A duel of coaching greats set

A combined 1,312 prep basketball victories will be on display at 6 p.m. Saturday when the Mounds View Mustangs tip off against the Staples-Motley Cardinals at Staples.

Mounds View head coach Ziggy Kauls is third on Minnesota's all-time win list with 675 victories. Staples-Motley head coach Lynn Peterson is fourth with 637.

This will be the third time the two Minnesota Basketball Association Hall of Fame coaches have battled. The first was during the 1986-87 season, with Mounds View winning 48-46. Chad Walthall and Matt Nelsen were the Cardinals' star seniors, Arden Beachy was an upstart sophomore and current Pequot Lakes Patriots boys' basketball coach Garry Grewe was a Cardinals assistant.

"We had a full house," said Peterson. "We were rated high and they were rated high that year and they beat us by two."

Staples-Motley vs. Mounds View

What: Boys' basketball

When: 6 p.m. Saturday

Where: Staples-Motley High School

The rematch occurred in the 1989-90 season and Mounds View won that game. S-M was led by Bernie Salthe, Chad Christensen and Ryan Beachy.

"We couldn't play the next year for whatever reason but we managed to schedule them again," Peterson said. "I got a call from Ziggy and he said, 'You pay our transportation and we'll come up to your place again.' They just loved the atmosphere of the gym.

"They're really looking forward to coming up again. They're going to bring up a big crowd. They've already called me looking for a good place to eat."

This year the Cardinals (1-0) are ranked seventh in Class 2A, while Mounds View (1-0) is rated 12th by the Minnesota Basketball News in Class 4A.

JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5856.