You may remember the movie Hoosiers, staring Gene Hackman, in which a small Indiana town was able to overcome much larger schools and win the Indiana State High School Basketball Tournament. If you haven’t seen the movie, get it and enjoy a heartwarming story.

For over half a century, high school basketball assumed an importance that is not equaled today. Television was somewhat of a distraction in the fifties, but in many small towns you watched it in black and white when the signal came in; not any particular program. It was long before the Internet, Facebook and movies on demand came along.

In my little hometown, church, school and basketball were foremost in our lives, and if the school had a good basketball team it brought the town together. Mennonites, Lutherans and all denominations stood together to root for the Mountain Lake Lakers.

You may remember or have heard of the team from Edgerton. The Flying Dutchmen came out of Southwest Minnesota to beat large school Austin in the finals and win the Minnesota High School Basketball Tournament in 1960.

At that time, there was only one high school basketball division. Now, I know in these days of political correctness the small schools have a better chance of winning their division, but there is no opportunity for David to slay Goliath. All the small towns and some of the city people would root for the underdog as they did for Preston when they almost defeated Austin in the Regional finals in the sixties.

There seems to be a period of time when the fates seem to bless a town. Schools and their town have a period of great success, then fade away and are never heard of again. My home town of Mountain Lake stretched that time out to about fifteen years. 

During that time, they were the "Scourge of the Prairies." They were Edgerton before Edgerton when they won the Tournament in 1939. When we moved to Mountain Lake in 1946, the town was anxiously awaiting the 1947 basketball season. 

The Lakers were favored, for they had gotten to the State semi-finals the previous year. They had all-state Ray Wall, a 6'3" center with wry neck handicap and a marvelous hook shot. The team advanced through the District, Regional, and the first game of the State Tournament without losing a game. 

They lost! They lost to Duluth Denfeld by a point on a lastsecond shot. It was quiet in Mountain Lake that year. The Robins were very cautious that Spring as they went about their business. However, the parade of good athletes continued and Lakers went to three more State Tournaments in short order.

I attended the 1951 and 1952 tournaments in Williams Arena as a seventh and eighth-grader. Mountain Lake lost to Gilbert and Hopkins in overtime by one point. It wasn’t so bad to lose to Gilbert, which was also a small town, but to the lost to Hopkins was heartbreaking. All in all, Mountain Lake went to the one division High School Basketball Tournament 13 times, fighting its way past the Mankato and Worthingtons of Southwest Minnesota. We never did clash with Edgerton. Just as well.

There have been many explanations as to the run of good fortune. Some attributed it to the Mennonite heritage - that young Mennonite boys were able to release some of the passion they weren’t otherwise able to express. The work ethic that allowed them to practice, practice, practice.

All of that could have been a factor, but I lean toward an explanation of a long run of very good athletes. Everything seems to be cyclical: Nations, weather and, I think, small town basketball teams.