It was a record-setting basketball season for the Spring Grove boys, but the records will likely not be the most lingering memory for these Lions who experienced the never-to-be-forgotten thrill of winning the Section 1A Tournament in Rochester before playing in the 2023 Class A State tournament at such venues as venerable Williams Arena at the University of Minnesota and then the modern Target Center in downtown Minneapolis. Their extraordinary 33-game campaign ended at Concordia University in St. Paul where the boys received individual medals before hoisting high the third-place trophy.
Photo by Lee Epps
Some of the seniors and juniors might have been in the stands as junior high fans when the 2019 Lions celebrated the same third-place achievement on the same court. And both state tournament basketball seasons occurred during the same school year as a state tournament football appearance. (SG won the 2018 football state championship; the 2022 football team was state runner-up).
In 2023, winning a school-record 31 games surpassed the 28 wins in 2016. After the lone regular-season setback, Spring Grove won a program-record 28 straight games. The boys extended their conference winning streak to 36 games, another program record. Going 20-0 in conference contests, Wade Grinde’s guys won the SEC East Division for the 12th time in the last 13 years, including the last three crowns. The 2023 Lions played a school-record 33 games, and their 31-2 record yielded a .939 winning percentage, surpassed only by the .960 of the 2006 boys who went 24-1.
The Lions were most respected for their stifling zone defense and rightfully so. Opponents attempted more than 400 fewer shots from the field (more than 12 fewer per game) and 137 fewer free throws (more than four fewer per game) than did Spring Grove partly due to those rivals committing 21.9 turnovers per game against that engulfing Lion defense and also due to Spring Grove losing possession only 9.4 times per game – a school record for ball-handling. In 16 of the 33 games, Spring Grove had single-digit turnover totals. Their most turnovers came in the two losses and the overtime win versus Southland.
And when the opponents did shoot, they did so with only 37% success, one of the opposition’s seven coldest shooting seasons. Meanwhile, the Lions shot 46% from the field – the seventh best in 42 years of record keeping. From 3-point land, SG shot 34% to the opponents’ 28%. Not only did the Lions attempt more free throws, but they also outshot the other guys 64% to 56%.
State-ranked
Spring Grove was not state-ranked at the outset, but the Lions entered postseason play state-ranked No. 7 by the media. The lone regular-season loss came in their third game of the season against Dawson-Boyd at the holiday games at Rushford, 66-57. Neither the Lions nor the Blackjacks (as in jackrabbits) were state-ranked at the time, but both were ranked in the final poll with Dawson-Boyd at No. 12. The Blackjacks (26-4) did not make it to state, falling by eight points (63-55) in the Section 3A championship game to eventual state champion Russell-Tyler-Ruthton.
Spring Grove did not appear in the state poll until, in game six, knocking off state-ranked No. 9 Mankato Loyola, 61-54, in a hot-shooting 3-point duel at the Southern Minny Hoops Fest at Byron. The Lion entered the rankings at No. 14. The Crusaders would go on to win the Section 2 championship and by random draw, face Spring Grove in a rematch in the state quarterfinals at Williams Arena. The set-up was reversed at state with the Lions state-ranked and Loyola unranked.
At state, four teams are seeded, and their opponents are determined by random draw. The seeds held throughout with No. 1 seed Russell-Tyler-Ruthton defeating No. 2 seed New Life Academy in the finals. No. 3 seed Spring Grove got past unseeded Mankato Loyola by one point in the quarterfinals before falling to No. 2 seed New Life in the semi-finals before drubbing No. 4 seed Cherry in the third-place game.
Runaways and nail-biters
The Lions’ 28-game winning streak included a batch of blowouts. Nearly half, 15 of the 31 wins, were by margins of 30 or more points, including a 93-24 road romp at LeRoy-Ostrander when Spring Grove ran a delay, no-shooting offense for the final nine minutes to keep from scoring 100 points. Nine minutes is one-fourth of the game.
However, there were some close calls, as well. Spring Grove won all six games decided by single-digit margins, including the 46-40 road win over Lyle/Pacelli in a top-11, state-ranked showdown. Jacob Olerud secured the decision by scoring the game’s final four points during the final 16 seconds (two free throws, a steal and fast-break layup).
Three nights later, visiting Fillmore Central led by one point with two seconds to play when Elijah Solum nailed a 3-point jump shot. One second later, a steal and two free throws by Caleb Griffin created the final 69-65 score.
Later that week, with two key players home sick, Spring Grove shot a weak 35% and had an uncommon number of turnovers before surviving in overtime against visiting Southland, 47-42.
The 66-63 home win versus Class AA La Crescent-Hokah was a 14-lead-change thriller from start to finish. The Lancers shot an incredible 70% from the field, but the Lions countered with 10 baskets from 3-point land. Down the stretch, Grove hit 6 of 8 late free throws.
And then in the postseason playoffs, Spring Grove was almost undone twice by an opponent’s late-game, full-court defense. In the section finals against Goodhue, the Lions saw their 19-point lead sliced down to two before hitting 9 of 10 late free throws to win, 57-48. And then in the very next game, the state-quarterfinal rematch with Mankato Loyola, a late 11-point Lion lead was cut to one before Spring Grove prevailed, 39-38.
The Lions had survived a couple of cold-shooting games (29% versus Mabel-Canton and 27% versus Randolph), but not so with only 27% shooting, only one free throw attempt and a season-worst 18 turnovers in the 51-35 state semi-final loss against New Life Academy.
But the boys bounced back with twice-as-good 54% shooting and much better ball-handling against full-court pressure in the comfortable 68-43 crushing of Cherry in the state third-place game.
Winning streaks
While amassing 31 wins, the Lions extended their dominance in most long-standing rivalries. The Lions have won the last 47 games versus Grand Meadow, covering 25 seasons. The winning streak against LeRoy-Ostrander was extended to 36 games while there have been 28 straight wins versus Mabel-Canton. Spring Grove has taken the last 20 versus Lanesboro, 17 straight against Glenville-Emmons and 11 in a row against Kingsland.
The Lions defeated Houston for the sixth straight time, having now won 61 of the last 63 against the Hurricanes. The sixth straight victory versus Schaeffer Academy makes Spring Grove 25-2 all-time versus those other Lions. There was a fifth consecutive victory versus Kingsland. And in the recent battles with West Division powerhouse Lyle/Pacelli, Spring Grove has won the last three games and leads all-time, 36-3.
After a setback against Fillmore Central last year, the Lions won in 2023 to make 12 wins in the last 13 games against the Falcons. The win versus long-time nemesis Rushford-Peterson broke a seven-game losing streak against the Trojans, one rare opponent with an all-time winning record against Spring Grove. La Crescent-Hokah also has an all-time series lead over the Lions (24-11), but Grove has now taken five of the last six against the Lancers.
Younger Lions
All four Spring Grove teams had winning records with the B-team boys going 17-5. Against conference competition, they swept two games versus Lanesboro, Mabel-Canton, Schaeffer, Houston and Glenville-Emmons. They took single games versus LeRoy-Ostrander and Lyle/Pacelli. The B-boys split with Kingsland and loss both games against Southland. Grand Meadow did not field a B-team this year. The eighth grade Lions finished 12-8 while the seventh graders went 11-8.
The emphasis of this article is team achievement. Individual players will be recognized in postseason awards coverage
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Spring Grove Boys Basketball 2023
SEC games in bold
31 wins, 2 losses (20-0 SEC)
W at Lanesboro 71-52
W at Glenville-Emmons 75-27
L vs. Dawson-Boyd 57-66
W vs. Higher Ground Academy 83-39
W at Southland 57-33
W vs. Mankato Loyola 61-54
W at Grand Meadow 64-27
W at Mabel-Canton 85-36
W at Schaeffer Academy 69-37
W vs. Houston 67-21
W vs. Lanesboro 60-46
W at Kingsland 72-37
W vs. La Crescent-Hokah 66-63
W vs. Schaeffer Academy 65-35
W vs. LeRoy-Ostrander 81-27
W at LeRoy-Ostrander 93-24
W vs. Glenville-Emmons 72-31
W at Lyle/Pacelli 46-40
W vs. Fillmore Central 69-65
W vs Southland 47-42 OT
W vs. Rushford-Peterson 56-45
W vs. Kingsland59-23
W vs. Grand Meadow 64-24
W vs. Mabel-Canton 49-34
W at Houston 77-36
W vs. Lyle/Pacelli 53-38
SECTION 1A TOURNAMENT – #2 seed
W vs. #15 Mabel-Canton 71-33
W vs. #7 Randolph 39-24
W vs. #3 Hayfield 57-46
W vs. #1 Goodhue 57-48
Class A State TOURNAMENT – #3 seed
W vs. Mankato Loyola 39-38
L vs. #2 New Life Academy 35-51
W vs. #4 Cherry 68-43
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Spring Grove B-team
17 wins, 5 losses
W at Lanesboro 45-20
W at Glenville-Emmons 53-31
W vs. Dawson-Boyd 34-30
W vs. Higher Ground Academy 52-13
L at Southland 35-47
W vs. Loyola 46-23
W at Mabel-Canton 45-9
Wat Schaeffer Academy 61-25
W vs. Houston 52-19
W vs. Lanesboro 35-24
L at Kingsland 41-44
L vs. La Crescent-Hokah 30-31
W vs. Schaeffer Academy 49-25
W at LeRoy-Ostrander 54-18
W vs. Glenville-Emmons 57-36
W at Lyle/Pacelli 26-24
W vs. Fillmore Central 46-38
L vs. Southland 27-36
L vs. Rushford-Peterson 42-46
W vs. Kingsland 53-28
W vs. Mabel-Canton 55-28
W at Houston 51-14
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Spring Grove 8th Grade
12 wins, 8 losses
W at Lanesboro 48-24
L at Caledonia 29-37
L at Southland 41-55
W at Grand Meadow 48-14
W at Mabel-Canton 53-30
W at Schaeffer Academy 41-31
W vs. Houston 49-18
L vs. Kingsland 12-43
L vs. La Crescent-Hokah 31-50
W vs. Schaeffer Academy 38-26
L vs. Fillmore Central 15-42
L vs. Southland 42-54
L vs. Caledonia 32-42
W vs. Rushford-Peterson 38-28
W vs. Lanesboro 44-22
L vs. Kingsland 29-41
W vs. Grand Meadow 49-13
W vs. Mabel-Canton 38-24
W at Lansing Kee
W at Houston
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Spring Grove 7th Grade
11 wins, 8 losses
L at Lanesboro 23-28
L a Caledonia 23-26
W at Southland 29-26
W at Mabel-Canton 36-32
W at Schaeffer Academy 31-15
W vs. Houston 38-21
W vs. Kingsland 25-20
L vs. La Crescent-Hokah 20-27
W vs. Schaeffer Academy 26-13
W at LeRoy-Ostrander 23-21
L vs. Fillmore Central 34-39
W vs. Southland 34-18
L vs. Caledonia 26-31
L vs. Rushford-Peterson 19-30
L vs. Lanesboro 28-40
W vs. Kingsland 32-25
L vs. Mabel-Canton 29-41
W at Lansing Kee
W at Houston
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