Minnesota Playoff Central: Saturday
Three fields of the 2019 Minnesota High School Basketball Tournament have been set, the fourth will be set tomorrow. Minnesota Playoff Central is now! AAAA Field is Set! 10am — #1 Park Center vs. Maple Grove 12pm — #4 Eden…
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Continue ReadingThree fields of the 2019 Minnesota High School Basketball Tournament have been set, the fourth will be set tomorrow. Minnesota Playoff Central is now!
AAAA Field is Set!
- 10am — #1 Park Center vs. Maple Grove
- 12pm — #4 Eden Prairie vs. #5 Lakeville North
- 2pm — #2 Hopkins vs. Cambridge-Isanti
- 4pm — #3 East Ridge vs. Eastview
Initial thoughts? The North vs EP game is going to be a first round monster. Should be outstanding basketball, the Eagles won the first game between the teams 66-62. Park Center and Maple Grove played twice this year and the Pirates won by 13 and 7 respectively. Would of been nice to see a Park Center vs Eastview or Cambridge game to get a new match-up, Maple Grove vs Hopkins or East Ridge would of also been knew. As far as Cambridge/Hopkins goes, Cambridge lost to Wayzata by 31, but lost to EP by only a basket. Could go a number of ways. And East Ridge played Eastview earlier in the season as well with the Raptors winning 74-67.
AAA Field is Set!
- 10am — #1 DeLaSalle vs. Bemidji
- 12pm — #4 Princeton vs. #5 Mahtomedi
- 2pm — #2 Waseca vs. Holy Angels
- 4pm — #3 Austin vs. Monticello
Initial thoughts? Seven of the top ten teams in the state of Minnesota joined by 14-15 Monticello. Love this field. How good is Bemidji? They get their shot at the best right away when they take on DeLaSalle. I don’t really agree with that though. If you are seeding teams why does a 23-4 team with a quality resume have to play the one seed when you have a team at state with a losing record? Doesn’t seem fair to me. That Princeton versus Mahtomedi game will be outstanding. And IF Austin and Waseca both win, the Target Center will need to open all the upper deck seats because the Red Sea and the Jays fans are going to overload the building. The Magic have a tough group though, seeing them vs the Packer zone should be good entertainment. And the match-up by match-up battle of Waseca vs AHA should be excellent.
A Field is Set!
- 11am — #1 Springfield vs. Spring Grove
- 1pm — #4 Henning vs. #5 CHOF
- 3pm — #2 Ada-Borup vs. Cromwell
- 5pm — #3 North Woods vs. Westbrook-Walnut Grove
The Class A field is short on the season long ranked favorites because New Ulm Cathedral, WEM, BOLD, and Minnesota Valley Lutheran are all in the same section as Springfield. And Cass Lake-Bena lost to North Woods plus Minneota was upset early. What we have is a 2/3 potential second round game Friday that should be fantastic: Ada-Borup vs North Woods could be really good. And Springfield’s Isaac Fink is at state for all to see, but that also comes with pressure. Keep an eye on WWG, they have some really good young players. Cromwell and Henning are teams that were ranked in the top 15 of the Breakdown book at the start of the year so seeing them make state is no surprise at all.
The Big Stage. Only one game left, Perham vs Hawley at Concordia-Moorhead. Perham won the first game 81-61 and the second game 79-55. Looks like Hawley has an 8 game winning streak vs Hawley. The winner joins #1 Minnehaha Academy, #3 Lake City, #4 Minneapolis North, #6 Melrose, 16-11 Redwood Valley, 21-9 Esko, and 22-6 St. Peter as state participants.
Upset City! Minor upsets.St. Peter over Jordan is an upset to a degree as is Redwood Valley over St. James, to a degree. St. Peter has played with great balance led by Wyatt Olson but also getting strong play from Brock Hanson, Seth Lokensgard, and Ethan Grant. Redwood Valley came into the playoffs at 12-11 but has won four straight games and Cole Woodford has been outstanding. He’s had 30+ point games twice in the playoffs.
Tip of the Hat to the Career. David Roddy. David finished his career averaging 30 and 17 a game at Breck and taking them to the section final before losing to Minneapolis North. Roddy is nationally a top 225 level player headed to Colorado State and his last 12 months of basketball have included earning high major offers, leading Howard Pulley in scoring and boards in the EYBL, and leading Breck to 22 wins. Also, his performance knocking Rockford out of the playoffs is something I will always remember. Just an incredible second half on the way to a 35 point, 18 rebound game.