Larry Gray gathered his Heartland Christian players in the pregame locker room and asked his returnees if they remembered what they were doing last year at this time.

“We were on the road at the Omaha Homeschoolers. We were playing in that gym that was horrible,” he said, describing it later as dark, dingy and cold, with just a few chairs lining the court. “We were playing a meaningless basketball game, trying to finish up a season. We just wanted the year to come to an end.”

Heartland Christian played in a bright, shiny gym on Monday night, with actual bleachers. There also were banners on the wall, acknowledging St. Albert’s 10 state-tournament trips and two state championships.

Many across southwest Iowa and the state...

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