Tuesday Night’s Top Five
It’s Tuesday Night and High School Basketball has the main stage. On a big night for hoops, what are the five biggest games to see in Minnesota? Prep Hoops runs you through them.
Orono at Edina. The Spartans/Hornets match-up should be very entertaining. You have some great match-ups like Colton Codute and Luke Glenna battling at guard, Max Bjorklund going at Anders Nelson as the scoring options on the wing, Jack Middleton working against Griffen Sage bringing different games, and up front Jarvis Omersa going against young Jacob Hutson. Both teams have an edge in different areas. Should be a fun game.
Cretin-Derham Hall at East Ridge. A conference battle that the Raptors won last year when CDH was missing some guys. This will be a bit about revenge as the Raiders want to go to East Ridge and get last year’s taste out of their mouth. This is also a massive game for both conference and section positioning. Daniel Oturu is the senior going against sophomore Ben Carlson while Sy Chatman will face Howard Pulley summer teammate Courtney Brown Jr. Jaeden King will likely see a lot of freshman Kendall Brown and then there is Ryan Larson who is one of the top creators in this state. Raptors like Zach Zebrowski will need to step up and have big games.
St. Croix Lutheran at Columbia Heights. Heights suffered their first loss of the year this weekend getting beat by Hopkins. St. Croix Lutheran has had a great year but has played a small school schedule as they have been a Class AA team for many years. They are Class AAA now and face their top Class AAA opponent of the year in the Hylanders. Garrett Maag against Wendell Matthews will be an excellent match-up of forwards while Deundra Roberson is the big game scorer with 18 a game. Senior Adam Arroyo Jr of the Crusaders is scoring 15 a game and will need to get that and then some to get the win.
Virginia at Grand Rapids. The Thunderhawks are led by Nate Seelye and Stacy Washington scoring on the wing against the size of Virginia which has Ethan Youso and Bryce Kennedy in the middle. GR can counter inside with Blake Smith while Virginia will have young Jayden Bernard on the wing. Then Nathan Fink (Virginia) and Brooks Bachmann (GR) will be the ex-factors.
Owatonna at Northfield. These are top five teams in the Big Nine hoping to stay on the heels of Austin, JM, and Mankato East. The winner will have that chance, the loser will suffer a setback. Owatonna has won eight in a row including beating Austin, Mankato East, and Mankato West. The Huskies and Raiders are both deep basketball teams with several guys able to put points on the board. Alex Rasmussen and Dalton Kubista are the lead scorers but both teams have several options. Owatonna has a few more, but Northfield is at home.