-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla St. Edmond celebrate after beating Bishop Garrigan during 1A Substate Finals on Saturday in Humboldt

HUMBOLDT — From 2004-12, the St. Edmond boys qualified for the state tournament six times, leaving Des Moines with four runner-up finishes.

Those around the program directed by Adolph Kochendorfer likely kept reservations at their favorite hotels on tap come March.

But since that silver trophy 13 years ago was added to the case, the Gaels have struggled. Just five seasons with a winning record were achieved, including four below .500 from 2019-23.

Last year, though, the tides began to turn. Led by a youthful bunch, St. Edmond went 12-12, reaching a district final. They came into this season with higher expectations than have been seen in many years, and on Saturday night here, they fulfilled the quest, punching the 14th state tournament appearance in school history with a 78-61 win over Bishop Garrigan.

And it all kind of left Kochendorfer speechless.

“I told the kids after that I never thought I’d be doing this again,” said Kochendorfer of receiving a state-qualifying banner from Humboldt athletic director and former Eagle Grove standout Ryan O’Hern. “It just felt like I was going that way, riding off into the sunset without making it to state again.

“But we got a bunch of great kids who came together and work hard. It’s pretty neat and they deserve all the credit for it coming together.”

Kochendorfer, who led St. Edmond to its lone state champion in 2000, has been the head coach of record for all four runner-up finishes. He owns 593 career victories – which places him 19th on the all-time list – with 490 of those coming with the Gaels.

The substate championship win over the Golden Bears was a perfect blend of both Kochendorfer using his experience with the players taking advantage of their strengths.

Junior all-state candidate Hunter Horn had another double-double, 11th-grader sixth-man Carson Bargfrede knocked down three of the nine 3-pointers for the Gaels and classmate Jack McElroy came alive with a career-night.

“It took (former St. Edmond standout Jack) Brownlee three-plus years to understand how important the jump-stop can be,” Kochendorfer smiled. “Jack has got that down as a big part of his game. He’s just had a great week of practice and has been shooting the ball so well. He had a great warmup and so instead of saying anything at all, I just kept quiet.”

The fourth-ranked Gaels will join a loaded Class 1A field that includes No. 1 Bellevue Marquette, second-rated Madrid, No. 6 Gladbrook-Reinbeck, eighth-ranked North Linn and quarterfinal round opponent No. 9 Woodbine.