Zirg
Well-known member
DeLaSalle is a tough boys' basketball team. Disciplined, in-your-face, unrelenting.
And, if only one face could be picked to be the Islanders' image, it has to be Cameron Rundles'. The 6-2 senior guard had 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists as DeLaSalle beat Duluth East 65-47 on Saturday in the Class 3A final.
More to the point of the choice, though, are the nine stitches on Rundles' right eyebrow. And the bloody right eye underneath it from a nasty head butt.
He suffered those injuries -- and what he feared was a separated left shoulder -- in the first half of DeLaSalle's 61-56 victory over Minneapolis Henry in a section final. After going scoreless the first 18 minutes, Rundles returned the second half to score nine points while blood dripped down his face at times.
"Cameron Rundles is the toughest player that I have seen in my years in Minnesota," DeLaSalle coach Dave Thorson. "I started playing college basketball here in 1986, and I have never seen a tougher high school player than Rundles. We are so fortunate. He has carried the legacy and the tradition of DeLaSalle basketball his whole career."
Rundles has started for the Islanders since the ninth grade and this season is one of five finalists for the Mr. Basketball Award.
"He has been the kind of kid who was not necessarily always the flashiest," Thorson said, "but, boy, when it came to crunch time, he got it done. And he was just marvelous throughout the tournament."
Against Duluth East, the Islanders trailed 31-28 until Rundles hit a jumper to start a 20-4 run during which he had seven points, three rebounds, one steal and one block. Three of his points came on a shot behind the arc and, as he got back on defense, he jumped up and down in exhilaration with his team ahead 45-33.
"We just poured it out," Rundles said. "We just were tough. We are kind of undersized, but heart doesn't have a height. ... In the beginning, we knew if we played them tough and wore them down, in the second half that's when we make our runs because we are in shape and we have depth off the bench."
Thorson said Rundles, his point guard, controlled the game's tempo. "Duluth wasn't able to run," Thorson said. "They weren't able to get out in transition. Cameron did a great job of driving the car."
DeLaSalle scored 18 points off turnovers, the Greyhounds two.
"I knew my senior year was going to be a special year," said Rundles, who has signed with Division I Montana, "because of all the seniors we have. I think we have nine. And they are all are wonderful. None of them have transferred. They have all been here since our freshman year.
"We just wanted to go out smiling. And that's what we did, with help of my teammates, and the fans and the coaches."
And, if only one face could be picked to be the Islanders' image, it has to be Cameron Rundles'. The 6-2 senior guard had 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists as DeLaSalle beat Duluth East 65-47 on Saturday in the Class 3A final.
More to the point of the choice, though, are the nine stitches on Rundles' right eyebrow. And the bloody right eye underneath it from a nasty head butt.
He suffered those injuries -- and what he feared was a separated left shoulder -- in the first half of DeLaSalle's 61-56 victory over Minneapolis Henry in a section final. After going scoreless the first 18 minutes, Rundles returned the second half to score nine points while blood dripped down his face at times.
"Cameron Rundles is the toughest player that I have seen in my years in Minnesota," DeLaSalle coach Dave Thorson. "I started playing college basketball here in 1986, and I have never seen a tougher high school player than Rundles. We are so fortunate. He has carried the legacy and the tradition of DeLaSalle basketball his whole career."
Rundles has started for the Islanders since the ninth grade and this season is one of five finalists for the Mr. Basketball Award.
"He has been the kind of kid who was not necessarily always the flashiest," Thorson said, "but, boy, when it came to crunch time, he got it done. And he was just marvelous throughout the tournament."
Against Duluth East, the Islanders trailed 31-28 until Rundles hit a jumper to start a 20-4 run during which he had seven points, three rebounds, one steal and one block. Three of his points came on a shot behind the arc and, as he got back on defense, he jumped up and down in exhilaration with his team ahead 45-33.
"We just poured it out," Rundles said. "We just were tough. We are kind of undersized, but heart doesn't have a height. ... In the beginning, we knew if we played them tough and wore them down, in the second half that's when we make our runs because we are in shape and we have depth off the bench."
Thorson said Rundles, his point guard, controlled the game's tempo. "Duluth wasn't able to run," Thorson said. "They weren't able to get out in transition. Cameron did a great job of driving the car."
DeLaSalle scored 18 points off turnovers, the Greyhounds two.
"I knew my senior year was going to be a special year," said Rundles, who has signed with Division I Montana, "because of all the seniors we have. I think we have nine. And they are all are wonderful. None of them have transferred. They have all been here since our freshman year.
"We just wanted to go out smiling. And that's what we did, with help of my teammates, and the fans and the coaches."
