NHR Playoff Central: Thursday
NHR Playoff Central. Who is going to state? After tonight almost half of the tickets will be punched. In all there are 13 section title games being played this evening so players and coaches will be realizing their dreams in about six hours. Last night’s section games set up Friday or Saturday contests of Minneapolis North/Prairie Seeds Academy, Albany/Braham, Esko/Crosby-Ironton, Breck/Annandale, and St. Croix Lutheran/Minnehaha Academy
Ticket Punched. The Hopkins Royals got by Hopkins 87-82 just barely getting by the Hawks who have had such a tremendous year. Amir Coffey put on a highlight show with 26 points, Vin Shahid has 25, and Melvin Newbern Jr led Cooper with 24. For the Hawks this is a year they played better than anybody expected, they proved they were a legit three seed when many said they weren’t (including myself), and even though Hopkins beat them by 25, they fought the Royals to the end.
For the Royals this is state tournament trip three in a row. Last year with Coffey sidelined they were beaten in round one and the year before that the Royals finished in second place. This year the goal is title.
The Big Stage. Tough to beat that Delano versus DeLaSalle game this evening. It’s the 1 vs 2 game from the state’s toughest section for the right to play at state. Big names like Matt Kreklow, Goanar Mar, Calvin Wishart, and Gabe Kalschuer along with a load of workers. Good thing it’s at Chanhassen because the building is likely to be packed.
There are double headers with SMSU hosting MCC vs Central MN Christian as well as JCC vs Montevideo. In the Civic Center Caledonia/St. Charles and Goodhue/Spring Grove are the pair of contests, and Hibbing hosts Mt Iron-Buhl vs resilient Fond do Lac Ojibwe as well as North Woods/Silver Bay.
The other huge stage is at East Ridge where schools from the same district just miles apart go at it with Tartan vs North St. Paul. They split the season series so no the Polars who have climbed up from the bottom face a Tartan squad that has five talented juniors joining sophomore Jarvis Thomas and two seniors on their run.
And don’t forget Elk River/Maple Grove, Alexandria/Fergus Falls, and Waseca/Marshall as big games either.
Player to Watch. Matt Keller. I know most people just assume Maple Grove will get to state but Elk River is playing well. That said, the Elks will need a massive showing from Keller if they are to pull off the big upset.
Upset City. Has to be Albany beating the defending state champion Melrose squad. Kyle Birr totaled 20 points and six assists while Danny Odenthal came up huge scoring 14 as the Huskies won the sub-section. Albany lost the first two games to Melrose this year by a combined twelve points but will now play Braham for the right to go to state.
Tip of the Hat to the Career. Melvin Newbern Jr gave his team 20.4 points per game his senior year and had really turned the Hawks program around this year after a frustrating 14-15. Not many felt the Hawks would be as good as they were but it was Newbern that led the group in to a new era of basketball. I would expect to see him at a nice junior college or at a division two program next year.