My Minnesota Hometown Made History in Minneapolis Last Night

The Crosby-Ironton Rangers girls basketball program has been very exciting to watch, lately. Last year, they won the section championship to earn their first trip to the state tournament in 29 years. Unfortunately, they lost both state tournament games.

Last week, they beat Pequot Lakes for their second consecutive section championship to earn another chance at state, and last night they made program history by winning their first game ever at the state tournament: a 63-50 upset of #4 New London-Spicer.

A Showdown Between Two Minnesota High School Basketball Phenoms

The Rangers' win sets up a semi-final matchup with #1 Providence Academy tomorrow (Friday) night at Williams Arena. It's not the first time that Crosby-Ironton has been in the same conversation as Providence Academy.

Last year Providence Academy sophomore Maddyn Greenway - the daughter of former Minnesota Vikings star Chad Greenway - broke a long-standing record by taking the fewest games to reach the 1000-point milestone in her high school varsity career...until Crosby-Ironton sophomore Tori Oehrlein [OH-er-line] broke Greenway's record the very next day.

Greenway maintains a 2-0 state tournament championship advantage as Providence Academy is going for their third straight state championship.

David vs Goliath in the State Tournament Semis

It may be a daunting task for a small-town team to take on the 2-time defending state champions, but the Lady Rangers have earned a reputation as giant-killers. If any team remaining in the state tourney can knock off the defending champs, it's Crosby-Ironton.

It's (Finally) A Great Day to Be a Ranger

I spent the better part of my 20s lobbing wisecracks at my hometown. It wasn't unearned, either: there was a growing meth problem (like many small towns), downtown was rundown, and the town's "Antique Capitol of the World" motto didn't exactly resonate with the youth.

But over the past decade or so, the town's seen a rebirth as one of the world's top mountain biking destinations. It's been revitalized and is now thriving.