Amundson's Shot at Victory

It was about this time five years ago that Kade Amundson, a senior at Century High School, made a shot that will remain in Century High School’s history as one of the best of all time. It was the Western Dakota Association (WDA) semi-final game, and Amundson’s team was down by two points with only a few seconds remaining.

The game against Minot High was especially tense because they were the team that had beaten CHS in the state championship the previous year. “We knew this game was going to be a challenge,” Amundson says, “and we were going into it with a bit of a chip on our shoulders.”

To add even more pressure, the winners of this game would be moving on to compete at state, while the losers would have only one more shot to fight for their chance to move on.

“We were feeling pretty good going into this game. We were on a 21-game win streak,” Amundson claims. He adds that the team had already won two games with buzzer beaters so far that season—one which he assisted on.

CHS and Minot High had been back and forth the whole game. “Both teams were playing really well,” Amundson emphasizes. With two seconds left on the clock, Lofton Klabunde, the senior player from Minot that Amundson was guarding, inbounded the ball to his teammate, Alex Schimke. Amundson immediately turned around to trap Schimke at the half-court line alongside his teammate, Cade Feeney.

Amundson approached Schimke from behind and saw his opportunity. He stole the ball from Schimke, turned around, took one dribble, and shot a few feet behind the three-point line. The ball left his fingertips and the crowd went silent—everyone up on their feet. The tension and suspense in the stadium were palpable. The buzzer sounded. Then… swish.

The crowd erupted with a sound unlike any other.

Amundson’s teammates surrounded him. His coach, known for being stern and uptight, began to run around the court celebrating and pumping his fist. It was a moment of pure euphoria.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” Amundson exclaims.

In this moment of triumph, no one was prouder of Amundson than his family. His parents, siblings and soon-to-be fiancé were beaming in the crowd.

“It was unbelievable,” his father, Darby Twardoski, explains, “I think what I remember most about it was the response throughout the civic center with the crowd and the noise and the coaches celebrating.”

Amundson’s brother relives the story in a very different way. “As a fifth or sixth grader you don’t really pay much attention to the game,” Michael Twardoski says. “But my brother was playing so of course I was paying attention.”

“I remember him going up for that three and I was like, ‘no way that goes in.’” He adds. “Then when he made it, everyone was screaming and I just remember yelling repeatedly at the top of my lungs, ‘that’s my brother!’”

Michael Twardoski summed up the feeling best, “It’s something I’ll always remember, because I was so happy for my brother.”

Century High School’s basketball team rode this high into the WDA championship and went on to win the 2018 State Championship title.

Although five years have gone by since Amundson took this shot, the feeling of pure bliss and the sounds of the erupting stadium will always remain fresh in his mind, along with the thousands of audience members who were fortunate enough to experience that remarkable moment from the stands.

                    Kade Amundson in the WDA Semi-Final Game (Photo by Minot Daily News)