Rasmussen family continues state tradition

 DES MOINES -- Attending the state basketball tournament at Wells Fargo Arena has become somewhat of a tradition for the Rodger and Beth Rasmussen family of Elk Horn.
 In 2011, the Rasmussen’s two sons - Ryon, a senior at the time, and Dayton, a junior - were key members of Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton’s boys basketball state qualifier.
 Starting in 2015, oldest daughter Maggie went to the state tournament three years in a row - making the semifinals twice - as a major contributor on the Spartan girls team.
 Now in 2021, the family’s youngest daughter, Mollie, has kept tradition alive.
 Mollie averaged 13.4 points per game this season for the fourth-ranked Spartan girls, who completed a 24-1 season in the Class 1A state tourney semifinals on Friday.
 That’s four kids and five state tournaments now for the Rasmussens, with a chance for six next year when Mollie is a senior.
 “I think this one is a little bit more special because this is our youngest and it’s getting closer to the end of being able to watch the kids,” said Rodger Rasmussen prior to last week’s first round game. “It’s just been a pleasure to watch.”
 Rodger said the family doesn’t really have any annual traditions when it comes to the state tournament, other than perhaps rushing out the door on day one and trying to get the whole family organized with tickets in hand.
 There’s also a rule. “No more chicken parmesan” the night before a game, said Rodger, noting that Maggie came down with a bad case of food poisoning the night before her first-ever state tournament game in 2015. She still played - with a bucket underneath her chair on the bench - and scored six points in the team’s 63-48 win over Bedford.
 “She was bound and determined to play,” Rodger said. “She was not going to miss it.”
 Rasmussen says that all of his kids have been helped by great coaching throughout their careers at Exira-EHK and Elk Horn-Kimballton.
 “My biggest thing is all of my kids have been blessed with such great coaching. Not (just) basketball, but baseball, softball...,” he said. “The boys had Tony Petersen in baseball, Maggie had Jana Smith in softball and then you’ve got Doug Newton in (boys) basketball, you’ve got Tom Petersen in (girls) basketball. (The boys) had (Tom) in football. Wow, that’s a lot of wins right there.”
 Rodger added that this year’s girls team was a very “close-knit” unit. “They’re just so close and you can tell they’re just playing for each other,” he said. “Such a fun time of year.”
 Mollie Rasmussen said that it’s been fun to carry on the family tradition this year and she hopes to add to it in 2022.
 “It’s crazy that we’ve all been here,” she said. “It’s an amazing experience. My family has pushed me to do everything I can do.”