ST. PAUL — A core of players who have done a lot of winning for the Austin boys basketball team played their last game for the Packers as they lost to DeLaSalle 82-61 in the Minnesota Class AAA third place game in St. Paul Saturday.

Tate Hebrink, who has been on varsity since he was a freshman, Duoth Gach, who was brought up to varsity as a sophomore, and Moses Issa, who took his game to new levels this season, along with Austin seniors Nyagoa Obany, Luke Hawskhead and Logan Braaten all took to the floor for the last time. While the season ended in a loss, Austin head coach Kris Fadness was reflecting on all of the winning the Packers (27-4 overall) had done this year.

Austin tied for the Big Nine, it played in its 31st state tournament in school history and it had some huge victories in the regular season, including one over Class AA state champion Minnehaha Academy.

“I’m happy with this group and they’ve given us a lot of great memories,” Fadness said. “In my 21 years at Austin, we’ve had some of our biggest wins I’ve ever had this season. Beating Minnehaha Academy, beating Lakeville North and beating John Marshall, those are great wins. When you’re playing against Matthew Hurt, Jalen Suggs and a great Lakeville North team on their home floor, those were the best wins I’ve had in my 21 years here.”

Although no Austin players have made any college commitments yet, plenty of these Packers will have an opportunity to play college basketball. Hebrink, Gach and Issa will all likely play at the next level to and Obany may play at the next level as well.

Hebrink said it’s hard to see his run as a Packer come to an end without a state championship.

“It’s tough,” Hebrink said. “We’ll never be able to play together again. It’s time to start a new chapter in our lives.”