Owatonna Basketball Celebrates Record-Breaking Season

The 2021-22 Owatonna boys basketball season will be remembered for a long time. And not only because of their accomplishments filling the record books. The team featured a group of ten close-knit seniors who reached their childhood dreams of playing at a 'real' state tournament. The support shown by the community was overwhelming and left an indelible mark on the team.

The Huskies celebrated their record-breaking season with a banquet Monday night. OHS won 28 games, the most ever for a single season. They completed a 22-0 Big Nine Conference run. The Section 1-4A title was their second in a row.

This season the Huskies (28-4) got to play at Target Center in the state tournament after being forced to play in a high school gym in front of a limited crowd the previous season due to pandemic restrictions. The "white-out" at Mayo Civic Center and "sea of blue" at Target Center left a strong feeling on the players and coaches.

OHS coach Josh Williams spoke of his ten points of what he was thankful for on the season.

• the opportunity to coach
• his fellow coaches and colleagues
• the families
• fans in the stands/pep bands back in the gym
• the team staying healthy
• all the youth coaches along the way
• community support (biggest crowds at OHS in 15 years)
• success/records/titles
• ten seniors
• the fun they had as a team

Williams added he was most proud of how the team worked together and grew during the season, the way players accepted their roles on the squad, and how much improvement the team showed from the start to the end of the season.

TEAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Unbeaten Big Nine title (22-0)
• No. 2 seed at state tournament
• 3.65 team GPA
• Four players named First-Team All-Conference

Coach Williams highlighted each senior.

• Tyrel Creger
• Evan Dushek
• Connor Ginskey
• Avery Hartman
• Jack Helget
• Noah Hodgman
• Noah Kubicek
• Drew Randall
• Brayden Williams
• Nick Williams

MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS

Tyrel Creger

• Two-time All-Big Nine selection
• 4th in career assists (255)
• 532 career points
• 80 career steals

Brayden Williams

• Three-time All-Big Nine selection
• 3rd all-time leading scorer (1,538 points)
• 1st in career steals (204)
• 2nd in career assists (369)
• 2nd in career three-pointers made (221)

Evan Dushek

• Three-time All-Big Nine selection
• All-time leading scorer (1,645 points)
• 2nd in career rebounds (826)
• 3rd in career blocks (95)

Defensive Most Valuable Players - Blake Burmeister/Collin Vick

Most Improved - Avery Hartman

Blue Collor Award - Nick Williams

Coaches Award - Noah Kubicek

Teammate of the Year - Ty Creger

Coach K Award - Brayden Williams

BIG NINE SCHOLAR ATHLETES

• Connor Ginskey (Also won the state 'AAA' award)
• Jack Helget
• Noah Hodgman
• Noah Kubicek
• Brayden Williams
• Nick Williams

BIG NINE ALL-CONFERENCE

• Ty Creger
• Evan Dushek
• Brayden Williams
• Blake Burmeister

ACADEMIC ALL-STATE

• Evan Dushek
• Brayden Williams

SECTION 1-4A / BIG NINE COACH OF THE YEAR

• Josh Williams

MBCA ASSISTANT COACH OF THE YEAR

• Pat Webb

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

• Best field goal shooting (58%) - Evan Dushek, Collin Vick
• Best 3-point shooting (51%) - Blake Burmeister
• Best free throw shooting (74%) - Brayden Williams
• Rebound leader - Evan Dushek (313)
• Assist leader - Brayden Williams (213)
• Steals leader - Brayden Williams (116)

Others on the varsity roster

• Shariff Abdullahi
• Blake Burmeister
• Mikah Elstad
• Nils Gantert
• Marcus Graham
• Trevor Hiatt
• Jason Klecker
• Trevor Schirmer
• Jerome Stansky
• CJ Theis
• Collin Vick
• Ayden Walter
• Andrew Bong, manager
• Jackson DeGrood, manager
• Jose Rosa, manager
• Charlie Hartman, ball boy
• Ben Herzog, ball boy
• Max Langlois, ball boy
• Bo Standke, ball boy

Team records set during the 2021-22 season

• Most wins in a season (28)
• Most assists (567)
• Most steals (298)
• Assist/turnover ratio 17/9
• Highest scoring average
• Most three-pointers attempted/made
• Field goal percentage (51%) *not verified as a record*

Program won-loss records for 2021-22

• Varsity, 28-4
• Junior varsity, 28-6
• B-squad, 24-2
• 9th grade, 45-11 (two teams)

Coaching staff

• Josh Williams, varsity head coach
• Brad Schuster, varsity assistant
• Pat Webb, varsity assistant, JV head coach
• James Dahlgren, varsity assistant
• Daniel Dut, cultural connection coach
• Greg Sullivan, b-squad head coach
• Greg Kruschke, b-squad assistant
• Van Gallatin, 9th-grade coach
• Logan Busho, 9th-grade assistant

The banquet was held at Trinity Lutheran Church and catered by Torey's Restaurant.