Photo by Jake McNeil Russell-Tyler-Rutton senior boys basketball coach Darren Gravely (left) presents the Section 3A championship trophy to seniors Drew Workman and Blake Christianson (3) after the Knights defeated Central Minnesota Christian in the championship game at section at Southwest Minnesota State University on March 14. After graduating four key members of their rotation following last year’s state championship, the Knights rallied late in the season to finish the year 24-9 with a section championship. As a result, Gravely is the 2023-24 Independent Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.
TYLER — After last season’s state championship, the Russell-Tyler-Ruton boys basketball team graduated three of its top four scorers and eight of its top 10. No one would blame the Knights if it took them a year to recover. Instead, they rallied through the home stretch to claim their third straight sectional championship under head coach Darren Gravely, the 2023-24 Independent Boys Basketball Coach of the Year. It’s also the second straight year that Gravley was named our Coach of the Year.
“I’m so proud of this team — and I’ve said it many times — for forging their own identity.” he said seriously. “We completely changed the things we did offensively this year and everybody agreed. We had great leaders with our team captains Blake [Christianson]Drew [Werkman] and Carson [Gylling]. It was just a phenomenal season and a lot of fun.”
The Knights had a tough opening night tie, facing the Dawson-Boyd Blackjacks in what was a rematch of last season’s Camden Conference and Section 3A Championship games. The Blackjacks had claimed the conference championship, the Knights claimed the section title, but this time the Blackjacks were the heavy favorites as the No. 2 team in Class A. They beat RTR 72-65 and after a win over RRC, RTR dropped to 1-2 after a 75-37 loss to Southwest Minnesota Christian.
“We had to change our style of play a little bit. It took the guys – and even myself – a while to find the things that worked best for the team.” Gravley said, specifically citing the switch from zone to man defense as the catalyst for the team’s turnaround in performance. “We made a switch about midway through the season and just went straight to man-to-man, which I think was easier to be consistent.”
Defense is something the Knights like to hang their hat on, Gravely said, and it showed in the way they played on the court. They have held their opponents under 70 points in 11 of their last 12 games.
Another consequence of going from zone to man, Gravely said, is the Knights’ improvement on the glass. The team struggled at times with communication during defensive rebound situations, so the defensive changes largely solved the problem.
Werkman and Christianson had entered the season as key contributors to last year’s state championship. Werkman was named Independent Player of the Year last season as the Knights’ second-leading scorer on 64 percent shooting from the field, while Christianson was a consistent role player with another 6 points per game. Still, with plenty of holes in the offense after graduating most of their previous rotation, they’ve had to adapt just like everyone else.
The way everyone from the starters to the players coming off the bench began to embrace their roles as the season progressed was a key component to the team’s late-season success. Additionally, SMER transfer Andrew Myers has begun to fit into the rotation after missing the first month of the season with a sprained ankle.
“It took time with him in the rotation to get everybody comfortable and learn how to read each other and learn how each other plays.” Gravely said. “To learn to trust each other and understand how we as teammates get along, not only on the floor, but off it as well. That chemistry really started to develop when we got to February and it carried us all the way through the playoffs.”
RTR lost at home to Hills-Beaver Creek, 52-41, on Feb. 1. It was the last time they lost until the state championship. They rattled off 12 straight wins from there, including an 83-65 win over Hills-beaver Creek on Feb. 26 and a 64-54 win over the Patriots on March 9 in the subsection championship game. In the sectional finals, they defeated Central Minnesota Christian by 20 points.
The Knights are again graduating seven seniors this year, including Werkman, Christianson, Gilling and Meyers. Still, with Gravley at the helm, don’t count on the Knights needing a rebuilding year.
