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by Ryan James
The BREAKDOWN
posted 06-29-2009
 When it comes to high school basketball programs in the state of Minnesota the Tartan Titans rank amongst the best. Tartan is a 20 plus win program year after year and one of the most important factors in their success is team continuity. To conform as a unit a basketball team needs game experience playing not only during the winter but also in the off-season. Mark Klingsporn’s Titans get that time together playing in several Breakdown Summer Showcases.
“We attend several of the Breakdown events for many different reasons,” said Klingsporn. “The biggest reason is the quality of the event and the quality of the competition. We always seem to find great teams to play here (at the Breakdown Summer Showcase).”
Another team you can count on for a couple Summer Showcases a year is the recent state championship Pelican Rapids group. Coach Brad Strand loads the vans full of Vikings and no matter what happens they bring home a variety of experiences.
“We’ve been coming to the Summer Showcases for so many years and every year there is something eventful,” said coach Strand. “We’ve had flat tires and we are always late but finally this year we made it on time. It’s a tradition for us to play in these events. This has been a great tournament for many years and I think it’s good for us to play teams that we don’t normally play during the year.”
It wasn’t that long ago that Strand’s Vikings faced the 2008 state runner-up Henry Sibley Warriors in a Summer Showcase. Led by Tydan Storrusten the group from Pelican Rapids gave the Warriors all they could handle and drove home with a memorable victory. It was a win that helped propel them into their 2008-09 championship run.
Another championship coach who brings his athletes south to the Summer Showcase is Braham leader Bob Vaughan, the owner of three state title rings and five state tournament participant trophies in the last six years. So what is it that keeps the Bombers coming back event after event and summer after summer?
“We like the Breakdown summer events because we play three games a day and the officiating is top notch, and I mean that as things are well organized,” said Vaughan. “It’s always good competition at these events that makes us better and we are going to keep coming to these tournaments as long as the Breakdown keeps having them.”
Coach Jon Lillquist of the 2009 section 5A champion Sebeka Trojans had similar things to say about the showcase.
“With us being a small school coming to an event like this and playing against really good AAA and AA competition makes it worth it for us,” said coach Lillquist. “This tournament is good for our kids to see the high quality of basketball in the state and it’s worth it for us to come here and experience this level of competition. It’s just a great experience overall.”
The Showcase is held twice in Rogers where the positives include air conditioned gymnasiums in June and July, wood floors, a trainer on hand, three games in one day against good competition played in the span of five hours, strong officiating crews, and of course both varsity and junior varsity levels of play.
“The Breakdown events have junior varsity tournaments available so when we travel I can bring a number of kids to play,” said coach Klingsporn of Tartan. “The facilities that we play at are always great, the officiating is well done, and I really like the one day concept of getting three games in and then going home. Overall it’s a great deal.”
For eight years Breakdown owners Justin Hegna and Brad Raymond has worked to build his Breakdown Empire. This spring/summer they've put in overtime like hours to make sure the Summer Showcases are the best off-season basketball experiences in the state of Minnesota.
“Justin organizes these events state wide allowing teams to play in a number of different weekends in a number of different areas in the state,” Klingsporn said. “Justin has worked extremely hard to promote high school basketball in the state of Minnesota in many ways including these summer showcase events. Hats off to Justin for what he does for Minnesota basketball.”
Tartan has played in Breakdown events in Marshall, Rochester, Rogers, Lakeville, and St. Michael-Albertville over the past couple years giving their players the opportunity to build experience for the high school year. The Breakdown continues to offer Summer Showcase events in those areas as well as in Moorhead, Grand Rapids, Crosby-Ironton, and Minnetonka. |
Katrina Newman,
GIRLS BASKETBALL
