Annandale Earns First Class AA State Title!

Skip Dolan and the Annandale Cardinals have done it.  Class AA State Championships.  Moments ago the Cards knocked off Minneapolis North 60-49 with a balanced team effort.  A veteran coach and a line-up of seniors that capped off the steady build of many seasons.

Year after year favorites have been listed for Class AA before the season starts.  A small handful of three or four programs consistently talked about.  And right there behind that group has been the Annandale Cardinals.  

In the last ten high school basketball seasons Annandale has been to the state tournament seven times.  They’ve consistently been listed with the best in Class AA but not quite the best.  The Cardinals were the 5th ranked team entering this season and they stayed a top five team all year.  

What made this team different?  The right combination. 

Size.  Athletic ability.  Experience.  Elite coach.  Versatility.  Discipline.  

The full court zone pressure of Minneapolis North is a scary thing to deal with.  The Polars shook Morris Area down last night like they have so many others (North won 27 games this season despite an overload of unfair adversity).  But Annandale was able to beat the pressure by getting the ball to the middle.  This forced a Polar change. 

Later in the first half Minneapolis North decided to defend with a half court man to man.  Annandale spread the floor with outstanding spacing and used ball movement to find their size - 6’7 Brady Spaulding Brady Spaulding 6'7" | SF Annandale | 2022 State MN and 6’6 Robert Olson - on the move to the basket. For Spaulding it was an outstanding all around performance that represented the versatility of both himself, and the team.

"I’ve had a lot of practice (at point guard) as I have played it forever," Brady said.  "It’s second nature at this point."

Coming out of the halftime break the Polars attempted full court pressure again, and once again the guard combination of Bryce Fobbe and Brady Spaulding Brady Spaulding 6'7" | SF Annandale | 2022 State MN methodically moved the ball out of danger and into comfortable halfcourt positions.  When Annandale was in trouble Dolan called a timeout (three times!) to save his team from a turnover. 

And every time Minneapolis North called a timeout Skip Dolan seemed to come out of the quick break with a new wrinkle (the 2-3 zone, the quick hitter for a Carson Gagnon Carson Gagnon 5'9" | PG Annandale | 2022 State MN three, and the give and go to Spaulding for a short jumper) that worked. Annandale limited North to 21 of 50 shooting for the game and 3 of 19 shooting at the arc.

"We’ve always been a defensive orientated team," Spaulding said.  "I think this game we wanted it more than ever.  We wanted to win. We are a family at this point.  We have all played since we were freshmen at this point and we are very tight nit."

"I have the best teammates anybody could ask for.  We know Carson is always going to hit the three when we need him to.  Robert is an energy guy who gets dunks and makes all the energy plays.  Same with Hawkin Miller, he will do anything for this team."

It was a high percentage day (Annandale shot 23 of 41 from the floor) for the Cardinals as Spaulding made his short jumper several times for 6 of 7 shooting (13 points), Hawkin Miller scored a team high 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting, Robert Olson had 16 points making 6 of 13 shooting, and Fobbe scored on all three of his shot attempts. 

On their seventh try in the last ten years, Skip Dolan’s program found the right formula to bring home the gold.  And he did it with a senior team that performed what was close to a high school coaching masterpiece.  

Annandale is no longer just behind the top group, they are now the best of the best, the Class AA State Champions.