Lakeville North Boy's Basketball Team Moves Back to Familiar Section

Lakeville North’s chance of making the 2011 Minnesota Class AAAA Boy’s Basketball State Tournament received a boost when the Minnesota State High School League recently moved the Panthers from Section 3, arguably the state’s toughest section, back to their former home Section 1, where they had played until 2007. The move also splits them with neighboring school Lakeville South, who won the Section 3 title this past March.

However, don’t tell Panther head coach John Oxton that his team was given the golden ticket in the postseason.

“Absolutely, they (the chances of making state) have improved, but like I tell people all the time, when they put us in the section, they didn’t send the section championship trophy with it,” said Oxton. “You still have to earn it.”

In March, Lakeville North was knocked out of the first round of the Section 3 playoffs by crosstown rival Lakeville South, 57-47. That section contained seven members of the newly formed South Suburban Conference along with Suburban East Conference representative Park of Cottage Grove. The top four teams, Eastview, Eagan, Apple Valley and Lakeville South combined for 83 wins this season, with Apple Valley being the lone team to not win 20 games. The Eagles finished 19-10, but would have had several more wins if super freshman guard Tyus Jones had not missed 13 games with a lacerated kidney.

Oxton was caught off guard by move, especially with being placed in a different section from Lakeville South.

“To be honest with you, I was really surprised,” said Oxton. “I really don’t know what their thinking on that was, but just really surprised. I didn’t think that they would ever split us and South, but they also split (neighboring schools) East Ridge and Woodbury, too, so maybe that was their plan to do.”

Oxton admits that he feels a case of déjà vu being back in their long-time section. Lakeville fans remember when the Panthers were just 7-19 during the regular season, but won the Section I title in 2006 before losing to eventual state champion Hopkins in the first round of the state tournament.

“It is a relief for us,” said Oxton. “I think that we are going back to where we never should have left. We felt that we should have always been there (in Section 1). It never really made sense to me, so to me it is like we are just back to where we should have been. We are excited about it. It is hard when you are in a section and then you play all the teams that you have been playing the whole year. It is going to refreshing for us to play and then play a whole new group of people. We are excited about that.”

The Panthers were a young team this past season with only two seniors among their top eight scorers. This led to some ups-and-downs throughout the year. They lost their first six games of the season, losing to five ranked teams and four teams that would make the Class AAAA Tournament field, including eventual champion Hopkins and runner-up Eden Prairie.

The Panthers bounced back to win five straight games from January 18-February 1. They defeated South Suburban champions Eastview and third place finisher Apple Valley at home and won three of their last four contests before falling in the playoffs.

The 2011-12 edition was expected to battle for the top spot in Section 3 with the graduation losses that would affect the top four seeds. Top seed Eastview needs to replace athletic forward Frank Veldman, while Eagan loses their top two scorers and five of their top seven. Apple Valley will be without William and Mary signee Tom Schalk, and two other frontcourt starters, while Lakeville South loses their top four scorers from a state tournament squad.

However, the move to Section 1 could be to their liking. Only two of the seven teams in the section (Owatonna and Rochester Century) had winning records and the seven teams combined for just a 66-106 mark.

Rochester John Marshall won just one game, while Hastings and Northfield finished with only three and five victories, respectively.

Oxton feels that these new section rivals, which will also include Farmington and Rochester Mayo, will make for an interesting postseason since they will not play any of their seven potential opponents in the regular season. This year North faced Lakeville South twice in the regular season and again in the playoffs.

“For next year, because we found out so late, my schedule is already set, so we are not playing any of these teams throughout the year,” said Oxton. “Not one of them. So, it will be completely new for them, so we are excited about that. It should be a fun year and it will fun to get back to that Section 1.”

The Section 3 finals have been held at St. Olaf the past several years, but the move to Section 1 means the annual trek to Rochester. Some Lakeville fans and coaches love playing in the Rochester Civic Center, but hate the long trips, often times to play another Lakeville squad. Oxton agrees with that view, but welcomes the possibilities to playing in the semifinals and finals in Rochester.

“It is (a long trip), but to be honest with you, I’ve been in Lakeville since 1990 and that was all we knew for the first 15 years,” said Oxton. “That was just the way it was. I never had a problem with it. It is a great venue. It is a tournament atmosphere down there and it is just a different deal and different feel. I don’t really have a problem with that.”

Oxton feels that this year’s team has a chance to make it back to the state tournament for the first time since 2006.

"I think our expectations are pretty high,” said Oxton. “We have a lot of kids back and we’ve got some good sophomore guards coming up. We’d be pretty disappointed if we didn’t have a very good year. Our league will be very good once again, but I think that is an advantage. Our league is going to get us prepared for section play. It always does. Expectations are high and it should be a fun year."

Oxton is hoping that the section move to will be a smooth transition, punctuated by a state tournament appearance next March as the 2012 Section 1 champions.