This story is actually about Trevor's old school, but has some nice mentions of him .. I hadn't been keeping up, Trevor's team is #1 in MN, and is 21-0. Nice.
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SIBL021307
Last update: February 13, 2007 – 7:35 AM
Boys' basketball: Sibley loses star but still shines
When Trevor Mbakwe transferred, the Warriors were taken aback, but they since have discovered some fresh talent their lineup.
By John Millea, Star Tribune
The news arrived last fall with a thud for members of the Henry Sibley High School boys' basketball team. Trevor Mbakwe, the Warriors' Mr. Everything forward, had transferred to a new school for his senior season.
His suddenly former teammates were stunned. They had expected to be on one of the top teams in Minnesota, led by the Marquette-bound Mbakwe, a 6-7 dynamo who averaged 21 points and 13 rebounds the previous season. But now he had left the Class 4A school in Mendota Heights for St. Bernard's, a Class 1A school in St. Paul.
"We were all in shock," said Henry Sibley junior co-captain Peter Leslie. "We didn't really know what to do. We were all like, 'Oh, we're going to be a .500 team, we're just going to be a normal team.' "
That was in August. It's now February. And to no one's surprise, Mbakwe has helped St. Bernard's go 21-0 and climb to the No. 1 spot in the Class 1A rankings.
The surprise? It's back at Henry Sibley. The Warriors are 17-4 and ranked No. 7 in both the 4A poll and the Star Tribune metro top 10. They were 17-11 last season.
"I think some of them were down because Trevor is such a good kid and they really were -- and are -- good friends with him," Warriors coach Tom Dasovich said. "From a personal perspective they were down about it, but from a basketball perspective I think a lot of them really stepped up to the challenge of proving themselves.
"It almost didn't matter what they did [in past seasons]; the story was always going to be about Trevor because he is so talented. I think there was some eagerness to show what they can do."
It didn't take long. Three of Henry Sibley's first four victories came against teams that were among the preseason metro top 10: Park Center, Cretin-Derham Hall and Minnetonka. The Warriors have lost to Simley, Bloomington Jefferson, St. Thomas Academy and Hopkins. They are 9-2 in the Classic Suburban Conference, where St. Thomas Academy (18-2) is 10-0.
Hopkins, the No. 1 team in 4A and the two-time defending state champion, won at Henry Sibley 87-52 on Saturday. A couple of days before that game Dasovich said, "We're probably going to get crushed."
His prediction was based on two major factors. One was the talented opponent, the other was a depleted roster. Warriors senior forward Phil Haig, a talented quarterback, was on a football recruiting visit to Illinois and missed the game.
Dasovich, a 1996 Hopkins graduate who played football at St. Cloud State, said he expected to have a good season. Just maybe not this good.
"One of the things I think a lot of people underestimated was not just the quality of our players but how much time these guys dedicate to working on basketball," he said. "These kids work very hard. But if you had said we'd be 17-4 right now with the nonconference schedule that I put together, I probably wouldn't have expected it."
Hopkins coach Ken Novak said he is not surprised to see his former player succeeding as a coach.
"Das was a consummate team player," Novak said. "I knew he'd do a great job [as a coach], and the reason why is he's very positive. The glass is always half-full with him. You can see that with his team, they play very much in a positive style."
The Warriors are a young team, with only two seniors among the top eight. Leslie is the leading scorer, followed closely by 6-8 senior Anders Halvorsen. Chris Halvorsen, Anders' 6-6 sophomore brother, and 6-10 freshman Jake Kreuser lend a tall presence to the team's future.
Anders Halvorsen said the news of Mbakwe's departure hit hard, but it didn't take long for the Warriors to realize what they still had.
"It was a couple days before school started and we were surprised," he said. "We didn't think that was going to happen. But after we played a few fall league games we realized we could still play pretty good basketball."
Pretty good indeed.
John Millea • jmillea@startribune.com
©2007 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
