The boys high school basketball season is coming to a close this week as 32 teams compete for state titles as the MSHSL boys basketball state tournament begins Tuesday in Minneapolis.
The Buffalo Bison are among the eight teams hoping to make a title run in AAAA and face #2 seeded Lakeville North on Tuesday afternoon inside Target Center. Head coach Josh Ortmann, who led the Bison to a state title as a player in 2007, has the Bison back in the tournament for the first time since 2014.
Buffalo beat Moorhead 82-65 in the Section 8 tournament last week.
"That's what's one of the special things about Buffalo," Ortmann said. "It was a fun night Friday and the kids were fantastic on the court. You start to see pictures and what's going on around you and it turns into a community event. To see everyone have the chance to enjoy that, it was pretty special."
Ortmann, who also played at St. Cloud State University, is in his seventh year as head coach. He says the Bison entered the season with a more than a few questions to answer.
"Last year we were very senior heavy, I think we had 10 seniors and we didn't reach our ultimate goal that we had," he said. "This year we only had one returning varsity basketball player. We knew we had some talented kids in our program and had been successful at our lower levels, but you never know how it's going to shake out."
Buffalo finished the regular season with a 23-6 overall record and a 7-5 record in the Lake Conference. Ortmann says that senior Nate Dahl was a key to their success.
"The biggest thing with Nate is that he's a kid that's lived through going through the process," added Ortmann. "He's not a kid that in ninth grade he was moved up. He played ninth grade basketball as a ninth grader and JV basketball as a tenth grader. He's really had to work for everything he's gotten."
Buffalo faces a tough Lakeville North team that finished 26-3 overall, winning the South Suburban Conference. The Panthers are led by Nolan Winter who will play for the Wisconsin Badgers next season.
Ortmann says while his own playing days are long gone, he hopes to share some insight about the state tournament before the Bison hit the floor Tuesday afternoon.
"The kids don't even know me as a player anymore, that happened quite a few years ago where I feel like half our team wasn't even born when that time came through," he said. "As far as being able to relate to the kids and talk about just how to handle routines, schedules, and how to get them to understand that at the end of the day this is a game of basketball. It's meant to be played hard, it's meant to be disciplined, but it's also meant to have fun."
