-71win.

From that point on,Austin rolled throughthe Big Nine and won

its second straightconference title.

Austin also picked upquality non-conferencewins by beating

Eastview, Edina andWestby, Wis.

In the postseason,the Packers kept thingsa bit more dramatic.

The Packers surged to a44-17 halftime lead andthey cruised to the firstround win.

Tom Aase had nine

points, eight rebounds, threeblocks and three steals, andZach Wessels had 14 points,five rebounds, seven assistsand three steals.

Austin's Tom Aase battles inside to a get a shot up duringthe first half of their opening-round Section 1AAA playoffgame against Kasson-Mantorville on March 6 in PackerGym.

Austin's Ajuda Nywesh lets out a yell after scoring and being fouled early in the first halfagainst The Blake School in the Class AAA quarterfinals of the Minnesota State BoysBasketball Tournament in Williams Arena Wednesday.

Austin 71, Kasson-Mantorville 35March 6

Austin’s Zach Wessels holds up a fist after the Packers defeatedMarshall in the Class AAA semifinals of the Minnesota StateBoys Basketball Tournament Thursday at the Target Center.

Austin looked to be indanger of losing its firsthome game in two yearswhen it trailed by 11 in thefirst half, but the Packersbounced back with a 14-2run and Joe Aase, who had22 points, drilled a

contested 3-pointer to tiethe game at 49.

Austin won the gamewhen Zach Wessels tippeda loose ball to AjudaNywesh for a game-winning layup with fourseconds left.

Austin's Collin Weisert deals with pressure from Red Wing'sTy Buck during the second half on March 15 in the Section1AAA championship at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.

Austin 51, Winona 49March 9

Austin led for most ofthe game but it left thedoor open when it missedtwo of three free throwsin the last minute.

The Wingers scored toforce overtime, but thePackers took control afterregulation when Joe Aasedrilled an early 3-pointerand Ajuda Nyweshscored on an up-and-under move.

Austin 52,Red Wing 43

(OT)March 15

The Packers trailed by11 with 14 minutes left inthe game, but their fullcourt press vaulted thempast the Bears.

Austin took the lead forgood when Ajuda Nywesh— who had 15 points on4-of-6 shooting with sixrebounds and five steals— hit two free throwswith 2:38 left.

Austin’s comeback wasfueled by Joe Aase, whohit four 3-pointers in aseven-minute stretch. Hefinished the game with 20points and eightrebounds.

Austin 59, TheBlake School 56

March 20

The Packers were asresilient as ever as they heldoff Marshall in a game withseven ties, 18 lead changesand where neither team ledby more than six.

The Packers drilled 10-of-11 from the free throw lineto pull away in overtime. Thegame’s biggest play camewhen Joe Aase found ZachWessels near the basket, whowas fouled as he drilled a lay-up. Wessels hit the free throwfor the three-point play.

Wessels, who finished

with 20 points on 7-for-11shooting, with six assists andfour steals, also hit a circusshot that led to a three-pointplay in regulation.

Tom Aase finished with 16points, five rebounds andfour blocks and he made ahuge play when he stole arebound from Marshall anddribbled out to the wing fora big 3-pointer.

Collin Weisert had his bestpostseason performance forthe Packers as he hit a pair of3s and scored eight points.

Austin 68, Marshall 65 (OT)March 21

Austin’s 2012-13 season at a glance

AUSTIN PACKERSSunday, March 24, 20134 Austin Daily Herald

ABOVE: Austin's Bret Lukes gets tangled up with De LaSalle's Luke Scott going for a rebound during the second half of theClass AAA championship Saturday night at the Target Center. MIDDLE: Ajuda Nywesh reaches for a loose ball. MIDDLERIGHT: Austin fans cheer during the second half. BOTTOM: Austin mascot Cole Peterson plays with the band.

Packers fall 50-33 in state title game

Austin's Joe Aase goes underneath against De LaSalle's ReidTravis during the second half.

Austin's Collin Weisert brings the ball up court in the firsthalf