“We played a lot of (Class) B schools,” Templeton said. “We played in the Central Conference out in the middle of the state. We had played Vermillion and Huron and some other teams, but a lot of people didn’t really know anything about us.” After the Rustlers knocked off Huron and Mitchell to reach the state title, they went into Sioux Falls to play Washington, the largest school in the state at the time and a member of the Sioux Interstate Conference, which featured teams from Sioux Falls and Sioux City, Iowa. There was plenty of talk among fans in Sioux Falls about the absurdity of a team from Miller competing with the big boys. “They were huge,” Gerdes said. “Guys that were 6-7, 6-6, 6-5, but we knew that if we could just keep them off the boards and rebound we’d be OK. Once I got that first rebound of that game and threw an outlet pass, I knew we were going to be all right.” Miller went on to win that game 72-60. Shepherd, who played on the Stevens team that took on the Rustlers in the semifinals, said he and his teammates weren’t thinking a whole lot differently about Miller. “I’m thinking, ‘I grew up in South Dakota, and I’ve never even heard of Miller.’ Who are these guys?” Shepherd said with a smile on his face. “I don’t think we got the ball across halfcourt for the first six minutes of the game.” Actually, it wasn’t quite that bad, but Stevens only got the ball across half court once in its first six possessions. It took Stevens 2 minutes and 20 seconds to attempt a shot. By the time it scored, over six minutes had run off the clock. “Game over,” said Shepherd, shaking his head. “It was over by the end of the first quarter. We couldn’t get the ball across half court, and they were shooting layups. It was 20-something to two or four. Man, they were good.” Miller beat Stevens 81-51 to advance to the state championship and a meeting with Yankton, an Eastern South Dakota Conference powerhouse that featured 6-foot-10 inch Chad Nelson, who would later play college basketball at Drake University. “If you look at pictures of Nelson in that game, they’ve pretty much all got four of our guys in the picture around him,” Gerdes said. As with any championship run, fortune plays some part, Templeton said. “We were probably lucky that we played him as a sophomore,” he said. “I don’t know that we could have handled him as a senior.” Miller knocked off Yankton 68-54 to win the state title. “It was weird,” Gerdes said. “It was a great feeling, but it was also sad because we knew in that locker room that it was all over.” Templeton, who won a conference championship in college at Black Hills State, said the high school title was a basketball pinnacle. “It was just so special,” he said. “We were so close and still are. I won a championship in college but it’s different. Winning a state title with guys you grew up with and know like that is different.” photo credit: Ryan Soderlin