The Madness of March: 20 Sleepers to Watch
Looking for some teams to watch as potential sleepers for the rest of this month and of course once playoffs begin? NHR gives you some today.
Class AAAA
Owatonna. At 18-5 the Huskies have wins over Mankato East and Austin but they are judged a bit too much about their early year performances when the majority of the team was a few weeks removed from a state football run.
Tartan. At 20-4 the Titans just beat North St. Paul and if they can pull a win off against the Polars they can be a major thorn in the side of teams in 4AAAA.
Roseville. A couple wins over White Bear Lake, a win over Forest Lake, a 14-9 record winning more games than we expected, this is a team that could pull an upset.
Rogers. Tech and Maple Grove are the 8AAAA favorites but Rogers lost to Tech by two points and to the Crimson by six points. Jordan Belka is a tough player to deal with and not one you want to deal with in March.
Shakopee. The Sabers have won three in a row and are now over .500 against a tough squad. Shakopee has played a tough schedule and is capable of a March upset in a stacked section.
Class AAA
Waseca. The Jays lost some key guys from a year ago so a state run is not in anyone’s thoughts outside the school but they only have three losses and have won 8 games in a row.
St. Paul Johnson. At 19-4 the Governors could be the least talked about team in the state that is at four losses. Totino-Grace, Columbia Heights, and Mahtomedi have people talking in their section but watch out for the Governors.
Delano. The team is healthy, the younger players have grown up, and Calvin Wishart is fully healthy. People should be very scared of the Tigers who have won four in a row.
Cooper. Before you set your head on DeLaSalle and Orono in the title game, remember that Cooper is tough, athletic, and the winners of seven straight games. They will battle either team in the section semis.
Fergus Falls. The Otters were a ranked preseason team, lost five early season games, slipped from conversations, and have now won 10 of 11 games including wins over Tech, Alex, and Willmar.
Class AA
Zumbrota-Mazzepa. Byron, Lake City, St. Charles. and Caledonia, one of them will have to get through ZM to get to their goals. This is a squad that has won seven straight and is 18-5.
Redwood Valley. Redwood is now over .500 on the season on a winning streak and they are the only team to beat Springfield this year.
Breck. The Mustangs have faced a really tough schedule, they have won six games in a row, Josh Roddy is finding his groove, and they just beat ranked Maple Lake.
Kimball Area. The Cubs are 18-4 on the year, they beat Maple Lake as well, and this is a team has won five straight games.
Pine City. At 19-5 and a team that is tough to prepare for as they are tough to prep for in practice, it’s a squad that few want to face in the playoffs.
Class A
New Ulm Cathedral. The talk of the state hoops community when they saw the new sections was the loaded Section 2A but few mentioned New Ulm Cathedral. They’ve won seven in a row and they are 19-5.
Dawson-Boyd. At 18-5 they have won seven in a row and have big wins over Hancock and Minneota recently. Wins like that means they can surprise a lot of teams.
CHOF. Is this the year that CHOF hits up state? There are 19 teams in 4A but only five good enough to hit double figure wins and right now CHOF looks like the section favorite. They play Prairie Seeds tonight to see who the real top team in the section is.
Battle Lake. A traditionally tough squad that started 8-5 but then won eight straight games. Battle Lake is on the comeback and Ortonville, Parkers Prairie, and Hancock have to pay close attention.
Pelican Rapids. The Vikings had a losing record but then ripped off seven straight wins and now are a feared team in 6A.