Mar 17, 2008 - 05:40:25 CDT
wFARGO (AP) - Grafton seniors like Anthony Kliniske were fourth-graders when their run for a state championship started.That's the year Grafton parents organized a youth basketball program to teach youngsters the fundamentals of the game. Saturday night in the Fargodome, those parents and children were celebrating a North Dakota Class B state championship - the school's first in 44 years.
"We had some very tough times in basketball there for a while," said Grafton assistant coach Greg Feltman. "So a group of parents got together and formed a youth board, raised some money and paid coaches to teach our kids the fundamentals."
It certainly paid off after Grafton claimed a 53-42 win over Turtle Lake-Mercer.
Grafton, often known as a hockey town, last won a state title in 1964 when the boys basketball team was competing in Class A. Grafton's last Class B title came in 1937 four years after its first title in 1934.
Feltman, who played for Grafton from 1978 to 1980, never got to play in a state tournament. His team lost state-qualifying games to Wahpeton and Fargo Shanley in his junior and senior years.
"This is finally a nice treat," said Feltman, who coached some of this year's Grafton players as sixth and eighth graders. "They are just a great bunch of kids."
Wade Herbel, another Grafton assistant coach, played in four state tournaments for Grafton from 1983 to 1987. But the closest he got to a state title was a fourth-place finish.
Herbel had a sense this year's team had what it took after posting three straight wins late in the season against North Border (65-54), East Grand Forks, Minn., (45-43) and Park River (65-62).
"I think the kids realized then that if they can play three quality games in a row, they had a good chance to win state," Herbel said.
Kliniske, the 6-foot-6 senior who was a unanimous all-tournament selection, remembers the days of youth basketball playing in tournaments in Grand Forks, Thief River Falls and Crookston.
"We can attribute a lot of our success to that," said Kliniske, who was asked what he learned from the youth program.
His answer: "Having fun."
He was, Saturday night.
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