Mar. 12 -- MADDOCK, N.D. -- When the buzzer sounded and the Benson County girls' basketball team was celebrating their state title win on Saturday, March 8, all of the players' families were on the floor, but only one of the families had the tournament MVP and the state title winning head coach.
This season, Wildcats head coach Bryan Kenner and his daughter, Aubrey, helped lead their team to a 26-2 record, a District 4 title and the state crown.
"When you're coaching your kid, especially in a state tournament run, you don't really get time to be a dad and cheer for her," Bryan said. "She's an amazing player and she had an amazing tournament. Her getting MVP is a dream come true for her and me as a dad but when you're coaching her every day, I just gotta coach her like she's a player. ... It's a little different perspective. But it's pretty amazing."
Despite being a few days removed from the state title game, both Bryan and Aubrey said the win has not sunk in for them yet.
"You always dream of those moments, you dream of storming the court with your student section and community following you and just really being able to celebrate that amazing moment with everyone," Aubrey said.
In the three state tournament games, the Wildcats outscored their opponents 179-137. In the state championship game, Kenner scored 19 points and recorded two rebounds and one steal.
This season, Aubrey averaged 19.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.0 steals per game.
Bryan said one of the coaches his team played against during the state tournament texted him that Aubrey is the best defender in the entire state.
"That means a lot because it's hard to have perspective when it's your kid because you always think they're great," Bryan said. "But when other people are telling you that, then you can kind of believe it a little bit more when it's somebody you've gone up against. Her defensive assignments are always difficult. She did an amazing job on number 11 for Kenmare (Mashae Miller) in that championship game and she runs the front of that press that causes a lot of chaos and leads to a lot of steals. So what she does there probably gets overshadowed by the scoring she does sometimes but her defense I think is more important."
Bryan said the team was escorted into Maddock on Sunday, March 9, by the local police and fire departments.
"It was amazing. It just shows how supportive our community has been through it all, through even just making it to state they were so proud of us and they were so proud of us for making the championship game and then winning it all," Aubrey said. "It was just amazing and there were so many speeches and it brought so many tears of joy. It was really amazing and we're so blessed with our supportive community."
In the coming days after the state tournament, both Aubrey and Bryan will be sitting down and rewatching all three of the team's tournament games.
"It should be great and it ... helps us bond. It helps us stay close and should be very special," Aubrey said.
This season was Bryan's second as the head coach after being elevated from assistant coach after the departure of Kent Neppl. Bryan said he was hesitant to accept the head coach position because of the pressure that comes with coaching one of his kids.
"So it wasn't something I was honestly really excited about right away but then I know this team and I know these kids and it's really just about finding somebody that's willing to put in the time and make them believe," Bryan said. "In a small community it's hard to find people to do that. The head coach gave me the example, was my mentor, he gave me the confidence to do that and it's been great."
Aubrey said she learned how to deal with the father-coach dynamic from watching former teammate Quinn Neppl and her father, Kent, deal with it.
Heading into the season, Bryan said he knew his team was good and would be a top-five team in the state but he did not expect them to be the best team in the state.
Heading into the state tournament, the Wildcats were ranked at No. 3 in the Feb. 23, NDAPSSA poll. In the Feb. 3 poll, the Wildcats found themselves at the No. 1 spot.
Bryan said his team played their best basketball of the season in their final six quarters. While Bryan said he knew his team had the potential to win the state title after they beat defending champions Mayville-Portland-Clifford-Galesburg in the District 4 championship game, Aubrey said she knew it earlier. Aubrey said she knew they had a chance when they took part in a preseason tournament with Kenmare/Bowbells, Maple River and Central McLean and they had success against those three teams.
Aubrey and five of her teammates do not have very much time off before they jump into getting ready for the track and field season.
Bryan said the fact that his team has as many track athletes as they do helps him run the up-tempo, high-conditioning style of play that he likes to run. He said his players could be in better shape and conditioned than their track teammates who weren't playing basketball.
"They're pretty good track athletes and I think that probably contributes a little bit to some of our success and the way we play is that they like to get up and down the court in transition," Bryan said. "When they're conditioned for track it's a similar mindset I guess."
Last year, Aubrey competed in four different events at the state track and field championships, the 800-meter race, the 300-meter hurdles, the 4x800 relay, and she threw the javelin. Her best finish of the event was fifth place in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:22.15.
"I think that obviously we're all gonna rest up so that we're not burnt out by the time the track meets actually roll around but I think us that being so well conditioned in basketball is really going to help us," Aubrey said. " .... Track also helps out with basketball. When you have to compete in an individual sport it helps with that nervous feeling when you're on the line for a free throw, when you feel like it's all on you like these individual competitions really help out with that."