JEFF CAGLE
Posted: Saturday, January 24, 2009 9:07 pm

OWATONNA — Jill Knight and Judy Vaughn had left the village of Benton, Wis. around 5:30 a.m. Saturday to watch Matt Savatski, Knight’s nephew and Vaughn’s grandson, play against Bethlehem Academy at Owatonna High School.

The 233-mile jaunt took them through Dubuque, Iowa, and then through Rochester before arriving at Owatonna High School around 11 a.m. It’s not the kind of road trip they make often.

“It’s an opportunity for the kids,” Knight said.

This weekend, Owatonna High School became the hub for the third annual Border Battle, where schools with good basketball programs from Minnesota and Wisconsin compete against each other to see which state dominates the court.

Parents and other supporters from Benton began to arrive Friday evening. Benton is a small village of 1,000 residents and a high school population of 80 people.

Mike Sandlin, a Benton resident and stepfather of Benton High School junior John Lyne, said this is the longest road trip he has taken to watch a basketball game.

The previous distances they’ve traveled have taken them to high schools about an hour away. Sandlin said he and his wife traveled to watch the girls basketball team compete in Bloomington, Wis., Friday night on their way up to Owatonna.

“It’s not bad I guess,” he said. “Everyone knows everyone by first name.”


Other teams from Wisconsin included Roncalli High School in Manitowoc, which traveled 335 miles; Hamilton High School in Sussex, which traveled 310 miles; Kaukauna High School, which traveled 296 miles; and Wisconsin Rapids High School, which traveled 226 miles.

Owatonna High School earned an automatic spot for playing the host. Other teams from Minnesota traveled less than 100 miles to get to Owatonna. Participating teams traveled from Faribault, Plainview, Minneapolis and Mendota Heights.

Justin Hegna, owner of Breakdown, a Web site that promotes high school athletics, helped organize the Border Battle tournament.

He said that Owatonna had a good location for schools from the Twin Cities metro area.

The organizers said they try to pick teams that have similar records to be able to bring some competitive games, especially when it’s a nonconference or a section playoff game.

“Those are the types of games that are fun,” Hegna said.

Josh Williams, OHS boys basketball coach, said this was not only a great opportunity for his team to compete against a great school from Wisconsin but it’s also a great opportunity to show off the school and the community to visitors.

Previous hosts include Tartan High School in Oakdale, and Verona High School in Verona, Wis. Next year’s tournament has already been scheduled to take place at Memorial High School in Eau Claire, Wis.



Jeff Cagle can be reached at 444-2378.