Travis Brown stellar this weekend

[TravOforTHREE]

He scored 15 points against a tough Minneapolis South team in which Richfield beat by 17 points. His counter-part Ray Brown dropped 28. Then today against the #1 team in Class AA Braham (Richfield is #2 in Class 3A) they lost by 9 but Travis played well even though he scored 19 points (said 13 earlier, sorry!). Braham is a pretty good team and has a player that a lot of schools are looking at in Isaiah Dahlman. The Gophers really want this kid and I wonder if Northern Iowa is expressing interest. That kid can shoot, but then again so can TravO.

[Panthers to the Bone]

Thanks for the update. What position is Travis playing mainly? What position does Ray Brown play for Richfield?

[Panthers to the Bone]

Found some pictures from the game this past weekend. Travis is #34. I like the look of his shot.

http://www.perpetualbliss.net/tipoff.htm

[Panthers to the Bone]

http://www.startribune.com/stories/526/5119909.html

Patrick Reusse: Revived Richfield aims high
Patrick Reusse, Star Tribune
December 5, 2004 PATR1205

Richfield point guard Dustin Dreifke pushed the ball ahead, and Ray Brown took possession in the open court. The fans crowding the visitors side at the Minneapolis South gymnasium started to raise their voices in anticipation.

Brown went a foot above the rim and then delivered a resounding two-handed dunk.

Mike Karnes bolted from his back row location, let out a yelp and said, "We've never seen anything like that in Richfield."

The Spartans were the Twin Cities' first suburban sports powerhouse, predating Edina for that distinction in the 1950s. Richfield still was an all-sports force in 1973, when Karnes graduated with 900 other seniors.

"A year ago, my son graduated with a class of 300," he said.

The Spartans lost to Edgerton in the semifinals of the 1960 one-class boys' basketball state tournament. They were back in 1973 and 1974, losing Class AA finals to Anoka and then Bemidji.

Thirty years later, Richfield expected to make its fourth appearance -- this time in Class 3A. The Spartans were upset 48-47 by Holy Angels, their crosstown rival, in the section semifinals last March.

"I was upset at how the season finished, and then I was upset when Xavier [Crawford] left," Brown said. "I thought about transferring -- maybe going with Xavier to Mount Zion, but then I realized, 'This is my senior year. I don't want to leave the Richfield fans, or the friends I had made at Richfield in three years.' "

Mount Zion is a prep school in North Carolina. The 6-foot-11 Crawford would have been a senior at Richfield. He will play two seasons at that basketball factory in the hope of landing a Division I scholarship.

Ray Brown already has his -- to Bradley University. And so does Travis Brown, no relation but Ray's senior co-star with this winter's Spartans. Travis will join the long line of Minnesotans going off to Northern Iowa.

For now, there's the getting-to-the-state quest to occupy the Browns and their teammates. "What we're shooting for is to win it," said Ray Brown, referring to a feat the Spartans never accomplished, even in their athletic heyday.

Richfield has changed conferences three times in the past 11 years, looking for the right level of competition. It went into the Lake Red with a collection of old rivals, then switched to the Missota and four years ago joined the Classic Suburban.

The athletic glory has been infrequent in recent times, but Mike Karnes' passion for his alma mater has remained. Jay Herman and Dick Hughes are Richfield residents (although not graduates). They have become Karnes' posse at Spartans events for years -- through mediocrity and often less than that.

"We had a basketball run in the mid-'90s where we must have been 2-and-200," said Karnes, exaggerating to help put in perspective what not has happened with boys basketball at Richfield.

Travis Brown is a Richfield kid. Ray Brown followed coach Jim Dimick Jr. from Minneapolis Washburn. Dimick was fired there through the efforts -- surprise! -- of a group of disgruntled parents.

Dimick was 9-14 and 13-13 with young teams in his first two Richfield years, then the Spartans burst to 21-5 last season. There were nine seniors on that team, but the main weapons were the Browns.

Longtime residents, young families and old-line loyalists filled the 1,750-fan capacity of the Richfield gym seven times in 11 home games in the winter of 2003-04.

Last Tuesday, there was a preseason jamboree for the Spartans -- three-point shooting and dunk contests, as well as an autograph session. "We had 700 people there, including hundreds of younger kids who lined up to get our players' autographs," Dimick said.

Richfield opened its schedule with a 68-51 victory over South on Friday.

Travis Brown was not overly impressed, saying, "We have all the pieces we need, but we have to come together as a team."

The Spartans were taught a lesson in the concept of team on Saturday night, when they were whipped 72-63 by defending Class 2A champion Braham in the Tip-Off Classic at Becker High School.

Braham has its entire club back from last season, and it showed. The Bombers beat Richfield down the floor frequently and had better position on the boards all night. Richfield gave up 15 second-chance field goals in this early-season eye-opener.

Isaiah Dahlman, Braham's 6-6 junior star and Division I national recruit, was the best player on the floor in this game and scored 27 points.

The Browns had 19 apiece for Richfield.

The Spartans get a chance to play at home for the first time Tuesday night against St. Paul Harding.

"It's crazy how things have changed in Richfield since I was a freshman," Ray Brown said. "There weren't many people at our games back then. Now there is a whole lot of people cheering for us every game."

[TravOforTHREE]

Travis plays the off guard while Bobby J (That's what people in Richfield call him) Dustin Driefke plays the Point. I like Dustin's game, he's not a scorer but he reminds me of a white Mateen Cleaves or Doug Gottlieb he's the pass first Point Guard and he plays the old school way. Ray plays Small Forward. That Richfield team is going to be extremely fun to watch. Richfield is playing Cedar Rapids West? in February I think.


I love TravO's shot he has such great form, honestly guys, you're going to love this kid. He's smart academically and he plays extremely smart on the floor and he's only going to get better. Speaking of which I might go watch that game after I work on Tuesday. Harding is a solid team but Richfield should put them to sleep.