GAMES

Beginning in 1966, the Edina Hornets put together consecutive seasons of 26-0, 27-0 and 26-1.

There was a 69-game win streak in there, still the state record.

Willmar took its shot at the Edina dynasty on March 16, 1968, at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

It was the Region V final. The Cardinals (19-3) had decked Minneapolis City Conference heavyweight Patrick Henry in the semifinals 56-53.

The Hornets (22-1) had suffered their only loss in three seasons to Richfield, 81-75, in February, ending the streak one short of 70.

The Cardinals came out gunning and took a 16-13 lead after one quarter thanks to the snipping of Gary Syverson from the corner for eight points. It was 32-30, Edina, at intermission.

Willmar led by as much as seven in the second half and trailed by only four with 3 minutes to play. But suddenly after shooting 50 percent for the first 29 minutes, the shots stopped falling and the Hornets pulled away.

Edina's Bob Zender, a 6-foot-7 senior, and 6-6 Bill Fiedler, each finished with 17 points. Zender, now deceased, would go on to play at Kansas State after playing on Edina teams that were a combined 79-1.

It's been mentioned that Zender and the Hornets tossed the final shovelfuls that would bury the one-class-fits-all tournament. The small school/big school split was implemented three years later.

Willmar's tallest defender, 6-5 All-West Central Conference center Dave Lehrke, sat most of the third in foul trouble and drew his fifth early in the fourth. The Cardinals outshot the Hornets from the floor (24 to 22 field goals). The Edina boys sank 22-of-27 from the free throw line for the margin of victory.

Syverson was the game's high scorer with 19 points followed by Mark Roth with 14. Both made the eight-man All-Tournament Team. Lehrke, who went on to coach basketball at Fergus Falls while working for Ottertail Power, finished with 5 points and 3 rebounds. Mark Larson, Ron Snyder, Doug Swenson and Dan Lundahl also scored as head coach 

Hayfield history

Al Andreotti’s first season as Hayfield’s head coach was 1965-66. The team finished 18-3, losing to state tournament-bound Blooming Prairie 65-56 in the District 2 semifinals.

In 1967 the Vikings (15-3 in the regular season) beat Albert Lea 83-67 to win the District 2 title and Rochester John Marshall 76-60 and Northfield 68-59 to win the Region 1 championship.

In the state tournament, Hayfield lost 56-53 to Bemidji in the quarterfinals, then — in front of 12,056 fans — lost 83-79 in consolation play to St. Paul Central, whose Jim Hill scored 41 points against the Vikings.

(The Bemidji game started 45 minutes late when Bill Gross broke the backboard during warmups. It was a replay of the region tournament, when Gross broke a backboard and caused a delay.)

The 1968 path to state was harder, as Hayfield — unbeaten in regular-season play — topped Austin 70-67 in overtime in the District 2 final, beat Chatfield 78-59 in the region semifinals and Owatonna 75-70 in double overtime in the title game.

In the 1968 state tournament, the Vikings drew two-time defending state champion Edina in the first round, losing 63-49 after getting within four points with 6 1/2 minutes left. It proved to be Edina’s closest call in three state tournament games. Hayfield beat Granite Falls 79-69 and then lost 73-66 to St. Paul Highland Park in consolation play.

(Coincidences: the No. 2-ranked team in the state in 1968 was St. Cloud Tech, which lost to Edina in the region semifinals. The team that ended Edina’s 69 -game winning streak that season was Richfield. Andreotti is a native of Richfield and moved from Hayfield to St. Cloud Tech.)

In 1969, with three starters and some top subs back, Hayfield won its first 16 games but then encountered injuries and off-the-court problems,

Bill Gross, who averaged 27 points a game in the 1968 state meet, grew to 6-7 by his junior year and 6-8 as a senior. He ended up having a hall of fame college career at Augustana, where he was head coach and is now director of athletics. Ron Evjen (Winona State) and Gary Fritze (Luther) also went on to college ball.

Andreotti career

Three of his St. Cloud Tech teams won section championships (giving him five state tournament appearances) and six other teams were section runners-up. His 1980 team placed second to Minneapolis North.

Under him, Tech won 11 conference championships in 25 years. He was named state coach of the year in 1982, coached the Outstate team in the 1986 all-star series and was named to the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association hall of fame in 2003.

Andreotti’s 33-year career record was 521-222. He also wore the hats of athletic director and coach of track, baseball, and football at various times in his career.

The Richfield native got his coaching start as head football coach at another southeastern Minnesota school, Lyle, after completing a college football career at Macalester. He was assistant basketball coach under Earl Gustafson at Lyle when that school was Region One’s “Cinderella" representative in the 1962 state tournament, foreshadowing his Hayfield achievement.

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Beginning in 1966, the Edina Hornets put together consecutive seasons of 26-0, 27-0 and 26-1.

There was a 69-game win streak in there, still the state record.

Willmar took its shot at the Edina dynasty on March 16, 1968, at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

It was the Region V final. The Cardinals (19-3) had decked Minneapolis City Conference heavyweight Patrick Henry in the semifinals 56-53.

The Hornets (22-1) had suffered their only loss in three seasons to Richfield, 81-75, in February, ending the streak one short of 70.

The Cardinals came out gunning and took a 16-13 lead after one quarter thanks to the snipping of Gary Syverson from the corner for eight points. It was 32-30, Edina, at intermission.

Willmar led by as much as seven in the second half and trailed by only four with 3 minutes to play. But suddenly after shooting 50 percent for the first 29 minutes, the shots stopped falling and the Hornets pulled away.

Edina's Bob Zender, a 6-foot-7 senior, and 6-6 Bill Fiedler, each finished with 17 points. Zender, now deceased, would go on to play at Kansas State after playing on Edina teams that were a combined 79-1.

It's been mentioned that Zender and the Hornets tossed the final shovelfuls that would bury the one-class-fits-all tournament. The small school/big school split was implemented three years later.

Willmar's tallest defender, 6-5 All-West Central Conference center Dave Lehrke, sat most of the third in foul trouble and drew his fifth early in the fourth. The Cardinals outshot the Hornets from the floor (24 to 22 field goals). The Edina boys sank 22-of-27 from the free throw line for the margin of victory.

Syverson was the game's high scorer with 19 points followed by Mark Roth with 14. Both made the eight-man All-Tournament Team. Lehrke, who went on to coach basketball at Fergus Falls while working for Ottertail Power, finished with 5 points and 3 rebounds. Mark Larson, Ron Snyder, Doug Swenson and Dan Lundahl also scored as head coach Russ Adamson went only two-deep into the bench.

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