Photo by Sam Thiel Members of the 2000-01 and 2001-02 Marshall girls basketball team pose for a photo during a halftime ceremony honoring their state championships at the Marshall girls basketball game against Hill-Murray on Saturday. Front row (L to R): Steph (Bolden) Ford, Laura (VanOverbeke) Jenson, Maria (Carrow) Ryan and assistant coach Trent Sukalski. Back row (L to R): Coach Terry Culhane, Trisha Nuese, Stacia (McKee) Reynolds, Regan (French) Craigmile, Erin (Culhane) Bendzick, Bri (Henn) Hommerding, Breha Holcomb, Amanda (Anderson) Fogelson, Jamie (Brink) Thordson, Shannon (Bolden) Nelson and assistant coach Bruce Remme. Not pictured: Erin (Meulebroeck) Salstrom, Shaska Hansen, Jennifer Hoffman, Jaclyn (Snell) Sunderland, Allison Louwagie, Amber (Buysse) Ahltheide, Chelsey (Roberts) Robinson, Dani Baumann, Sarah (Wyffels) Missal, Sascha Hansen, assistant coach Heather Brinkman and assistant coach Camille (Graven) Osmonson.

MARSHALL — When the final buzzer sounded, members of the 2000-01 Marshall girls basketball team began to celebrate on the hardwood floor of Williams Arena. They had just won the Class AAA state tournament with a 56-39 victory against North Branch, finishing the season 28-1. The win was also a historic one, as it marked the first girls state championship in school history.

With much of the roster returning the following year, Marshall not only capped off the season with its second straight championship (61-46 victory against Minneapolis North), but also did so without dropping a single game with a perfect 29-0 record.

20 years later, the current Marshall girls basketball team got a chance to honor those teams and the coaches and players who paved the way before them with a short ceremony at halftime of their game against Hill-Murray this past Saturday.

Regan (French) Craigmile, who was a senior forward on the 2000-01 team, said it was exciting to be reunited with her former teammates and coaches and celebrate what they were able to accomplish as a group.

“Very elated because what we went through in 2001 and 2002 was unprecedented for girls and girls sports back then,” Craigmile said. “It’s just amazing to see everybody and celebrate everything that we accomplished when we were younger.”

Craigmile added being a part of the first girls championship team was a surreal feeling and it was worth all of the hard work and dedication they put in.

“It was something you can’t really put to words,” Craigmile said. “Just all of the hard work, blood, sweat and tears; the shootarounds we did and everything, it was all worth it. It was just amazing to be a part of that first [championship] team.”

Marshall coach Dan Westby said both of those teams were “must-see basketball” and they really brought the community together.

“I don’t think people realize what those teams did for Marshall and anybody who was around at the time, those teams were must-see basketball,” Westby said. “People in town came out in droves to watch those teams play and they were fun teams to watch; they played so hard together and it really was a fun group.”

Terry Culhane, who was the head coach of both teams, said he wasn’t sure what to expect when he first took over the coaching position at Marshall in 1997, but once he saw those players, he knew they could do something special.

“When I came to Marshall High School and Marshall to teach, I ended up being offered the girls basketball coaching position and I didn’t have any idea what I was getting into. Then when I got here, I thought ‘We have a lot of good young players,'” Culhane said. “I was fortunate enough to have a superintendent that said ‘We expect you to win.’ I like that, you don’t hear that very often from superintendents. So we started at it and it’s really their effort and that battle and they stayed with it and I think that has helped the basketball program ever since. We’ve been competitive and it’s all because of them.”

Shannon (Bolden) Nelson, who was a forward on both teams, said what made those seasons special was the strong bond between the players and coaches.

“Absolutely the relationships with our teammates and coaches. You make lifelong friends, so we’re here with our best friends who we spent so much time with, so many hours in the gym, time in the hotels, traveling, all of those things; I think playing in sports and I think a lot of people can attest to that, is you make your best friends there,” Nelson said. “Just the relationships we were able to develop and now being able to come back and see everyone has been really special, so I think most of our memories are related to our friends and teammates and the relationships we built.”

Nelson added all of the coaches were instrumental in developing them into the people they are today and helping them get through all of the challenges they faced.

“Of course it’s players but it’s so much about coaches too and I think he’s [Terry] very humble and I think he kind of puts it back on being about the players and of course we’ve got to put in the time, but our coaches developed us and they spent time with us and they taught us so many lessons that helped us persevere through difficult times and challenges, so without those coaches we wouldn’t have gotten to where we got as well,” Nelson said.

As the current MHS girls basketball team prepares for its final game of the regular season on Thursday against Sioux Falls Roosevelt and the section tournament, Craigmile said she’s kept up with their teams over the years and is excited to see them continue their success across all levels and create history as a program.

“We follow as much as we can,” Craigmile said. “Now that I’ve grown up 22 years later from when we did it, we have little ones coming up through the program, so it’s a lot of fun to watch these teams and be a part of that and be a part of the history and the foundation they are able to build off of.”