Minnesota Playoff Central: Friday
The Class AAA and Class AAAA State Tournaments have taken shape while most of the bids for state in Class AA and Class A will be decided tonight. What a wonderful time to be alive! AAA Tickets Punched! In Class…
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Continue ReadingThe Class AAA and Class AAAA State Tournaments have taken shape while most of the bids for state in Class AA and Class A will be decided tonight. What a wonderful time to be alive!
AAA Tickets Punched! In Class AAA #1 ranked DeLaSalle, #2 ranked Waseca, #4 ranked Princeton, #5 ranked Mahtomedi, #6 ranked Austin, #9 ranked Holy Angels, and 14-15 Monticello have all earned their spot in next week’s Minnesota State Tournament. #7 ranked Bemidji faces 20-8 Sartell tonight in a rematch of a 60-54 game won earlier in the year by Bemidji. The Class AAA State Tournament is going to have at least two first round match-ups of ranked teams that could include for example Mahtomedi vs Austin, Waseca vs Holy Angles, and Princeton vs Bemidji. That will make for some excellent games.
AAAA Tickets Punched! The Class AAAA State Tournament now includes #2 East Ridge, #3 Hopkins, #4 Lakeville North, 23-6 Maple Grove, 17-12 Cambridge, and 18-11 Eastview. This evening #1 Park Center will face Champlin Park and number #5 Prior Lake takes on #9 Eden Prairie. At the moment we are looking at a monster first round state tournament game that could be Lakeville North vs Prior Lake, Lakeville North vs Eden Prairie, or Prior Lake/Eden Prairie vs Champlin Park. Maple Grove, Eastview, and Champlin Park have all spent time as top ten ranked teams in state this season. When you consider that the top five ranked teams in the state are still alive we are looking at what could and should be a fantastic final four.
The Big Stage. Where can you catch multiple games tonight? Several spots: Southwest Minnesota State, the Rochester Civic Center, St. Cloud State, and Concordia-Moorhead will all host double-headers of section title games. SMSU has St James vs Redwood Valley and Dawson-Boyd vs Westbrook-Walnut Grove. In Rochester Randolph plays Spring Grove in a 1 vs 2 match-up and St. Charles hopes to play giant killer again when they face Lake City. Minneapolis teams Breck and Minneapolis North get to drive an hour north to St. Cloud to play for state playing at 6pm followed by top seeds Albany and Melrose going head to head. In Concordia, Perham faces Barnesville and Hawley takes on DGF (the winner of these games will play tomorrow for bid 32). Also need to add that Minnesota-Scores is wrong, Gustavus is NOT hosting Minnesota Valley Lutheran vs Springfield, the MSHSL site says that game is at Minnesota State Mankato followed by St. Peter against Jordan.
Upset City! Thursday went by without an upset. Because Blaine had a four game edge on Cambridge they had a higher seed and it’s considered a mild upset but I really don’t see the Bluejackets beating Blaine as a legit “upset” based on the season’s they have had. Henry Abraham has been a 23 point per game scorer all year and last night he led his team to state with a 25 point performance. Cambridge had actually lost to Blaine three months by two baskets but the Jackets have a good coach and solid talent. They should represent 7AAAA as well as anybody since Duluth East was sending teams to the big show.
Right on Schedule. Tonight top seeds Prior Lake and Eden Prairie go head to head with fans squeezing into the 1,2000 capacity Prior Lake gym once again (don’t tell the fire marshal!) and in the north metro Park Center tries to get by Champlin Park to earn the Pirates state trip since Quinton Hooker was proudly walking the school halls. PC is ranked number one in the state and the favorite there where as EP vs PL qualifies as the best section game of the year (at least on paper).
Tip of the Hat to the Career. Matthew Hurt. The numbers for his career are staggering. I believe Matthew scored 3,822 career points which is good for third all time in Minnesota high school basketball history and first all time among big school players. Hurt scored 800 more points than any other big school basketball player in state history. Matthew is also the all time rebounder in big school basketball history. He’s a McDonald’s All American, a first team 17 and Under All American, a rep for the USA Basketball team 18 and Under squad, and will likely sweep all the awards in Minnesota that he is eligible to win. Great career Matthew, you have represented Minnesota well!