Becca Dahlman, Anders Broman contend for Minnesota scoring record

A very unique scoring race has developed this year in Minnesota high school basketball. But surprisingly, the competition is relatively unknown.

Following Tuesday's 44-point effort, 5-foot-9 senior guard Becca Dahlman of Braham (Minn.) is the career scoring leader with 4,306 points over her six-year career. However, 6-2 senior guard Anders Broman of Lakeview Christian Academy (Duluth, Minn.) boys team has 4,295 points during the same six-year period and he has a game on Thursday.

It should be pointed out that this is not a personal duel of any kind. It's just two great players winding up brilliant careers. It's probably going to come down to who plays the most state tournament games.

Dahlman broke the state girls record as a junior and early this season she broke the boys record of 4,086 points. Then Broman passed her up. Now he trails again.



"She's a great player," Broman told MaxPreps. "I know she has worked hard and it's great that things are working out for her. I don't look at it that way (as a duel), but it's kind of a cool situation, too."

Dahlman returned the compliment when she said, "His shot is the best shot I've ever seen. He is an unbelievable shooter. He has a great stroke and is so quick. Just to think that could happen (win the race) is a great opportunity. I'm not at all conscious (of the record) in games. That would be a cool thing. But I'm just trying to get ready for college, to make myself better at everything and win a state championship."

Both attend small schools. Braham is a Class 2A school with approximately 65 students per class in grades 9-12. Lakeview Christian is Class A with about 15 students per class in the same number of grades. Both players score a high percentage of their team's points, but teammates accept and play their roles well.

Their backgrounds, however, are quite different.

Click 'Next' to read more about Dahlman and Broman.{PAGEBREAK}Dahlman's Story Becca's family is filled with three generations of basketball blue bloods. Start with her maternal grandfather, 96-year-old John Kundla, who led the Minneapolis Lakers to five NBA titles, later coached at the University of Minnesota and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.

Her mother Kathleen and father Nate both played and coached basketball. And all six of their children (four boys, two girls) have excelled at the sport. In fact, Isaiah, the oldest son, held the state scoring record (3,366 points) when he graduated before heading for Michigan State University. He still ranks No. 4. Isaiah and Noah won three state titles and Becca has won once.



She fondly recalls her times with grandpa Kundla.

"He tells me to play defense like you drive a car, because it's so important," she related. "His stories — I could sit down with him for hours and hours. He is so proud of me and has had such a huge impact."

When Becca was in fifth grade, her father predicted that she would be the best player in his family. She had started playing organized basketball in first grade and always played with much older girls. She was also toughened up every day by tangling with her older brothers.

Nate recalled that when he was coaching, Becca never shied away from older competition.

"She ran sprints with our older girls. She is the most fearless kid I've ever met," he said. "They (her brothers) were really tough on her. Anytime you play a game, there's no mercy. She took lots of bumps and bruises, but she gave them out, too. I don't think she has more skill than a lot of players, but nobody is tougher than her."

As a seventh grader she was already playing varsity basketball and became a regular early in the year following an injury to an upper classman. She finished the year by averaging 13.1 points.
 
She admitted, "I did feel a lot pressure. I was so immature and so little (5-5). I was scrawny and weak, but I could play defense. I wasn't afraid of getting after it. I would not back down. I fear to lose. I hate losing and I'll do anything to get that 'W'."

As an eighth grader, Becca averaged 18.8 points and received her first scholarship offer — from the University of Iowa.



"I was getting my name out there," she said. "I was like, 'Wow, this is really happening.'"

Entering her freshman year, Becca got a new coach, Tim Malone, who was actually recruited by her father.

Malone calls her "very much a gym rat. Her game is modeled after a boy's game. I wouldn't be surprised if she could start on a lot of boys teams. She's had very good coaching and has an unbelievable work ethic and drive. (As a ninth grader) her skills were phenomenal."

Becca raised her scoring average to 27.3 as a freshman and helped her team (28-5) finish second in the Class 2A state tournament.

The Bombers took it one step farther during her sophomore year and captured their first state title with a sparkling 31-2 record. She again raised her scoring average — this time to 29.4 — and won her first of two Minnesota Player of the Year awards from the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

"That was by far the best team I've ever played with," Becca said. "We had so much chemistry. Every day we pushed ourselves to the max and it paid off. It felt unbelievable. It was our first title ever."

She again raised her scoring average as a junior, to 35.5, as the Bombers posted a 29-2 record. During that season she exploded for a career-high 56-point game and set the girls state career record with one year left.



"I was focused," she said of the 56-point effort. "When I'm in a zone ... I remember that game like no other."

This year Becca is averaging 33.3 points and the Bombers are off to a surprising 12-0 start. In one game she shot a perfect 19-for-19 from the free throw line.

"I get to the free throw line a lot," she said. "You just attack and don't back down. I have a really quick first step. My junior year I fouled out a lot. Not this year. I still get a lot of charging calls on me, because I attack the rim."

Becca already holds state records for free throws attempted (1,288) and made (972).

Her father calls those records "just phenomenal. They may never be broken. She really attacks the basket and is pretty explosive. She's not a beefy girl, but very strong. What she was given is a gift from God and she is learning to give thanks. She is a little girl who has grown up to be a warrior and is very independent."

The Dahlman family began a Christmas tradition three years ago — a game of "HORSE". Becca hasn't won it yet and she's definitely not a happy camper, because she had Isaiah down this year (she had "H" and he had "S") and he beat her with "junk" shots.



They don't play as many 2-on-2 or 3-on-3 games as they used to, but Becca points out when they do play the games are always competitive and full of "trash talk."

Ironically, Becca's great career has probably been enhanced by the fact that her family has no computer or television set. The computer was taken out by her parents because it wasn't being used properly by at least one family member and when the TV set went out it simply was not replaced.

"I just stay productive and go to the gym more. I guess it's helped my game," she said, laughing.

She lists her idols as older brother Isaiah and Ohio State University star Tayler Hill, whose state career scoring record she has surpassed.

Becca carries a 3.9 GPA and has accepted a full scholarship to Vanderbilt University, where she plans to study accounting.

Despite all the trick defenses she has faced during her career, Becca may have a weakness that has not yet been exploited.

"I love wearing different headbands," she revealed. "I have every color of the rainbow. I could not play without a headband."



So, there it is, defense. Steal all of her headbands and then you have her right where you want her. It will be just like cutting Samson's hair.{PAGEBREAK}Broman's Story Anders Broman is somewhat different from Becca, who has a long family basketball history. He came to Lakeview Christian Academy as a kindergartner and while he definitely liked basketball, he had no heritage driving him to become a great player.

Still, he can recall when he was around age five and his brother, Bjorn, was 3 1/2, they used to have "full-court" games in their living room with miniature basketballs on short poles with attached hoops.

"We used to be in deep sweat before we went to bed," he described. "Our dad kept score and he tried to end each game in a tie. We caught on pretty soon."

His father, John, represented the U.S. as a ski jumper in the 1980 Olympics and was the first American to win a World Cup event in 1981.

But Anders and his younger brother did not follow in their father's ski steps. They also passed up hockey, perhaps the state's favorite sport.

Anders explained with a laugh the possible reason for him taking to basketball: "Because my parents didn't want to have to pay for all the hockey equipment. Everyone up north loves hockey."

So he started playing in a local league as a first grader and joined the school team when he reached third grade.



"I was never bad, but never super good, either," he said.

At the end of his sixth grade year, Anders attended a meeting for the next year with new coach Bob Newstrom, who was quite surprised to hear the youngster ask, "How old do I have to be to play varsity basketball?"

Looking back, he explained, "I thought I could (make the varsity in seventh grade), but I wanted to find out and it worked out well."

Newstrom pointed out to the youngster that he had to earn the privilege.

"I really admired his confidence and over the years I've come to accept that," said Newstrom. "He quickly found a spot in our rotation (in seventh grade) and started after a while. The first year we managed to win our first-ever game against a public school team."

Broman averaged 8.1 points as a seventh grade point guard and the Lions posted a 6-19 record.



"The first couple years were kind of tough. The older guys didn't like me," he said. "I can understand that now, looking back. We weren't too good, either."

With the arrival of coach Newstrom and the Broman brothers, the Lakeview Christian basketball program began taking on a new look. It has evolved from somewhat of a "recreational" program to very competitive with a major schedule uprgrade, year by year.

The Lions began to growl when Anders shifted to shooting guard as a freshman and Bjorn took over at point guard as a seventh grader.

Anders' transition actually began the summer prior to ninth grade when he decided to do more than just shoot in his driveway. He joined an AAU basketball team and began playing at the YMCA.

Early in the year, Newstrom was running a drill and watched Anders sink three consecutive shots from the 3-point line.

He admitted, "That made an impression on me. It didn't take a rocket scientist. I ran it (the drill) a few more times and changed our offense."

After averaging 18.2 points as an eighth grade point guard, Anders averaged an outstanding 32.2 as a freshman shooting guard and the Lions posted a winning record (17-11). The Lions won their first-ever playoff game and Anders was greeted by something new — trick defenses.



However, he was greatly encouraged by his team's new-found chemistry and decided to dedicate himself to the sport year-round.

"I always loved playing, but never really did a workout — certain drills over and over," he said. "Before I was just shooting. Now I had a purpose. Every time I'd get in the gym, I'd try to get better."

Having reached 1,000 career points as a freshman, he quickly went over the 2,000-point mark during his sophomore year in which he averaged 37.3 points.  The Lions compiled an outstanding 28-2 record and missed making the final eight in the state tourney by a single game.

Still, his game needed to improve.

"It was kind of a frustrating year for me," he said. "They (opposing defenses) focused on me with a box-and-one or triangle-and-two with two on me and I had never played against that."

Whenever he is guarded by a single player, it's a rare but welcome sight.

"It's nice to see that," he said. "I try not to show any expression, but I'm definitely happy in my head."



As a junior, Anders exploded for 71 points, which is second in state history (the record is 90), during a 114-110 loss to Melrose (Minn.). The Lions trailed by 20 points at the half and nearly pulled it out.

"We both liked to run and we used a shot clock, but it was irrelevant," Newstrom related.

Anders finished his junior year with a dominating 43.7 scoring average and the Lions made the Class A state tournament. Anders was slowed by the flu and they lost their first-round game to the eventual state champion, finishing with a 25-6 record.

Breaking the boys state career scoring record this year was special for a couple reasons other than the obvious.

First of all, younger brother Bjorn got an assist on the record basket. Secondly, the Friday of that week was officially proclaimed Anders Broman Day in Duluth.

"It was kind of nice to get it done," he said. "Everybody always was asking about it. What really made it cool was that my brother got the assist. I love to play with him. It was kind of crazy. I felt very blessed about that."



It's no wonder that Anders shoots 60 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the free throw line.

His workouts are legendary. He said as a freshman he had to make his last 15 free throws before he could leave practice or a workout. Now he has to make 40 straight — or start over. Newstrom said that his star tries to make 400 three-pointers every day.

His tireless efforts have encouraged some teammates to join him, his brother and his father in workouts to seek their own self-improvement.

Anders has a 3.85 GPA and has received a full scholarship to Division I South Dakota State University where he plans to study exercise science so he can stay involved with sports throughout his lifetime.

Newstrom looks back fondly at Anders' still-incomplete career and says, "He's a great story and such an easy guy to pull for. In our circumstances — when one player scores most of the points — envy creeps into the picture. These kids are so remarkably absent of this issue. The rest of these guys who labor in relative anonymity are not begrudging him that."

Concerning whoever winds up with the career scoring record, Anders says his focus is elsewhere.

"Whatever happens, happens. I'm not thinking about records, because I can get caught up. I'm just trying to become the best player I can and win as many games as I can."