Marcus Okeson has experienced what many longtime basketball head coaches never get to see -- a state tournament.
Not that a trip to state is unique in itself, but Okeson completed this feat in his first year as a head coach, and he nearly took it all the way to a state championship.
Okeson's Ellsworth Panthers were narrowly defeated by Rushford-Peterson in the Class A state championship by the score of 55-52, shaving a 14-point deficit to three points before succumbing to the Trojans.
"It was unbelievable," said Okeson of his journey to the state championship game in his first year as a head coach. "I never dreamt I would be coaching in the state tournament at the age of 25. It was a pretty lucky thing, and I had a great bunch of kids."
The Frazee 1999 graduate didn't have much live coaching experience before he landed the Ellsworth head spot. After graduating from Bemidji State University in 2003, he became the assistant head coach at Ellsworth for one year.
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But it was that one year as an assistant which aided Okeson's challenges in becoming a first-year head coach.
"It was nice being an assistant that one year, because I got to know the kids and their abilities," Okeson said. "The challenge was getting the kids to buy into my philosophy."
The Panthers bought into Okeson's X's and O's philosophy, and they did it pretty quickly. Ellsworth stormed off to a 14-0 start, before losing its first game to state-ranked Russell-Tyler-Ruthton. The Panthers shared the Camden Conference title with R-T-R, before meeting up with their rivals again in the section championship.
The game was one for the ages, as Ellsworth and Okeson found themselves down by 18 points with 3:45 remaining in regulation.
"We scored on our final eight possessions, it was just amazing," Okeson said of the comeback. "The kids just didn't want to quit playing basketball."
The Panthers eventually completed the comeback and earned their trip to the state tournament.
Okeson had his work cut out for him in his inaugural year, being forced to start two sophomores and two juniors. But the young players were not your normal, off the street players.
The players shot a lofty 54 percent from the floor as at team during the season, while Aaron Vanderstoet netted 137 three-pointers on the season, which is second best all-time in the state's history.
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Sophomore point guard Cody Schilling was a hardwood beast himself, using his 6-4 frame to average 26 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists on the season. He already has 1,700 points in his young career.
"We had five kids who could shoot the ball," Okeson said. "We could stretch the defense, even though we were a little undersized."
Okeson's philosophy was to take the season in one-game win streaks, which resulted in a 26-4 record. That rolled over into the state tournament, where the Panthers defeated Stephen-Argyle 74-62 in the quarterfinals, then toppled Osakis 70-63 in the semifinals.
"The kids were so mentally focused for the state, there were no nerves," Okeson said. "And it was just a special thing to be part of a state championship game. The buzz around the arena was unbelievable. The atmosphere was great."
Now that Okeson has pretty much set the bar as high as any first-year coach can set it, he is confident his returning team next season can be just as potent.
"We have three returning starters and two of our leading scorers," Okeson said. "We may have a bulls-eye on our back now, but like I told the kids, it's great to have those high expectations after coming off a season where they were not so high."
