1996 girls basketball team from Hastings team honored by MSHSL

The awards just keep coming for the 1996 Hastings High School girls basketball team.

The Raiders won a state title that year, and have recently been honored by the Minnesota State High School League.

This year the MSHSL is reflecting on 100 years of state basketball tournaments. The first was held in 1913. This year’s girls tournament is scheduled to begin this weekend, and the boys tournament is set for next weekend.

The finish of the 1996 HHS team was one of five honored by the MSHSL for the top finishes in the girls state tournament history.

The MSHSL wrote it up like this:

Hastings 54, Osseo 52

1996 Class AA Final

Osseo was a prohibitive favorite to win the 1996 title and, indeed, Hastings missed their first 10 shots of the game and the first 11 of the second half, and trailed by nine at 2:37 of the third quarter. But Hastings stormed back, and a short jumper by 6-foot junior forward Erin Ditty gave Hastings a 53-51 lead inside of one minute. Osseo missed a tying free throw and a potential winning three-pointer as time wound down, and Hastings made a free throw for a final score of 54-52.

Top shot honored, too

Ditty was also honored individually. Her shot was one of six that the MSHSL awarded as a top shot.

From their website:

“Osseo was a prohibitive favorite to win the 1996 Class AA championship. Hastings missed its first 10 shots of the game and first 11 of the second half. So, the Raiders trailed by nine with 2:37 left to play. Miraculously, they came back to lead 53-51 on an Erin Ditty baseline jumper with just under a minute to play. Osseo was able to add one point to its total but never caught up. Hastings won 54-52 and it was Ditty's shot that was the difference.”

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