Red Lake heading back to state tournament

RED LAKE - You could see the pride on display at Red Lake High School Wednesday morning as students, family and friends packed the gymnasium to wish their Warriors (23-5) good luck as they make their second-straight trip to Minneapolis for the Minnesota state basketball tournament as the Section 8A champions.

You could see it leaving the gym as well, as fans lined Highway 1 and down to Highway 89 to wave goodbye to their Ogichidaa (Ojibwe for Warriors).

"With this community, basketball is the No. 1 agenda," said sophomore forward Rob Mclain. "It's what brings us all together. Throughout the whole season it brings everyone together. The community works together to create a good fan support for the team. It's a great experience for us and the fans as well."

Last year, Red Lake made its first state trip since 2003 and the team will be looking to have a longer stay this time around.

The Warriors were one-and-done after a 95-67 loss to Maranatha Christian Academy last season.

At 3 p.m. today in Williams Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota, the team will have another shot at the second-seeded Mustangs (27-2).

"We were just happy to be there last year," said junior forward Jeremy Martin. "Now were heading back to get our 'W.'"

In order to get the win, the Warriors will need their defense to slow down MCA.

The Mustangs averaged 82.75 points per game as they won the Section 4A title.

Meanwhile, Red Lake gave up an average of 59.5 points per game as it went on to win another Section 8A title.

"It's going to be a battle," Mclain said. "But I think we've got a great shot. We are able to run a man-to-man and a zone so we are able to pressure the ball more. We can get out on shooters a lot more often."

Whether the Warriors make a run at the Class A title or lose against the Mustangs for the second-straight season, the citizens of Red Lake will still love their basketball and their team.

Every person who came to Wednesday morning's pepfest went up and shook hands, gave hugs and well wishes to the players and coaches before they got on the bus and went down to Minneapolis to represent Red Lake and the Ojibwe tribe in the state tournament.

The team will be on the court today with the red, white and black Ogichidaa scripted across their chest while the fans, who had already bought out the Red Lake tickets by Wednesday, will fill Williams Arena to cheer on their Warriors.

"Basketball is big to this community," Martin said. "It's what we do here."

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