Building on Tradition

ENDING ON A WINNING NOTE — Members of the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton girls’ basketball team hold up the Class AA consolation championship trophy after defeating the Byron Braves, 64-32, Friday. See more on the state tournament on page six and in this week’s special edition.

Girls’ BB team adds to school’s hoops legacy with record-setting number of wins, 5th-place finish at first state tournament appearance since 1997

BEST EVER? — The 1987-88 Tracy-Milroy team downed three undefeated teams at that year’s state tournament to win the school’s first-ever state championship.

By Per Peterson

Thirty-one.

Only a handful of girls’ basketball teams in Minnesota can say they won that many games this past year. And the ones that did were all state champions (Lyle/Pacelli in Class A won 32 games, Sauk Centre in Class AA finished with 33 wins, and Class AAAA Eastview High School finished with 32 wins).

With a 31-3 record, this year’s Tracy-Milroy-Balaton team became the first in school history to clip the 30-win mark, and they almost did it before the state tournament even started.

“That’s a lot of wins. It’s one more accomplishment they’ve achieved in the last three years,” TMB coach Derek Ashbaugh said. “Three years of playing in the section championship game, now finally playing in the state tournament. Three 1,000-point scorers — it’s just another thing we get to add to the list. Realistically, it’s another reason why this group is so special.”

For more on this article, see this week’s Headlight-Herald.