March 1, 2001

Plains Folk: Shining Moments of Class B Basketball

Tom Isern, Professor of History
North Dakota State University

It debuts at 8:00 p.m. Friday, March 2, on Prairie Public Television, will be run at other times after that, and likely will earn a place as the most beloved piece of documentary film-making in the history of the Flickertail State. The subject of "One Shining Moment: History of the North Dakota State B" is the North Dakota State Class B boys' basketball tournament, 1933-2000.

The film-making technique is nothing new. It includes game films, still photos and clips, broadcast voices, talking heads in studio and on location edited into historical narrative. What makes the piece great is what makes any work of history great: the subject has found a worthy chronicler. "One Shining Moment" is a credit both to the prairie culture that is its subject and to the producer, Matt Olien, who (along with writer-collaborator David Meiers) made it. People are going to watch this documentary, laugh and cry, and be reminded of important things about themselves.

It would be wrong for me to reveal the program's "All-Time State B Starting Five"–you'll want to check that out for yourself. It won't spoil things, though, to mention some of the "great teams and dynasties" featured. Minot Model's fast-breaking teams of the late 1940s and early 1950s come first, followed by Mott's powerhouse teams of the early 1960s, anchored by post man Butch Lince.

Kenmare in the mid-1960s, and even more so Hillsboro in the 1970s, succeeded with discipline and ball control. This was the heyday of Hillsboro coach Ed Beyer, 678 career wins, the coach everyone in the state loved to hate. (Check out his sportcoats in the game films!)

Late in the program veterans of Central Cass 1968, LaMoure 1976, and Mayport-C-G 1996-97 exchange opinions as to who had the greatest team in the history of the B. They disagree on the point.

The most memorable set piece in the documentary is the saga of Epping versus Hillsboro, 1977. If you know the story at all, you'll start to cry as soon as they start the reunion in Epping, whose high school closed a few years after its shining moment. "If there is one game that best defines the essence of the State B," intones Olien, "it was this one. . . No one who was there that night will ever forget it."

The wide-eyed boys from tiny Epping came by car to Bismark and faced the top-ranked team in the state headed by its most illustrious coach. They fell behind early and far. They battled back, even while the Burros kept their heads and answered every run. With the score 48-44 Hillsboro in the fourth quarter, Epping scored on a fast break off a jump ball. The basket, though, was disallowed on a call by referee Henry Milkey, legendary guard of Minot Model during its dynasty.

The Epping players lost the game, but they were not losers. As the narrator observes, "The Epping players have become modern folk heroes, symbols of a time when a school with 23 students could dream of glory." One Shining Moment. As Don Allard said, after Epping finished runner-up in the State B, "There was no disappointment that I can recall." Olien says of the state tournaments, "They are events that define a community, and for the athletes can be the moments with which they are identified for the rest of their lives." I know he's right. As a historian I'd love to win the Bancroft Prize, but I know that if I do, it will be reported in my home-town paper something like this: "Tom Isern, who hit the game-winning buzzer-beater in the 1970 state semi-finals, has won the Bancroft Prize, some sort of award for writers."

Speaking of B basketball–a week ago I mistakenly referred to the Lisbon Broncos as the Lisbon Mustangs. A horse is not a horse, in this case, so apologies to Lisbon. You can view photos of the Lisbon-Enderlin Goat Game at Travel on the Gravel, http://www.plainsfolk.com/gravel/ .

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Source: Tom Isern, (701) 799-2941, tom@plainsfolk.com 
Editor: Gary Moran, (701) 231-7865, gmoran@ndsuext.nodak.edu 

Click here for a TIF photo of Tom Isern that is suitable for printing. 
(1.5MB b&w photo)

Click here for a TIF photo of Tom Isern wearing a hat that is suitable for printing.
(1.3MB b&w photo)