Photo by Sam Thiel Members of the 1970 Marshall boys basketball team, along with 1963 team member Terry Porter and current coaches Travis Carroll and Dan Westby, pose for a photo during a 50th reunion at Brau Brothers last month. The 1970 team was the final team to compete in the one-class state tournament, where they earned a fourth-place finish.
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MARSHALL — Growing up in Marshall, Brad Rockman can remember going up to Williams Arena with his parents to watch an idol of his, Terry Porter, and the Marshall High School boys basketball team compete in the 1963 state championship game against Cloquet. Marshall won the game 75-74 for its only boys basketball championship in team history.
Rockman said it was amazing to get to see his hometown win the state tournament and that it inspired him to work to get to the state tournament.
“It was exceptional. A real thrill and I enjoyed it immensely,” Rockman said. “Terry was our hero growing up and was one of the reasons we worked so hard in basketball and why I think we made it to the state tournament because we knew what it was like for those guys and we wanted that and of course we had a fantastic coach as well.”
The tournament was unique in that it was all one class, with more than 400 high school basketball teams in the state competing. Playing in that tournament was always a dream for Rockman and his teammates, and seven years later, they got to achieve their dream. In 1970, the final year the one-class tournament was held, Marshall fell to Sherburn 71-60 in the semifinals before falling to Robbinsdale 69-56 in the third-place game to take fourth place.
After having their 50th reunion postponed last year due to COVID-19, multiple members of the 1970 team recently met to reminisce about that tournament. Drew Kindseth said they’ve done a good job of staying in touch with each other over the years and it’s always fun to talk about their high school days in Marshall.
“It’s great; we’ve gotten together quite often in the last 10 years and several times we’ve met for lunch in the Twin Cities and those lunches have turned into 3 or 4-hour lunches before someone realizes the time,” Kindseth said. “Time just flies and it’s like stepping back into yesteryear but it’s a lot of fun.”
Kindseth added Marshall was a fitting location to accomplish that goal of reaching the state tournament.
“I grew up dreaming of one day playing in the state tournament,” Kindseth said. “I moved here from Little Falls in 1965, but I remember watching Terry in the 1963 tournament and rooting for Marshall. Marshall was a hotbed back then because of Terry and his teammates, so for me moving here and loving basketball, it was like almost going to heaven.”
Porter said it was amazing to see the level of support from the Marshall community during his tournament run, and added the members of the 1970 team expressed similar reactions during their run.
“These guys have the same memories about it, which is the tremendous following that Marshall gives their teams, especially when you go to the state tournament,” Porter said. “The attendance they had [in 1970] was about the same as ours the first game of the tournament, more than 16,000 people. In the final game we got close to 19,000 people but that was one of the first memories they say about the state tournament is they couldn’t believe the crowds.”
The team was coached by Lowell Ziemann, who was at the helm at Marshall for 12 years from 1964-1976 and had a record of 177-84. Ziemann said his favorite memories during that time were when they were able to win the district multiple years in a row against challenging competition.
“We won the district five or six years in a row which was very difficult in those days even though we were the largest school,” Ziemann said. “I’m proud of that fact because it’s not easy to win the district when you’re the largest school, all of the smaller schools root against you.”
Ziemann added it’s special to stay connected with his former players and that they refer to him as coach when they talk to him.
“Another great memory is just the relationships built, especially with the 1970 team, who have stayed together and kept in touch with me,” Ziemann said. “I get warm feelings when I get a phone call and they say, ‘Hey coach’ they never say Mr. Ziemann, they say ‘Hey coach, how are you?’, so that’s a nice thing for me.”
Kindseth added they’ve stayed involved with the program in recent years through the “Best Teammate” award which they created to honor their former teammate Clark Wigley.
“My best friend on the team was Clark Wigley. He died about six years ago after knee replacement surgery. We talked about all kinds of things to honor his memory and finally came up with the perfect solution, establishing a scholarship with the Pride in the Tiger Foundation called the ‘Best Teammate’ scholarship. It goes to the guy who is the best teammate and it doesn’t have to be the leading scorer, the top rebounder or anything,” Kindseth said. “Travis Carroll and his coaches pick that each year and we’ve done that for about six or seven years and that’s really worked well for us and it’s really capturing our group’s thinking about team orientation.”
Kindseth said they were a very unselfish team and brought up a story of the time he broke the single-game scoring record that featured a unique assist.
“Our team didn’t care who scored, we weren’t hung up on stats and played eight or nine guys. One game in the middle of the season, things were just clicking for me and I ended up scoring 41 points and setting the school record – which still stands, unbelievably – because we didn’t have the three-point line,” Kindseth said. “It really was a team effort because in the fourth quarter, coach Ziemann told everyone I was getting close to the record and let’s try to get him the ball. Shortly after that, Charlie [Blomme] stole the ball and had a wide-open layup, saw me coming and he just stopped and gave me the ball and I scored.”
“I’ve always felt our group of guys were low-ego,” Blomme said. “We didn’t understand that at the time but looking back there were low egos and it was about how can I help this person or how can we do this here and how do we score and win. I remember I stole the ball and saw it was Drew and remember thinking, ‘Why don’t I let him score?’”
Blomme added their strong bond as a group was a driving force to their success on the floor and they learned a lot of lessons from the sport they love that they carry with them today.
“Fortunately we were a team that had a lot of depth and we got along and respected each other. You learn a lot about sports and the price you pay to be good in sports that is transferable to other parts of your life,” Blomme said. “You don’t get it at that age, but as you mature through life and look back, you think ‘I learned that playing basketball’ or having a mentor or a coach like coach Ziemann. You’re not in control you’re just fortunate to be around these types of people and then you look back and you have a much greater appreciation for it.”
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