State Academic Champs; Owatonna Good on Court Too

The 2019-2020 season was a remarkable one for the Owatonna High School boys basketball team. They were just recently named the Class 4A state academic champions. The Huskies closed out their playing season with a competitive game against top seed Lakeville South in the section tournament.

Coach Josh Williams is proud of the accomplishments of the team, "They're the ones that get it done in the classroom, which is pretty cool. No question, we've been very fortunate...Our kids have been very consistent of taking care of business in the classroom as well as on the court."

"Something our kids have always taking pride in and done a great job in." He says OHS has won the section 1AAAA academic honor about eight or nine times in the last decade or so. The 18 players on this season's section roster have a cumulative GPA of 3.76.

Williams says it was a very memorable season and that he and the other coaches, "had a lot of fun. It's the number one reason we do what we do. It's why kids play athletics...We had a lot of highs...We definitely after Christmas hit our stride a little bit...whether it was a big win at Austin or Century or Farmington in section play or giving good teams some great runs like Rochester Mayo or Mankato East, much better the second time."

He also spoke of the teams balance, that five or six players had a big hand in helping lift the team to victory in any of a number of games.

Williams comments on seniors Carson DeKam ("ultimate team player"), Sol Havelka ("Great job whatever we needed him to do") and Isaac Oppegard ("Very outgoing, intense, energetic") , in the comments below. Click on Williams name to hear it.

Owatonna went 17-11 overall on the season, 14-8 in Big Nine play which left them fifth in the league standings. Sophomores Evan Dushek and Brayden Williams earned All-Conference while junior Payton Beyer was an honorable mention selection.