WEEK THAT WAS

Usually this gets posted on Sundays. But with the avalanche of games Friday & Saturday, plus a Sunday meeting this post was delayed a day.

THANKSGIVING EVENTS

There are two mega-events to start the season post-Thanksgiving in the metro: Hamline and St. Thomas. Hamline is the oldest of the two, and the St. Thomas event, originally a showcase for the Catholic schools, has morphed into a two court extravaganza. It has also moved location from St. Thomas University to St. Thomas Academy. As a result, I was able to knock off 13 games in two days. Add in the opener on Wednesday night at Princeton and it is 14 games in four days. Translating that action takes time. That is a potential of 28 teams. Six were duplicated from Friday to Saturday. Not all 22 teams were from the North Star state either; two were from Iowa; one from Wisconsin. All out of state teams were of the Catholic variety. There was a heavy dose of private schools with seven Catholic and three protestants in the St. Thomas event.

The private school’s record was even at 6-6. Their pp100 checked in at 90.6, almost eight points better than the overall mix of 83.7. Winning teams hit 96.3 while losers were at 71.1. Clearly there were mismatches evidenced by the 153.6-20 pp100 debacle between Mahtomedi & St. Paul Humboldt. But Mahtomedi then suffered a thrashing of their own Saturday at the hands of Stewartville. The Zephs went from 153.6 to 51.2, over a 100 point drop. Their defense ballooned from 20 to 75.6. Did they get that worse in a day? Therefore examining these scores need to be taken into context. Opponents matter. No other doubled up team had such dramatic shifts. Consistency is key and  highly desired. Providence is an example. They had a 109.2 on Friday’s win over LaCrosse Aquinas and a 108.5 in an overtime loss to Bishop Garrigan of Algona, Iowa. It is extremely rare for a team to hit that mark and lose. Clearly that was the game of the week. High level teams performing at a high level.

WEEK AHEAD

The Breakdown event of Hopkins coming on Friday and Saturday brings all the powers that be in the state under one roof. It will be another marathon stretch of games. The contenders quickly get separated from the pretenders in that marquis event. Many other contests are of the non-con variety. I spend most of December picking off the AAAA schools. My hope every year is to chart the top 100 according to the QRF. With the limitations of my practice schedule the driving radius becomes a factor. I doubt if I will be able to jaunt away on four hour one way trips this year. Gas prices also make that experience prohibitively expensive. It would require multiple games at one site for me to consider that idea. Not all 19 Minnesota teams I saw will be in the top 100. I do think I have about 18 under the belt.

31 CLUB

The 31 Club had 25 entries this week with three players doubling up making for a grand total of 22 players. For those that are new to this site the 31 Club is a way to measure the impact of a player. It includes points + d stops (d rebounds, steals, blocks) + what I determine as “distributions,” a more liberal interpretation of an assist. It is like a triple double.

The three players that doubled up in both appearances this week are Maddy Greenway of Providence; Taryn Hamling of Grand Rapids and Hali Savela of Mountain Iron-Buhl. Of the 25 entries, 18 were able to reach the gold standard of 100 pp100. Greenway and Savela doubled again there.

The 31 Club is only the first level. Five were in the 41 Club. Two reached the elevated 61 Club—both players in the epic Bishop Garrigan v Providence overtime thriller: Greenway with a 66 and Audi Crooks of Bishop Garrigan with a week’s high of 67. Both players were scorching the first half of that contest with pp100 totals over 170. Crooks ended up with 164.5 and Greenway at 133.3. The highest pp100 in the 31 Club belonged to Madeline Guetzkow of Mayer Lutheran at 176.9 win the Crusader’s win over Maranatha on Friday. Four players had a 150+ pp100 mark with Drew Johnston of Roseville joining Guetzkow, Crooks and Savela (in MIB’s loss to St. Croix Lutheran) as players contributing highly in both 31 Club and pp100. Johnston was at 200 pp100 at halftime in the Raiders’ win over Totino-Grace thanks to her sharpshooting behind the arc.

Bishop Garrigan, Mountain Iron-Buhl, Providence all had three members of the 31 Club.

Duluth East, Mayer Lutheran, and St. Croix Lutheran and two join the club.

The more 31 Clubbers won has, the deeper the team & probably the faster pace the team plays. It is hard to reach the 31 Club if a team milks the clock.

SEEDING THE STATE

The first outlook has many familiar faces. It is also a roll of the dice. Adjustments are sure to be made. Things really sort themselves out after December is over. And then we are at the mercy of the fates with injuries and illnesses derailing the best laid plans. In March everyone anticipates a state tournament with the favorites all reaching the event. That almost never-ever happens.

AAAA

1. Hopkins (6)
2. Minnetonka (2)
3. Michael-Albertville (8)
4. Maple Grove (5)
5. Lakeville North (1)
6. Centennial (7)
7. East Ridge (4)
8. Rosemount (3)

AAA

1. Becker (5)
2. Benilde-St. Margaret’s (6)
3. Alexandria (8)
4. Stewartville (1)
5. Grand Rapids (7)
6. Marshall (2)
7. DeLaSalle (3)
8. Hill-Murray (4)

AA

1. Providence (5)
2. Croix Lutheran (4)
3. Goodhue (1)
4. Sauk Centre (6)
5. Pequot Lakes (7)
6. Perham (8)
7. Montevideo (3)
8. Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial (2)

A

1. Hancock (6)
2. Mountain Iron-Buhl (7)
3. Hayfield (1)
4. Mayer Lutheran (2)
5. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (5)
6. Lac Qui Parle Valley (3)
7. United Christian (4)
8. Goodridge-Grygla (8)