An unprecedented championship game run for North Linn boys’ basketball continues

DES MOINES — Five state championship games in a row.

Five! Let that sink in for a second.

It’s never been done before in Iowa boys’ basketball history. That it has come from a rural Linn County public school in the smallest two classes and in this day and age makes it remarkable.

Remarkable, phenomenal, extraordinary, amazing, mind-boggling, feel free to use ‘em all and whatever other adjectives you want to add to describe what North Linn has done.

“It started with one group that wanted to be good in high school. The rest just followed. They wanted to be good, too,” said North Linn’s Austin Hilmer, after his team’s 56-46 win over Remsen St. Mary’s in a Class 1A semifinal Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Arena. “I remember when I was in sixth, seventh grade and watching those other groups here at the state tournament, I realized I wanted to be a part of that. That it was pretty cool.

“I just think that made all of us work harder every year. When two guys graduated, the next guys wanted to step up and be a part of it and get to the state championship. It’s been amazing.”

» Photos: North Linn vs. Remsen St. Mary’s in Class 1A state semifinals

Amazing, there’s another appropriate word.

This state tournament run for the Lynx actually began six years ago when they lost in the 1A semifinals to Gladbrook-Reinbeck. Since then, it’s been 1A title game, 2A title game, 2A title game, 1A title game, 1A title game.

It was a loss to Grand View Christian in 2018, a win over Boyden-Hull in 2019, a loss to Boyden-Hull in 2020 and a loss last year to Montezuma. Wouldn’t you know that the opponent in Friday’s 1 p.m. championship is Grand View Christian again.

That’s a bookend thing.

“We’ve got great families that really get what it takes to win. They’re all very supportive,” said Coach Mike Hilmer. “The thing that I’m most proud of is I think I’ve been here 23 years, and we literally do not have an issue with our parents ever. They’re supportive, they get it, they know you’re going to make mistakes, but they don’t hop on you and don’t want to have a meeting with you and that kind of stuff. And our kids are the same way.”

North Linn (26-1) wasn’t able to impose its defensive will on Remsen St. Mary’s (25-1), as this was a half-court game. The Lynx held a one-point lead at halftime but outscored their opponent in the third quarter, 13-2, to create separation that ultimately provided victory.

Austin Hilmer had 18 points for North Linn, with Tate Haughenbury adding 13 and Dylan Kurt 12. Though they actually had more turnovers in this game than their opponent, an absolute rarity for the Lynx, they were able to hold St. Mary’s to 38.1-percent shooting in the second half after it hit half of its shots in the opening half .

“Coach came in at halftime and asked if we wanted to pull off the press, play a half-court game and see what we could do,” Haughenbury said. “But we decided we were going to stick to our full court, keep the pressure on them, and I think we just wore them down the second half. Some of the shots they were hitting in the first half didn’t fall in the second half.”

Top-seeded Grand View Christian (26-0) will be favored in Friday’s championship game, though the Thunder have lived a rather charmed life at this tournament, winning their quarterfinal over Bellevue on a free throw with 0.2 seconds left and rallying from 16 points down at halftime to beat Lake Mills in double overtime in Wednesday’s other semifinal.

Regardless of how things ultimately go, what North Linn has accomplished is, well, remarkable, phenomenal, extraordinary, amazing, mind-boggling ...

“These kids, they’re not loud in the hallways, when they’re at my house on the weekends after games. They’re all there,” Coach Hilmer said. “It’s all 15 players, it’s managers, it’s guys that are on the wrestling team. I never have to go downstairs because someone is using foul language or doing something crazy they shouldn’t be doing. It just tells you how lucky you are to have what we have.”

AT DES MOINES

REMSEN ST. MARY’S (46): Carter Schorg 5-10 2-4 12, Cael Ortmann 2-6 0-0 6, Ryan Willman 1-4 0-0 2, Austin Jensen 5-7 2-2 12, Jaxon Bunkers 4-12 2-3 12, Alex Schroeder 1-7 0-0 2, Brody Schorg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-46 6-9 46.

NORTH LINN (56): Ben Wheatley 2-4 0-0 5, Cade Haughenbury 1-1 0-0 2, Dylan Kurt 3-8 6-8 12, Austin Hilmer 5-11 7-10 16, Tate Haughenbury 3-5 7-10 13, Gunner Vanourney 0-0 0-0 0, Mason Bechen 2-2 0-0 6, Ty Pflughaupt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-32 20-28 56.

Halftime - North Linn 25, Remsen St. Mary’s 24. 3-point goals - Remsen St. Mary’s 4-18 (C. Schorg 0-2, Ortmann 2-6, Bunkers 2-6, Schroeder 0-4), North Linn 4-11 (Wheatley 1-3, Kurt 0-2, Hilmer 1-3, Bechen 2-2, Pflughaupt 0-1). Rebounds - Remsen St. Mary’s 24 (Jensen 10), North Linn 26 (Wheatley 6). Total fouls - Remsen St. Mary’s 18, North Linn 10. Fouled out - None. Assists - Remsen St. Mary’s 7 (C. Schorg 4), North Linn 7 (Kurt 3). Turnovers - Remsen St. Mary’s 14, North Linn 15.

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