Saint Peter High School

Long-time Saints varsity girls basketball coach Bob Southworth has decided to hang up his coaching whistle and call it a career after leading the St. Peter program for the past 15 years.  

Southworth, a former two-sport standout at Gustavus Adolphus College and currently the president of Hometown Bank, is the Saints’ all-time winningest girls basketball coach with a stellar 308-107 career record (.742%). Included in that span were three state tournament appearances (2011, 2019 and 2024) in his tenure with the team’s most recent appearance resulting in a fifth-place finish in Class AAA. 

(PICTURED ABOVE) Saints girls basketball coach Bob Southworth takes in the action during St. Peter's playoff game against New Ulm at Gustavus back in early March.

"There is so much to admire about what Coach Southworth has been able to accomplish over the last 15 years," Saints Activities Director Shea Roehrkasse said. "It seemed like every year the Saints girls basketball team was going to be in the mix at the end of the section tournament, and that is hard to do for such a long stretch. As evident in his records and plaques his teams achieved.

"I want to thank Bob for his countless hours and dedication he has given to this school and the girls he coached. His passion and love for the program and game is evident in everything he did. He has become a staple in the area as our girls basketball coach, and will definitely be different without him on the sidelines next year. Luckily we still have Kylie around so we know we will still get to see him around the gym. I have truly enjoyed working alongside Bob the last four years, and I wish Bob nothing but the best and am excited for him in his next chapter."

Southworth's Saints' teams had 11 20-win seasons, made eight section championship game appearances with the three titles, and won four conference titles (South Central in 2011 & 2012 and Big South in 2023 & 2024).

He also coached 10 Saints players who reached the 1,000-career point at some time during their careers including AnnMarie Brown (2011), Alyssa Kerkhoff (2011), Katy Kuiper (2012), Tailor Raymond (2013), Olivia Haas (2015), Olivia McCabe (2018), Sarah Conlon (2020), Morgan Kelly (2021), Rhyan Holmgren (2024), and Annika Southworth (2025).

Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association All-State selections during his tenure included Brown and Kerkhoff (2011), Kuiper (2012), and Holmgren (2024). All-State honorable mention picks included Hass (2015), Conlon (2020), Holmgren (2023), and Southworth (2024 and 2025).

Below is a Q&A profile with Coach Bob Southworth:

How tough of a decision was it to step away? It was a very tough decision but a decision we put a lot of thought into.  There were many factors that we considered when making the decision.  Some of those were:

* Kylie is just a sophomore and has two years remaining. It would really be nice to coach her those last two years and finish my career with her.

* Annika is graduating and going to attend college (Trine University, Ind.) and play basketball at a school that is a 10-hour drive.  If I want to watch her a few times, I am going to have to miss practices and games.

* We don't have as many kids in the program playing AAU basketball.  If you look across the state and study the best teams, they typically have several kids playing in the offseason.  I am a firm believer in multiple sports and it is OK if they are not playing AAU, but then they are going to need someone that can spend more time in the summer with them developing their skills and taking them to tournaments. 

* I haven't been able to put as much time into the youth program as I was able to a few years ago.  Our youth association is as strong as it has ever been since I started, but I remember times when I knew most of the player's names all the way from 3rd grade to seniors in high school.  

* Kylie and Annika have only ever known one of their parents being the coach.  That has a lot of benefits and memories made, but it is also not always easy being the coach's kid.        Those are some of the things we were thinking about.

What have you enjoyed most about your time as head coach? 100% the kids. I have been blessed to coach a lot of amazing girls and basketball players. Formed a lot of friendships that are still strong today. I will also miss the time spent with the coaching staff after games analyzing the games and also gameplanning for our next big opponents.

What are some of your favorite memories from coaching? All the big games (section finals) that we were able to play in. I've always told the team the Section Final is the most fun basketball game you will play in, even better than the State Tournament games. The community support and how loud the arena gets is something they will always remember.

I will always remember our 3 overtime game against Marshall.  The emotional and physical rollercoaster of that game is something not many people get to experience. 

There are so many individual memories of the players I have coached, I wouldn't be able to start writing them down.  

With Kylie still having two more years to play, how much of adjustment will it be switching from coach to spectator? This will be the biggest adjustment and probably the factor that played most into the decision. She has improved so much and I can't wait to see her progress over the next two years. I will still be coaching her up and helping her work on her skills, it will just be more individual in nature and not so much of the big picture. Being a spectator will be very different for me and her but I am excited for the new experience for both of us. 

Any other comments you would like to add about your time coaching the Saints girls program? I want to thank Saint Peter High School for giving our family the opportunity to lead the program for the past 15 years. I say family because it wasn't just me. Sara and the girls were just as involved as I was. Coaching for the past 15 years has given our family some of our best memories. I also want to thank the coaches (Bill Stuewe, Corey Wiebusch, Mary Tobar, Dave Nixon, and Jodi Nixon). We had a lot of fun times and memories made.  Those are the relationships that will last long after coaching. I had great activities directors to work with – Jim Krueger, Steve Alger, Jordan Paula, and Shea Roehrkasse. They made my job easy. Lastly, I would like to say a heartfelt "Thank You" to all the players I coached. They have meant more to our family than they probably realize.

Bob Southworth’s career records
2010-11 24-4 (Section 2AA & South Central Conference champs)
2011-12 24-5 (Section 2AA runner-up & South Central Conference champs)
2012-13 17-11
2013-14 23-6 (Section 2AA runner-up)
2014-15 22-7 (Section 2AA runner-up)
2015-16 23-5 (Section 2AA & Big South Conference East division runner-up)
2016-17 23-5 (Big South Conference East division champs)
2017-18 22-8 (Section 2AA & Big South East runner-up)
2018-19 16-12 (Section 2AA champs)
2019-20 20-5 
2020-21 8-7 (Covid-shortened season)
2021-22 22-6
2022-23 21-7 (Big South Conference champs & Section 2AAA runner-up)
2023-24 29-3 (Big South, Section 2AAA champs & State AAA consolation champs)
2024-25 14-14 


Saints girls' basketball coach Bob Southworth cutting down the final strands of the net, while the team celebrates in the background, after the Saints claimed the Section 2AAA championship in 2024 and went on to place fifth at the Minnesota State Girls Basketball Tournament.

The Saints celebrated Coach Bob Southworth's 300th career win earlier this past season after defeating Jackson County Central on the road.