• Advertise
  • Donate
  • Subscribe
    • Become a print subscriber
    • Sign up for e-Newsletter
    • e-Editions
Monday, September 25, 2023
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
      • Photo of the Week
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Notices
      • Legals
      • Announcements
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
      • Photo of the Week
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Notices
      • Legals
      • Announcements
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
No Result
View All Result

Johnson Patterson’s return to North recalls her legacy

by Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald
February 10, 2016
14
SHARES
281
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on LinkedIn

 

Prep sceneFaith Johnson Patterson coached the Eden Prairie girls’ basketball team to a 56-39 nonconference girls’ basketball victory over Minneapolis North.

What makes this game a little more special than others for Johnson Patterson — who starred at Marshall University High School in Minneapolis during the late 1970s before a stellar career at the University of Wisconsin — was that the victory came at the school she put on the map during an improbable 15-year run.

It was her first time back at the school since she left to coach DeLaSalle in 2009.

From 1995-2009 Johnson Patterson led the Polars to heights no other Minneapolis City Conference team has come close to experiencing.

- ADVERTISEMENT -
Faith Johnson Patterson
Faith Johnson Patterson

She led North to 10 state tournament appearances and five Class 3A titles during that span with a group of players who became household names in girls’ basketball. Metro Player of the Year winners Tamara Moore (1998) and Mauri Horton (1999) — who each were named the state’s Ms. Basketball that year — led the Polars to their first two state crowns.

Mia Johnson, Daria Fraizier, Tyrai Bronson and LaRaea Starr were all part of the teams that three-peated from 2003-05.

From 2005-2008, North would endure a City Conference and state tournament drought that coincided with the arrival of Minneapolis South phenom Tayler Hill, who herself during her senior year in 2009 led South to the Class 4A state title with a 47-point performance.

It was also during that year — Johnson Patterson’s last at North — that she would turn in what many consider one the best coaching jobs of her career.

With Senior forward Brianna Edwards — who would go onto to star at Providence College — and eighth graders Seanna Johnson, Allina Starr, Talayiah Rich and Chelsey McGee, North finished runner-up in the Class 2A state tournament.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

The next year, Johnson Patterson left North and, with Johnson and Starr blossoming into two of the state’s top players (Rich and McGee went on to Robbinsdale Cooper), led DeLaSalle to a Class 3A three-peat as state champs from 2011-2013.

After the 2014 season she moved on Eden Prairie.

It was Crystal Flint, the current girls’ coach at North, who got the word out about Johnson Patterson’s return to the school in which she developed outstanding women who are role models to the community.

In another twist of irony, Tisa Thomas and Krystal Taylor — both of whom played on state championship teams for Johnson Patterson while at North — are assistants on Flint’s staff.

Before North’s 15-year run on the landscape, girls’ basketball in Minnesota was White. Johnson Patterson definitely changed that.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Simply put, she’s the best!

 

Mitchell Palmer McDonald welcomes reader responses to mmcdonald@spokesman-recorder.com.

Support Black local news

Help amplify Black voices by donating to the MSR. Your contribution enables critical coverage of issues affecting the community and empowers authentic storytelling.

Donate Now!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Gopher gymnast on a quest for perfection

Next Post

Normandale president is ‘someone to look up to’

Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald

Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald is a contributing columnist at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

You Might Also Like

Legals

Notice of Hearing by Publication (Minn. Stat. § 518B.01, subd. 8)

Legals

Notice of Hearing by Publication (Minn. Stat. § 518B.01, subd. 8)

Jobs & Opportunities

Invitation to Bid

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Jobs & Opportunities

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Legals

Notice of Hearing by Publication (Minn. Stat. § 518B.01, subd. 8)

Hollywood labor dispute nears end as Writers Guild reaches tentative deal
National

Hollywood labor dispute nears end as Writers Guild reaches tentative deal

Next Post
Normandale president is ‘someone to look up to’

Normandale president is ‘someone to look up to’

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
ADVERTISEMENT

Upcoming Events

Sep 12
September 12 @ 6:30 pm-December 18 @ 9:30 pm Recurring

Vic Volare Presents MUSIC FOR MARTINIS ft: Vic’s Fabulous Nightclub Academy

Sep 25
6:30 pm-8:30 pm

Community Roundtable with Ayodele Casel and Torya Beard

Sep 26
7:00 pm-9:00 pm

Climate and Equity in Minneapolis: What we could win in this year’s budget

Sep 27
8:00 am-12:45 pm

It’s Time to Talk: Forums on Race™

View Calendar
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Read our latest e-Edition!

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Subscribe

  • Home/Office Delivery
  • Weekly e-newsletter
  • e-Editions

Support

  • Donate
  • Subscribe
  • MSR Newsstand Locations

Connect

  • About
    • MSR Staff
  • Contact
  • Send a news tip
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

No Result
View All Result
  • News & Features
    • Local
    • National
  • All Sections
    • Arts & Culture
    • Health & Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • MN Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Business
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
      • Small Business Month Celebration
    • Opinion
    • Sports
  • Events
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • Donate
  • Subscribe

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: