Embracing the final chapter
POCAHONTAS — There will come a time this coming week at the state basketball tournament when Brandon and Elle Ruffridge have their final embrace as coach and player.
The journey has been a memorable one for both, with a state championship, a runner-up finish and a spot atop the record books all being gathered.
Now, as they prepare for the last chapter, Brandon Ruffridge knows the emotions contained over this final season will begin pouring out uncontrollably.
“My wife, Karla, and I have tried our best throughout the season to not think about the end, but we knew this time would come,” said Ruffridge, who is an assistant coach for the second-ranked Indians and the school’s athletic director. “I’m not going to lie. I am probably going to shed a lot of tears when all is said and done.
“There will be one significant hug between Elle and I when the end of the road comes.”
That “hug” will carry added family memories for Brandon, as it was the same gesture given to him by his father upon the completion of his high school basketball career.
“One thing that has stuck with me throughout my life is that hug from my dad,” he said. “It was very meaningful from a lot of different avenues.
“I’m going to do my best to make the most out of this (state) week with this group of girls, but it’s going to be tough on me when the final horn sounds. These seniors and I have created an amazing bond over the years and I am extremely excited for what the future holds for each of them.”
Pocahontas Area captured the Class 3A state title a year ago, avenging a 2015 championship game loss to Nevada. They return with just a lone regular season loss — suffered at the hands of Nevada, who moved up to 4A this winter — and four starters back from that squad.
Elle Ruffridge moved to the top of the state’s career scoring charts in the final regular season game and she is a single assist away from breaking that career record as well. Faith and Grace Meyer, known as “The Twins” around the Twin Lakes Conference, have been with the Ruffridge duo since fifth grade.
“You could see signs that there might be something pretty special brewing once we got things up and running with them in fifth grade,” Ruffridge said. “I knew that (head coach Robert) Maske was wanting to implement an up-tempo style of play with lot of possessions for shots, so that’s what we set out to do from the get-go.
“Every practice and every drill was geared towards playing fast and beating the other team up and down the court. They all bought into what we were trying to do and they took it upon themselves to get really good at it.”
Since that 2013-14 season, Pocahontas Area has scored over 100 points three different times. They’ve reached 90 13 times and scored at least 80 in another 23 games.
Being a parent of student-athletes with Elle and state wrestling placewinner Shea, the role parents played to help with all of this did not go unnoticed.
“I can’t go without saying that it took a heck of a commitment from their parents throughout their younger years and up to this point,” he said. “They all put a lot of trust in me to coach their daughters and they put up with a lot of hours of me barking in the gym.
“We all put a lot of miles and hours on the roads traveling to practices and tournaments, but I think they would all tell you that it was worth every second and every dollar. The memories we’ve all made together will last forever.”
Olivia Ahlers, Ashlyn Weidauer, Danielle Neumann and Bailey Vainreb have all remained on the court with the group since middle school, while Andrea Barrett and Amanda Dornath have taken over roles as team managers.
“When they were younger, we talked about riding this thing out together all the way through to the end,” Ruffridge said. “They’ve done a great job of molding as a unit and accepting their roles.
“Kenzie (Sullivan) joined us when she was a sophomore with the athletic sharing agreement with Laurens-Marathon, while Payton (Hjerleid) came from Decorah her junior year. Both have been great additions and fit right in with this class.
“It’s really rare anymore to see nine seniors on a roster because there just aren’t always that many minutes in a basketball game for each one to get the court time that they want. I think they’ve done a good job accepting that for the most part and that can sometimes be a difficult thing for some kids and some parents these days.”
Prior to starting on their own high school journeys, Ruffridge took the trio to the state tournament during their seventh and eighth grade years.
“We wanted to give them a taste of what someday the could have,” he said. “From there on, they set the bar high to play in Wells Fargo Arena as much as possible and bring home trophies. You hope and pray that things go the way they dream, but there are so many variables that can stand in the way throughout the process that you just never really know.”
One of those road blocks came when they were freshmen, as Western Christian stopped that dream a game short in the regional finals. Pocahontas Area cleared that hurdle the following year on its way to a runner-up finish before achieving the ultimate goal by “cutting down the nets” last year.
Over the last 104 games played with a Ruffridge or Meyer in the lineup, the Indians have won 97 of them. All three girls were also part of a state cross country championship team and have had success on the volleyball court, as well.
“They’ve created a lot of excitement with what they’ve accomplished on the basketball court,” he said. “Our gym usage by youth teams is at an all-time high, which is wonderful. But I think it’s really important to point out that it hasn’t just been basketball where they’ve left their mark.
“They’ve shown you can be a multi-sport athlete and yet compete at a very high level without specialization in just one thing. They are all honor students and work extremely hard in the classroom giving a true meaning to student-athlete. They are involved and active in a lot of different things throughout our school and communities, and sometimes I wonder how they manage their time, but they’ve figured it out and made it work.”
Faith and Grace Meyer will play basketball next year at Morningside College, while Hjerleid has signed to play volleyball at Southwest Minnesota State University.
The impact Ruffridge has made on the group is one that will stick with them for years to come.
“My favorite thing about (Brandon) being my coach is that he truly cares about each of us as individuals and he wants us to succeed,” Faith Meyer said. “He has always pushed me to be the best that I can be. He always told us ‘loosey goosey have fun,’ which helped us relax during a game and play our game.”