Saturday, March 14, 2015

Question: How many consecutive state basketball games has Melrose won? See answer below.
Dutchmen Basketball

State Champions

Even after their return to Melrose, with fans lining Fifth Avenue and filling the school parking lot, it was still a bit unreal to head coach Ryan Dusha what the team had done

But the fact is The Melrose Dutchmen are again a state basketball champion.

Never ranked among the top teams all year, and ranked fifth in the state tournament seeds, the Dutchmen came out of the Class AA championship with first place medals, trophy and nets.

"This is a bit surreal," Dusha said after Melrose clinched the championship with a 63-51 win over Caledoniain the State Class AA championship this afternoon in Minneapolis. "We don't know how to this, cutting down the nets. This is fun."

What Melrose did know how to do was prepare of its opponents, and execute it game plan.  The win came through a combination of being prepared and execution. Melrose's outside shooting was noticeable in the game as Drake Meyer, 24 points, and Cesar Cervantes, 10 points, combined for six three-point shots.  Another key element to Melrose's win was how it controlled the boards. Melrose outrebound Caledonia 43-35 and did not concede anything to the physical inside play of the Warriors.

The Dutchmen led for most of the them game and once its inside players, Blake Gerads, two points, Tyler Braegelmann, 15 points, and Colton Meyer, eight points, started to score the Dutchmen had established themselves inside and outside.

Dillon Haider's ability to complete no-look passes, resulted in buckets for the Dutchmen. He also had four points in the game.   Cervantes had seven assists in the game.

Caledonia came to play and Melrose could never really let up. For one of the few games this year, Melrose played primarily seven players, although all senior were able to play in the game.

Melrose finishes its year a 29-5. Dillon Haider, Tyler Braegelmann and Drake Meyer were named to the all-tournent team.

From the start of the year Dusha had coached the team to be balance, unselfish and work everyone into the game.  The goal was to constantly improve. He did admit to when he started thinking of state championship.

"With about minute left (in the championship game)  For us championship basketball is not a destination, it is a mind set. We never talk about getting to the state championship, We talked about improving every day and  playing champishp basketball." 
More photos can be found at http://youtu.be/vBpx2fI5Ekg

 Read about the game in the March 18 issue of the Melrose Beacon.
Answer: The Dutchmen have won their last seven consecutive state tournament playoff games.