TWO 6AA QUARTERS
The first Saturday during sections is fraught with danger as there is always a team or two that is blindsided. Last year it was Park Center. Two years ago, it was Wayzata. I went to St. Cloud State specifically to see Royalton in the never-ending quest for the top 100. Fortunately, it worked in my schedule (Stillwater was due to tip off at 7 pm in Hastings). Everything went according to Hoyle in 6AA: #1 Albany and #4 Royalton won both their games by double digits.
Around the state there were some #1 casualties. In AAAA Andover was ambushed by Cambridge-Isanti in 7AAAA. There were some close calls in AAA like DeLaSalle and Becker surviving with five point wins. In AA Proctor exited with a two point loss to Virginia. In A East Central and Warren-Alvarado-Oslo are finished in 5 East and 8 West respectively. Also done is the top 100. I will be one short. Mesabi East had to get a win for me to see them. Duluth Marshall won by two—-in what probably was the section final considering the carnage earlier in the day. That DM/ME game was scheduled for a 4 pm start at Hermantown. There was no way on earth I was able to go from Hermantown to Hastings without air travel. I don’t have resources for air travel. So in 2020 it will be the top 99.
ALBANY 61, FOLEY 42
#1 Albany took advantage of the free throw line with a plus sixteen in a 19 point win over Foley. With 27 attempts that means there was an abundance of fouls for the Falcons. Due to foul trouble players had to sit and watch at various points. The last 10 possessions of the first half Albany outscored Foley 15-2 to go into the locker room with a 38-23 lead. After three minutes of the second half Foley had sliced into the margin 39-28. A quick time out got the Huskies back on their trajectory.
Besides the free throw situation, Albany controlled the boards +14, and shot better from the floor by +20.
This was the third meeting between these two Granite Ridge Conference foes and in both earlier contests the margin was about the same.
| ALBANY | FOLEY | |
| POINTS | 61 | 42 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 41/12 | 27/10 |
| TURNOVERS | 23 | 16 |
| 2FGA/% | 33/45.45 | 37/24.32 |
| 3FGA/% | 7/42.85 | 19/31.57 |
| FTA/% | 27/81.48 | 10/60.00 |
| PP100 | 91.0 | 62.7 |
| TOP SCORER | Bailey Keske 16 | Abby Mazacek 15 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Paige Meyer with 13 points, 86.7 pp100, and a 38 score in the 31 Club. 18 d stops and 7 distributions have a lot to do with this. Meyer is the motor.
ROYALTON 67, HOLDINGFORD 55
This was another match up with familiar foes. Royalton had two wins, but needed overtime in the second contest to get the W. Taking the shots they wanted as near to the rim as they wanted helped the Royals to the win. They were 18/29 within an arms reach of the basket.
I had charted Holdingford earlier in the year. In that win over Ogilvie the starters only played one half. They did not get that luxury Saturday. 6-4 senior Jenna Anderson was able to score at will after the first few minutes of action. She led all scorers in both games with 22 points on 10/14 shooting from the floor. Holdingford first tried to play behind her. That didn’t work. Then fronting. That didn’t work. Holdingford kept the game fairly close early with long distance shooting. Jordyn Patrick delivered four 3s while Danielle Lyon contributed three. They needed to shoot out due to the rim protection inside. The Huskers were 10/24 within an arms length of the basket. This includes lay ups. Discounting that the Huskers were 5/15.
| ROYALTON | HOLDINGFORD | |
| POINTS | 67 | 55 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 34/9 | 24/12 |
| TURNOVERS | 20 | 14 |
| 2FGA/% | 31/64.51 | 32/37.50 |
| 3FGA/% | 14/42.85 | 21/33.33 |
| FTA/% | 14/64.28 | 14/71.42 |
| PP100 | 106.3 | 88.7 |
| TOP SCORER | Jenna Anderson 22 | Jordyn Patrick 16 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Jenna Anderson with 22 points, 157.1 pp100 and a 34 score in the 31 Club.