GLYNDON — This year's Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton boys basketball team has been through a lot. The Rebels beat Thief River Falls in the Section 8AA championship, getting redemption after last year's loss in the same game. The 2022-23 squad had to squeeze a season's worth of games into a trunkated schedule after the school's deep playoff football run, but the Rebels battled to reach the state tournament for the first time since 2016.
"I probably watched the final moments with our student body section coming out of the stands maybe 20 or 30 times. I pretty much teared up every time just seeing the raw emotion those kids went through and how much they wanted it."
When the Rebels needed it most - in the section championship game - they went to star Owen Leach, and he delivered 50 of the team’s 77 points. It's another feather in the cap for Leach, who scored his 2,000th career point this year and quarterbacked the Rebels football team to the Prep Bowl last fall.
"Talking with my family and my friends and they're like, 'You finally did it. You checked every box in your career besides a section championship and now you finally did it,'" Leach said. "It's definitely a special moment for me. I'm super excited for my teammates. I'm just so happy we can get the bus ride, chill, have pizza, watch a movie on the way down and i think that's going to be super fun."
For fellow senior Karson Steichen, it's one last chance to play for his longtime coach Mike Clark, who is also his uncle.
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"[Clark] got me into basketball pretty much and has helped me the entire way," Steichen said. "We've spent hundreds of hours together shooting and just getting better so I could play on his team when I'm older. My last year here I wanted to give him a little parting gift from the seniors that have been with him their entire career."
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