Head coach Bryan Schnettler and his Wayzata Trojans won the Class 4A state title in 2021, then finished as state runners-up the following year. Wayzata earned another state championship in 2023, then once again followed with a runner-up finish last season.
All of which seemed to indicate the Trojans were on track to win the state championship again Saturday night if the pattern held true.
Junior guard Nolen Anderson made sure it did, finishing with 24 points and 10 rebounds as second-seeded Wayzata downed top-seeded Cretin-Derham Hall 80-55 in the Class 4A title game at Williams Arena.
Anderson’s classmate Christian Wiggins added 21 points and five rebounds.
The victory also meant the Trojans — who finished their season 28-4 — continued their recent state tournament success against the Raiders, a program they defeated 75-61 in the 2021 championship game and 59-48 and 74-48 in the semifinals in 2022 and 2024.
Saturday’s game followed a similar trajectory.
Wayzata began 3 for 3 from the field, and 2 for 2 from 3-point range, to jump on top early, then expanded that margin to 13-4 on a 3-pointer by junior guard Isaac Olmstead and a layup by Anderson.
The Raiders cut the gap to 13-10 on three straight baskets by senior forward Monteff Dixon, who scored all of his team’s first 10 points, then tied the score at 17 and 19.
But from there, the Trojans pulled away — ending the first half on a 12-4 run to take a 38-26 lead into the locker rooms. Anderson had seven points over that stretch and finished the first half with 12 to lead the Trojans, who held a 21-12 first-half edge in rebounding.
Cretin-Derham Hall’s Tommy Ahneman, the 6-foot-11 senior headed for Notre Dame, finished the first half with five points and four rebounds, but didn’t notch his first basket until a dunk with 3:03 remaining.
The Raiders scored the first two baskets of the second half, but Wayzata responds with six-straight points — four from Wiggins — to expand its lead to 44-30 with 15:05 to play.
And the Trojans never looked back from there.
Olmstead finished with 13 and senior Wyatt McBeth added 11. Dixon finished with 18 to lead the Raiders, who finished their season 29-2 overall. Ahneman added 15 points and eight rebounds.
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