HIBBING 53, DEER RIVER 33

Hibbing survived a sputtering start, used their half court trap to

TOTINO-GRACE 46, SPRING LAKE PARK 40

Tonight, the Northwest Suburban Conference had Wednesday

SATURDAY TRIO

Thankfully the weather was not an issue (except maybe cold) and

ST. ANTHONY 80, MINNEAPOLIS SOUTHWEST 45

There were a lot of make up games on the docket from last week’s

AUSTIN 81, MANKATO EAST 51

Austin went on the road in a make up game Monday night and

zipped by Mankato East 81-51. Originally this game was scheduled for January 18. This was the second time I charted East. The first time came on January 5, almost a month ago. Since that time the Cougars have lost seven in a row. Everyone of those teams is ranked in the top 20 in AAAA or AAA except for Marshall. Last Friday they put a scare into #1AAA Red Wing with a 42-36 loss on the road. The expectation was the margin may be tighter tonight. It clearly wasn’t. Austin’s snappy passing and quick player movement sliced and diced the ME defense early and often. The Packers led 15-5 with ten minutes to go in the half. With 5:39 left it was 32-12. Austin was cruising at half 40-22. The Austin starters were sizzling that first half with a 142.9 pp100. If that would have been the final total, it would have put the Austin starters with the fifth best starters charting of the year. They cooled off a bit in the second half, but still finished with a healthy 128.9 pp100. Austin had nine players north of 100 in the pp100 battle. Four of their starters were over 140 pp100. ME’s had two starters with an 85.7 pp100 and their starters only generating 71.9 pp100. This is a far cry from their efforts against Winona a month ago which came in at 88.2 pp100 for the game.

Austin was able to connect deep besides the paint with seven 3s, from six different players. The Austin pressure forced 25 turnovers, with a positive differential of +13.

The reason for this trip was it was the best window for Austin. 1AAA has their post season quarters the same day as the AAAA teams and it was essential to get the Packers done quickly. With the future weather reports looking iffy and the calendar being pressed up against the clock with no wiggle room whatsoever, it was a well timed game. This morning it looked questionable, but the roads, thanks to the efforts of the MNDot folks, were a breeze. The worst parts to travel were the parking lots from car to entrance. That was icy and one had to negotiate that walk like a penguin.

I have now charted 11 of the 12 Big 9 teams (you do the math). Missing is Faribault. Austin is 12-5. ME is 6-13 on the year.

TRENCH PLAYER: 5-10 junior forward Kyra Walters 17 points, 154.5 pp100 and 28 in the 31 Club.

SATURDAY 6 PACK: HEART O’LAKES SHOWCASE

Thank goodness the weather cooperated (at least for the trip up). It

WACONIA 69, ORONO 27

Finally!!! After two days of being frozen out, high school action

ESKO 69, AITKIN 40

It is winter in Minnesota. It gets cold. It snows. The metro area called

SATURDAY TWO-FER

Yesterday (I didn’t write right away last night) I was out to chart two

RED WING 59, NORTHFIELD 49

For the second time in less than a week #2AAA Red Wing was under

the microscope. Tonight, I was back in RW with #20AAA Northfield on the menu. This was the best window to see the Raiders, last year’s AAA runner up, and that was the reason for the return trip. It had implications for the Big 9 conference crown and was important for seeding in 1AAA. Plus it was a rivalry game in the sense both teams were former Missota Conference members that returned back to the Big 9 a few years ago. The last meeting was a narrow one point win for RW. It looked like that was the direction the game was headed at half time with the hosts holding a 24-22 lead at the break. But RW with Lindsay Reps long distance shooting opened it up in the second half to win by double digits 59-49. The teams had contrasting offensive emphasis. RW is known for their long bombs, but only had one at the break, which made a Winger fan next to me a bit concerned. Lindsay Reps was the only Winger to connect from downtown tonight, but she did so at a 60% clip (6/10). She led RW with 25 points, 18 of which came in the critical second half run. Northfield made use of post Rachel Kelly who had a game high 26 points.

Kelly tied it right away in the second half on the first possession. Kelly gave Northfield their last lead at 30-28. Reps ended any thoughts of a Northfield upset with a 3 that put the Wingers up for good at 31-30. Northfield turned it over on their next three possessions. Reps again found the range from the left side arc for a 34-30 lead. This was part of a 12-1 RW push over 11 possessions that put the Raiders behind the 8 ball and forced them to play catch up. If you notice the box below, RW had a +13 advantage in turnover differential. Eight of the 24 Raider turnovers happened in the critical 11 possession stretch. The Raiders were able to slice into the lead (49-42) with 3:43 left after an &1 by Kelly. Reps put a RIP on Northfield with a dagger 3, her last of the night to make it 54-42 with a little over 2  minutes left.

To refresh everyone’s memory, on Saturday RW beat Rochester Mayo 65-59, and is consistent with their pp100 which was right on the nose at 100 on Saturday. Tonight they were 1.7 better.

RW is now 12-2. Northfield falls to 7-8.

TRENCH PLAYER: Lindsay Reps with 25 points (18 in the second half), all six of RW’s 3s (on 10 attempts), 156.2 pp100, and a 39 score in the 31 Club.