Friday Night Predictions
It’s late February meaning every game is a preparation for sections or a fight for section seeding. What are the top games tonight? We predict the best games in state.
Columbia Heights at Brooklyn Center. A lot of talent on the floor for the 18-7 Hylanders and the 17-7 Centaurs. These teams somewhat mirror one another in athletic ability, talent, and size. BC is hotter winning eight in a row (before the DeLaSalle loss on Tuesday) but Heights had won nine in row before running into DeLaSalle and Minnehaha. I say Heights wins to avenge earlier in the year and because they are a bit bigger and more experienced.
Johnson at Highland Park. This is a must win if Highland (19-4) wants to squeeze into that Twin Cities Championship game. They did the job beating Central the second time around but must avenge the earlier loss to Johnson and then cross their fingers hoping for 13-11 Central (9-1 in league) to lose to Como or Humboldt (not likely). Highland wins.
CDH at Woodbury. Huge game. Massive game. Not for rankings, this is more important than that. CDH is a half game behind East Ridge and Woodbury for the SEC title. Both teams must win to keep pace with East Ridge. As far as seeding goes the teams in 4AAAA are so close to one another it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is getting an easier for round game (1 and 2 will get Stillwater or WBL where as 3 and 4 have to deal with NSP and Central). So winning this game would be huge for the QRF and eventually seeding. After watching both teams last weekend I pick CDH.
Crosby-Ironton at Hinckley-Finlayson. I love this game. If they weren’t going to play in sections very soon (barring a major upset) it would be game of the night. In fact if I could of used a sick day from teaching to get there without getting caught, or if I had a plane, I would be there. It’s 20-2 CI against the 21-3 Jags. The game is like a late season football game in that the teams will just compete and not show much as they are likely to meet in the sub-section semi-finals as the 2 and 3 seeds very soon (Esko is the easy one seed). I feel like the Rangers are eight points better tonight.
St. Thomas at Tartan. STA is in third in the Metro East and if they win tonight, they will be tied with Tartan for second. Imagine that! Jason Birr has done great things with this team. That said Tartan controlled the previous game and I believe they will again tonight with an 11 point home win on Tartan senior night.
Waseca at Marshall. Injuries and a couple close losses have sent the Jays a setback late in the year. What better way to cure a struggle than play Marshall! Not what the doctor ordered at all. Marshall won the first by 17 and they are at home tonight against a wavering Jays team. I say Marshall by 16.
Hopkins at Eden Prairie. Hopkins changed things up, avenged losses to Edina and Wayzata, they’ve won six in a row and now EP is in front of them. Royals by nine and I really think that if Hopkins plays the way they did against Wayzata and Woodbury they have a real shot at pushing for the state semis (if they can get by Wayzata in the rubber match). EP is reeling hard losers of four of their last five including a loss last Friday to Tonka (they’ve had a week off).
Waconia at New Prague. Another red hot team is Waconia who has won six in a row including wins over Waseca and Orono. Tonight they fall though. Not as bad as the 61-37 loss earlier in the year, but a 13 point loss to New Prague.
Spin the Tail!
Here are five random selections closing the eyes and finding a game to predict!
The 16-9 Randolph Rockets get win 17 beating Grand Meadow at home finishing the regular season with six straight wins.
Bigfork wins game 19 crushing the Hockey Hall of Famers Eveleth-Gilbert by 24.
Champlin Park over Spring Lake Park by 34. They may be a bit tired from last night!
Two loss Breckenridge has mercy on 1 win Frazee with an 83-35 win.
Chisago Lakes gets back to .500 beating Princeton on the road by 13.