As the Austin boys basketball team made its run to the state tournament over the past couple of weeks, the crowds and the support seemed to grow with each and every game in the tournament as people began to realize just how special the team was.

While we all witnessed the fruits of the team’s labor throughout this winter, the Packers’ rise to ascension began long ago.

When I first arrived in Austin as a sports editor in 2007, I can recall a little boy and his siblings who would be shooting three-pointers at every single Riverland basketball game. That boy was Tate Hebrink, who is now a junior and is now a standout guard for the Packers.

Since RCC would sometime give away pizza coupons as rewards for shooting contests I used to joke that Hebrink and his siblings were on an endless quest for pizza. However, Hebrink was actually on an endless quest to become a better shooter and basketball player and he has certainly pulled it off.

Fast forward a couple of years to 2014 when I was covering Mer Gach in her junior season with the Packers and I recall seeing a couple of young kids in red hoodies stepping on the court after the girls basketball game was completed. Almost immediately, they were knocking down a flurry of three-pointers.

It wasn’t a big surprise when I realized those boys were Both Gach and Duoth Gach, the younger twin brothers of Mer, who played at NJCAA Division Lake Region State College this season, and Gach Gach, who will most likely land a Division II basketball scholarship in the near future.

As the years went on, the Gach’s and Hebrink continued to pour their spare time into playing basketball as they grew closer and closer and friends. That kind of camaraderie is one of the best parts of high school sports, especially in a town where kids can grow up playing together.

While DeLaSalle has had some tremendous basketball teams on their way to winning six straight Class AAA titles, they don’t have the same memories if growing up together over the years that this Austin group has built up.

The Austin crowd also showed up big time at the state tournament. The AHS student section, which is known as ’The Sea of Red’ was loud and proud and they provided a ton of support for their Packers. On Sunday, the Packers held a welcome home event and plenty of youths came out to meet the team face-to-face and receive autographs.

While the Packers haven’t won a state title in any of their four state tournament appearances in the last six years, they’ve certainly accomplished a lot and they’ve left a big mark on the community.

That’s something to be proud of.

Rocky Hulne is the sports editor of the Austin Daily Herald. Follow him on twitter @Rocky HulneADH