Sports Memories: March 17, 2023

March 14, 1963 - Anoka beat Princeton 54-42 in the District 16 title game at Augsburg College after Princeton (21-3) led 26-24 at halftime. Steve Lindell scored 17.

March 14, 1968 - Tom Enger, Jim Rajala and Steve Carlson were all-conference in basketball . . . From the Dorr's Doodles column: More than 13,000 attended the District 18 basketball title game between Edina and Richfield.

March 15, 1973 - Jim Olson placed 13th in the 400 freestyle at the state swim meet . . . Cambridge beat Princeton in the District 16 semifinal basketball game at St. Cloud at St. Cloud as Tom Rogde led with 13. The Tigers beat Milaca 56-55 in a previous district game as Tom Holbrook had 23 points and 12 rebounds.

March 16, 1978 - Princeton didn't have high school hockey yet and  the closest thing, the midgets, lost 3-1 to Cambridge in the finals of an Elk River "house" tournament . . . Michelle Ziegler placed 10th on the uneven bars at the state gymnastics meet. 

March 17, 1983 - After rallying for a 54-50 win in a subregion win over Foley, Princeton (11-9) lost to Duluth East 73-45. In the Foley game Tom Hallbeck (14 points). Tom Blomberg (14 points 11 rebounds) and Brian Dorr (10 points, 7 assists) led the way, Nathan Murphy had 9 and Blomberg and Dorr 8 each in the East game. Coach John Gloege predicted good things for the next season and turned out to be right. The team was 17-4 and advanced to the section semifinals.

March 17. 1988 - Chris Klinghagen had 17 and Eric Minks 10 as Princeton (13-9) lost 72-69 to Cloquet in a section quarterfinal game on a Monday afternoon game in Hibbing. Princeton had beaten Chisago Lakes 65-49 in a subregion game.

March 18, 1993 - Princeton lost 90-75 to North Branch as Brent Hofman scored 23 and Brian Mismash 20 . . . The Princeton girls team (18-7) lost 62-42 to St. Francis in Section 7AA semifinals at UMD.

March 12, 1998 - The boys swim team placed 10th at state and Chris Anderson placed third and seventh in freestyle events . . . Princeton (14-9) lost 71-66 to Cambridge in a section quarterfinal game as Jeremy Olson scored 19 . . . The B1 bantam hockey team finished 48-4-6 and was ranked first in the state. 

March 13, 2003 - The boys hockey team lost to Orono and Fergus Falls at the state hockey tournament, 5-4 in overtime to Fergus Falls who overcame a 4-3 Tiger lead in the third period, Goals in that game were by Joey Bacon (30th), Charlie Ross (20th), Travis Schneider (13th) and Karl Larsen (17th) . . . Charlie Tindell placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke and eighth in the 50 freestyle at the state swim meet . . . The boys basketball team (14-14) beat Cloquet 65-54 in section play and then lost 68-66 to Grand Rapids despite scoring eight points in the final 33 seconds. Eli McVey had 31 against Cloquet and 20 against Grand Rapids, aided by 18 from Tyler Gronli.

(Luther Dorr compiled these items, is the former editor of the Princeton Eagle (2 years) and Princeton Union-Eagle (32 years), and has written about sports in the Princeton area for the past 55 years.)