High School Coach of the Year: Liz Carpentier
When Molly Mogensen Molly Mogensen 5'7" | PG Farmington | 2020 State MN and Liz Carpentier embarked on their journey together five years ago, the player and her coach were part of a Farmington program that had won just three games the previous season. They had to start from scratch, build a winning culture and incorporate a lot of impressionable young talent along the way. Now, with this season officially over, Farmington goes into the record books as the state 4A finalist, Mogensen is a decorated senior headed for Division 1 ball at Creighton University, and Carpentier has earned a significant accolade of her own: Prep Girls Hoops 2019-20 High School Coach of the Year.
“Coach and I have been through it all together,” said Mogensen, the #7-ranked player in the class of 2020. “She has been by my side through all the good and the bad. I can go to her for anything. She has held me accountable as a player and a person. She has taught me how to communicate with my coaches and teammates. She has pushed me to be the best that I can be in all aspects of my life, especially being a leader. Coach has been one of my role models for the past five years, and she has always had my back. I will be forever grateful for all that she has done for me.”
The feeling is mutual, and one that is shared by everyone in the Farmington program that we have spoken with. People say you can’t win in girls basketball unless you first get the team culture right. Carpentier has most certainly done that.
“Our culture is like no other. We all love being around each other on and off the court,” said junior guard Paige Kindseth Paige Kindseth 5'10" | CG Farmington | 2021 State MN , a top 10 player in the class of 2021 who has been instrumental in the program’s ascent. “We do so many team bonding events throughout the season and in the summer, and they aren’t always related to basketball. We are truly one big family no matter what we face.”
Matt Froehle, who coaches Minnesota Fury 2023 UAA, is a volunteer assistant at Farmington. He started coaching with Carpentier at Eagan High School more than a decade ago and has seen her impact first-hand. “The culture that she has built at Farmington is really something special,” Froehle said. “The girls work so hard and are so good to each other. It’s the best I’ve ever been around and that doesn’t happen by accident. The girls in the program are coached very hard, but they also know they are important and loved… Liz is great at building relationships with players. She really cares about them as people first and athletes second. The girls love her.”
Communication is so important on any team, and all championship squads do it well. Carpentier, who was known as Liz Mundahl during her playing days at St. Olaf, holds individual meetings with players to constantly remind them of their roles, build up the players’ confidence and reinforce what they are trying to do as a group. Assistant coaches Tom Cross and Amanda Schilling each play crucial roles in keeping everything moving in a positive direction. “We are fortunate that Coach works at the high school and has an open door policy so we can go and talk to her about anything at any time. We are also able to text and call her whenever we need to,” Kindseth said. “She is always concerned about our overall well-being.”
A run to remember
After going 3-24 the year before Mogensen and Carpentier teamed up, Farmington was 6-21 during the 2015-16 season. The year after that the Tigers climbed to 13-15, then 19-10 before making it all the way to the section finals in 2018-19 and finishing the season with a record of 24-5. This year the Tigers got off to a flying start, but then Kindseth and Mogensen got hurt in the new year and things could have gone south very quickly. Except that’s not what happened. Instead, junior Peyton Blandin Peyton Blandin 5'8" | SG Farmington | 2021 State MN and sophomore Rose Wille Rose Wille 5'8" | SG Farmington | 2022 State MN were thrust into the limelight, being called upon to do much more than had been expected of them before. Both responded to the Nth degree, as did Katelyn Mohr Katelyn Mohr 5'9" | CG Farmington | 2020 State MN and Morgan Ebel Morgan Ebel 5'7" | SG Farmington | 2020 State MN .
“When I was put into a new role I was very nervous,” Wille admitted, “but Coach was always there to tell me everything was OK. She was so supportive and encouraging. She let me play through my nerves and if I made mistakes she wouldn’t take me out. Instead she let me learn and keep playing through it, which made my self-esteem go up knowing I had a coach who trusted and believed in me.”
That belief paid off. Farmington continued to win. In fact, they didn’t lose another game. The Tigers went on to capture the South Suburban conference title and Kindseth returned just in time for the Tigers’ state tournament run. Farmington made it all the way to a date in the 4A championship game with mighty Hopkins. As we all know by now, that game never happened thanks to a series of global events none of us could ever have imagined. Carpentier’s Farmington squad finished with a record of 29-2.
Of course the kids will remember this season as something special, but their memories of their time at Farmington will run much deeper than that. “Every year, coach has the captains read a Jon Gordon book about leadership and positivity,” Mogensen explained. “In those books it talks about how to change the culture of a team starting at the bottom. Those books are a reflection of what coach has done here at Farmington. She has taught us all how to serve our community and be good role models for the younger players coming into the program. She has held us accountable for our actions and for our play. She not only changed the culture at Farmington, she changed our lives.”
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Joan Conway, Waseca
Joan Conway runs a tight ship at Waseca. The Bluejays defend with passion, execute with precision and play hard every time out. This year they overcame significant adversity, first moving on from the graduation of the great Madison Gehloff Madison Gehloff 5'8" | SG Waseca | 2019 State MN (Southwest Minnesota State) and then dealing with the loss of their best player, UM-Duluth commit Gus Boyer Gus Boyer 5'10" | CG Waseca | 2020 State MN , who went down Jan. 30 with a torn ACL. Most of us figured Waseca’s hopes for post-season glory were done at that point. How wrong we were. Conway, along with assistant coaches Matt Potter, Aaron Kanewischer and Taylor Phelps, rallied her kids and they responded as Brittney Draeger, Gabby Rodriguez, Jaden Hiller, Hannah Potter Hannah Potter 5'11" | PF Waseca | 2020 State MN , Rachel Breck Rachel Breck 6'0" | PF Waseca | 2020 State MN and others rose to the occasion. Waseca went 25-6, making it all the way to the class 2A state tournament where they won their first-round game before the event was called off.
Tiffany Stubbs, Concordia Academy
Things got off to a rough start this year at Concordia Academy for head coach Tiffany Stubbs, who is just three years removed from her own playing career at the University of Northwestern in Roseville. The second-year head coach was faced with overcoming the graduation of forward Lydia Lecher Lydia Lecher 5'11" | PF Concordia | 2019 State MN (Hamline) and the Beacons began the 2019-20 season by losing eight of their first nine games. When the calendar turned to 2020, however, Concordia got on a roll, won 15 straight contests, and never looked back. With junior point guard Ivane Tensaie Ivane Tensaie 5'7" | CG Concordia | 2021 State MN leading the way, Stubbs oversaw tremendous improvement from the likes of Sydney Pelzer Sydney Pelzer 5'9" | SF Concordia | 2021 State MN , Gracie Coultas, Grace Landvik Grace Landvik 5'8" | CG Concordia | 2021 State MN and Sydney Hackett. The Beacons upended their long-time rivals from Minnehaha Academy to advance into the class AA state tournament. Stubbs, whose father Ron is a long-time high school coach in Iowa, saw her team finish with a record of 20-10.
Brian Cosgriff, Hopkins
We could put ‘Cos’ on this list every year, couldn’t we? Some folks think it’s easy coaching a bunch of thoroughbreds into contention season after season. Those folks would be wrong. No coaching staff works harder, is more prepared and deals with more challenges every year than Hopkins. This year’s media circus surrounding all-world guard Paige Bueckers Paige Bueckers 5'11" | CG Hopkins | 2020 State MN made it even more challenging than usual, but Cosgriff and company did their job and did it well. Tip of the hat to assistant coaches Mike Contreras, Karl Schroeder, Mike Winston, Barry Cosgriff, Dre Jefferson and many others who work hard behind the scenes and never get enough credit for the Royals’ success.
Chris Brustuen, Blaine
Getting the most out of your top players is one of the key attributes of every successful coach. Blaine’s Chris Brustuen did an outstanding job of that this season, helping Bengals senior Kayla Bohr Kayla Bohr 5'10" | CG Blaine | 2020 State MN take her game to a new level and capture the Prep Girls Hoops Breakout Player of the Year award. His one-on-one coaching and mentoring of Bohr played a huge role in her success. He also helped Anna Garfield have her best year in high school while Madison Hoehne Madison Hoehne 6'0" | SF Blaine | 2021 State MN , Lexi Imdieke Lexi Imdieke 5'8" | SG Blaine | 2022 State MN and Allison Terry each had outstanding seasons in their own right. Blaine went from 7-20 one year ago to 18-10 this season, earning the #2 seed in Section 7AAAA before losing a heartbreaker to Forest Lake.
Top photo: Head coach Liz Carpentier of Farmington. (Photo courtesy of Pioneer Press)