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’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 Century in the state championship the previous year. “We knew this game was going to be a challenge,” Amundson said, “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 claimed. He added that the team had already won two games with buzzer beaters so far that season—one which he assisted on.

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

He approaches Schimke from behind and sees his opportunity. He steals the ball from Schimke, turns around, takes one dribble, and shoots a few feet behind the three-point line. The ball leaves his fingertips, and the crowd goes silent—everyone up on their feet. The feeling of tension and suspense in the stadium is unbelievable. The buzzer sounds. Then… swish.

The crowd erupts with a sound unlike any other.

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

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

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 explained, “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 said. “But my brother way 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 along with the sounds of the erupting stadium will always remain fresh in his mind, along with the thousands of people who were fortunate enough to experience it from the crowd.

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