Larson named on All-State honorable mention team

“It was a good season,” Larson said, noting the only reason he knew his stats was because his mom kept track.

“So I had to look at them,” he said.

The only stat he didn’t know? Larson posted a double-double in 22 out of 23 games.

“Preparation for it,” Larson said as the key factor to his big season. “I’ve prepared a long time for this season.”

The gym rat is well on his way to 1,000 points — he had 478 this year — and if his first year as a starter is any indication of the future, than things are looking up.

“We knew back in eighth-grade we had a player capable of doing what he did,” Vikings head coach Jeff Maish said.

As L-BF’s lone go-to player on the inside, the sophomore constantly battled double teams and was harassed in the post. He consistently found open spots on the floor, however, and used an all-around game to exploit inferior defenses.

“Garrett is an exceptional passer and he handles the ball well,” Maish said. “That’s what got him his points.”

His season-high point totals came against Bigfork (Jan. 29, 24 points), Babbitt-Embarrass (Jan. 26, 26 points), Greenway (Feb. 1, 29 points) and Hill City (Feb. 4, 34 points).

And he certainly got noticed. Larson, who quarterbacks the football team and plays varsity baseball, was selected to play this spring on the 2010 High Impact AAU team coached by Jeff Buffetta out of Mountain Iron-Buhl. International Falls’ Gunnar Anderson is on the team, along with other players from all over the northern region of the state.

His goals next year are strictly for the team, however. This year’s L-BF squad finished 15-8 and was bounced in the first round of the Section 7A tournament by Mesabi East, the eventual section champs.

“I’d like to just get more than 15 wins, cause that’s what we had this year. And get further in the playoffs,” he said.

His coach often witnesses the hard-working side of Larson.

“He always wants to do better,” Maish said.

The 2010 Minnesota Associated Press All-State high school boys basketball team, as voted on by statewide media:

PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Marshall Bjorklund, Sibley East

FIRST TEAM:

Marshall Bjorklund, sr, Sibley East

Kevin Noreen, sr, Minnesota Transitions

Joe Coleman, jr, Hopkins

Jacob Thomas, sr, Columbia Heights

Alec Brown, sr, Winona

SECOND TEAM:

Dyami Starks, sr, Duluth East

Estan Tyler, jr, St. Paul Johnson

Trevor Gruis, sr, Ellsworth

Chad Calcaterra, sr, Cloquet

Ben Bucholz, sr, Perham

HONORABLE MENTION:

Garrett Anderson, sr, Blue Earth Area; Matt Anderson, sr,

Dawson-Boyd; Matt Bauduin, sr, East Grand Forks; Kyle Bauman, so,

United South Central; Joe Beck, sr, Lake City; Ian Berg, sr, Sibley

East; Mark Blacklock, jr, Winona; Anders Broman, fr, Lakeview

Christian Academy; Preston Brunz, sr, Mankato West; Lucas

Buttenhoff, sr, Mayer Lutheran; Cory Camerer, sr, New

Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva; Ben Cameron, sr, Cass

Lake-Bena; Jordan Clark, sr, Faribault Bethlehem Academy; Shaun

Condon, sr, MACCRAY; Peter Crawford, sr, Benilde-St. Margaret's;

Joey Cuperus, sr, Sebeka; Jordan Dick, sr, Wabasha-Kellogg; Tyler

Dillon, sr, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown; Mike Drager, jr, St.

Clair; Blayne Erie, sr, Goodhue; Aric Elton, so, Spring Grove;

Michael Emge, jr, Faribault; Brett Ervin, sr, Eden Prairie; Taylor

Filipek, sr, Willmar; Brendon Foss, sr, Hancock; Calvin Godfrey,

sr, Robbinsdale Cooper; Connor Grupe, sr, Martin County West;

Connor Gunderson, sr, Austin; Alex Hanks, sr, St. Cloud Tech; Nick

Hanson, sr, Waseca; Taylor Hanson, sr, Minnehaha Academy; Tyler

Hebrink, sr, BOLD; Neil Helgeson, jr, Kimball; Adam Hjelter, jr,

Hutchinson; Mark Hoge, sr, Crosby-Ironton; Jake Holt, so, Windom

Area; Galen Holzhueter, sr, Minnesota Valley Lutheran; Brett

Hungerholt, sr., Lanesboro; Michael Johnson, sr, Grand Rapids; Yuri

Johnson, sr, Ada-Borup; Tyus Jones, 8th, Apple Valley; Charlie

Kern, sr, Belle Plaine; Charles Kolstad, sr, St. James; Dan

Kornbaum, sr, Little Falls; Tanner Kramer, sr, Hayfield; Garrett

Larson, so, Littlefork-Big Falls; James Lazarcik, sr, La Crescent;

Blake Lea, sr, Rushford-Peterson; Nick Lee, sr, Blue Earth Area;

Yuri Malashenko, sr, Jordan; Blake Maslonkowski, jr, St. Cloud

Apollo; Travis Meinders, sr, Worthington; Jordan Milbrath, sr,

Springfield; Shelby Moats, jr, Waconia; Cooper Nelson, jr, Blooming

Prairie; Kyle Noreen, jr, Minnesota Transitions; Zach Noreen, sr,

Albany; Scott Nystrom, sr, St. Cloud Tech; Clay Olstad, sr,

Plainview-Elgin-Millville; Cole Olstad, jr,

Plainview-Elgin-Millville; D.J. Peterson, sr, Hopkins; Nick

Quicksell, sr, Woodbury; Zach Quiring, sr, New Ulm; Brodie Raymond,

sr, St. Peter; Sam Richards, sr, West Central Area; Alex Richter,

jr, Lakeville South; Zach Riedeman, sr, Forest Lake; Jordan Riewer,

sr, Staples-Motley; Max Rosenbloom, sr, St. Paul Johnson; Mike

Rostampour, sr, Henry Sibley; Tom Schalk, jr, Apple Valley; Jared

Schultz, sr, Fergus Falls Hillcrest Academy; Tom Schwandt, sr,

Moorhead Park Christian; Bobby Sherwood, sr, Mahtomedi; Marvin

Singleton, jr, Hopkins; Jordan Smith, sr, Orono; Bryan Sprang, jr,

Irondale; Cavan Stackpool, jr, Virginia; Eric Stark, sr, Grand

Rapids; Erik Tengwall, sr, New London-Spicer; Joe Terfehr, sr,

Breckenridge; Vaughn Thada, jr, Owatonna; Jonah Travis, jr,

DeLaSalle; Tyler Trosen, sr, Cass Lake-Bena; Tyler Vaughan, so,

Braham; Jace Whitcomb, sr, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted; Jordan

Wiesen, sr, Canby; Martin Wind, sr, Cass Lake-Bena; Johnny Woodard,

so, Duluth East; Freddie Young, jr, Brooklyn Center; Kyle

Zimmerman, sr, Champlin Park.