DECISIONS

We are at that point of the schedule where some choice games are taking place, and I have to miss charting them. I guess “have” is a strong word. Ultimately it is my decision. And if I want to see the top 100 I need to eliminate as many teams as possible. Saturday was a case in point. I had charted all the STMA Breakdown teams previously. So I had to pick from 35 other games. My next algorithm decision  making is top 100. There were a smattering of those, but some with teams I previously have charted. I avoided those. Some too far distant in other states. I avoided those. I then go after the schools in the top 125ish. And if there is another game around the window I take it. That worked for St. Anthony then to  Coon Rapids on Saturday. Friday I made a choice to hit Litchfield. But I was basing this choice on the schedules listed by Minnesota Scores. I should have used MN GBB hub which has a more up-to-date listing. Then I would have chosen Montevideo at New London-Spicer this coming Thursday. Montevideo is on my calendar, but the NLS game would be more meaningful. Sigh. Oh well, most of the AA and A teams I need to chart generally happen during section time due to my other schedule. Sigh.

If I just used an algorithm to pick the top games I might see about 50 teams for the year.

SECTION 7AAAA COMPLETED

Four of the eight AAAA sections are now completed with section 7 the latest addition. Section 7 includes the northeast metro all the way out to a lone outpost in northeast Minnesota—-Duluth East.

The section holds up well in the pp100 with two of the others, but the “best” trails the “best” by eight points when it comes to individual teams. Section 7 is in a major drought when it comes to state tournament action. In the four class system they are the only section that has not won a state championship. The last time a section 7 team made the final was 2002 when Lakeville (singular) beat Blaine in the title game. The year prior to that Elk River, also a section 7 team then, lost to Lakeville. The last section 7 win in a quarterfinals came in 2007 when Champlin Park (then a member, now in 5) beat Lakeville North. The Rebels next lost to Minneapolis South in the semis. In the ranked era section 7 has been unseeded.

If you are wondering what section is the tops for getting to the finals it would be section 6. In 25 years they have been in the title game 16 times, six more than section 2 with ten. Section 6 also has six titles.

Section	w-l	PP100	Best	team
2AAAA	7-3	91.6	117.9	Eden Prairie
3AAAA	4-5	74.0	102.8	Rosemount
7AAAA	4-4	74.09	90.2	Cambridge-Isanti
8AAAA	6-3	73.9	98.6	St. Michael-Albertville

 

Four players made the 31 Club so far from section 7—-one made it one step above to the 41 Club. Senior Rachel Hagen of Duluth East, one of two Greyhounds to make the list has the top score.

TEAM REVIEW

Look out below!! The pp100s fell even further than the temps this week down to 73.97 from 78.6 last week. Winners improved to 92.76, but losing teams plummeted to 55.19. Waseca was able to buck that trend with an 87.5 in their loss to St. Peter. We started the week off with a bang on Monday with St. Peter hitting 121.1 pp100 helped by a lucky 13 3s. Mahtomedi on Tuesday made the century club and then it was sub triple digits the rest of the way. With only one AAAA team charted the numbers are probably not representative of that class, but Coon Rapids is representing with 58.1. AAA was the best at 80.84 in eight chartings, AA slightly above CR at 66.16. Monday’s St. Peter v Waseca game was the “best” with the losing pp100. The New London-Spicer v Litchfield game on Friday was the closest in margin pp100-wise with a gap of 20.7. The Dragons got within five a couple of times midway through the second half, but NLS used a 15-2 run over the course of the next four minutes to put the game in the bank. There were no comebacks or upsets during the chartings this week.

WEEK AHEAD

Mahtomedi is in action three of the days—-that means I only get three days open to chart. Saturday will probably be another two-fer at two different sites. I have seen all the teams at the coming Breakdown event at Alexandria.

31 CLUB

Only five answered the call for the 31 Club this week. The common theme? Saints. Four had the “Saint” leading their school’s name. There were members from St. Agnes, St. Anthony, St. Francis, and St. Peter. The only non-saint to crack the code was Jaden Coahran of New London-Spicer who made it on the nose at 31. One Saint blasted through the 31 and 41 clubs to make the fabled 51 Club. 6-1 senior forward Cally Peterson of St. Francis made it all the way to 54 in the win over Coon Rapids helped by 36 points. Peterson’s score is the 8^th best this year for those with at the 51 Club level. Only three of the five were centurions. Peterson made it, but the top of the line in that category this week was the 150 belonging to junior guard Rhyan Holmgren of St. Peter who ended up with a 36 score in the 31 Club.

FYI Maddyn Greenway of Providence has been in the 51 Club three times this year. More to come is expected in the post season when I again chart the Lions.

UNBEATEN

And then there were two. Providence bumped off mega-power Hopkins halting the Royals 30 game winning streak. Last week had Las Vegas odds as Hopkins the only unbeaten left standing. LV has some questions that need to be answered. When will the next fall? NLS sees Montevideo at home on Thursday. On Feb 6 BLHS faces subsection 2A North behemoth Mayer Lutheran on the road.

AAAA 0: none
AAA 0: none
AA 1: New London-Spicer
A 1: Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart

STREAKING

30 was the limit. With Hopkins down and out, there is a new leader in AAAA and overall, too. Mayo leads with 15 in AAAA. Overall, the top is Grand Rapids with 17. Can any of these four win the state. Don’t hold your breath with Mayo. The chances any of the four go unscathed is going to be slim. Best chance would be Grand Rapids at this point.

AAAA: 15 Rochester Mayo
AAA: 17 Grand Rapids
AA: 16 New London-Spicer
A: 16 Henning

SEARCH FOR 100

14 teams to go for 100. Four regular season weeks left still 3.5 per week.

Looking at the top 10s I am at 90% in AAAA, 90% in AAA; 80% in AA; 40% in A

Looking at the “seeding the state” I added New London-Spicer to push the AA total to 87.5%. 100% in AAAA & AAA; 37.5% in A

We are in single digits remaining now in the 64 AAAA quest—or 85.9%.

There is a change in the biggest fish category—-Rochester Mayo moves into that spotlight at #15

Measure/In/%/Improvement
1-10/10/100%/-
1-25/23/92%/-
1-50/47/94%/+2
1-75/64/88%/+2.7
1-100/82/86%/+4
1-125/97/77.6%/+4
1-150/107/71.3%/+4.6
1-175/114/65.1%/+2.8
1-200/118/59.0%/+3.0
1-225/125/55.6/+3.2
1-250/129/51.6/+3.2
1-275/131/47.6/–

SEEDING THE STATE

Despite the loss to Providence, Hopkins still remains #1 in AAAA. But the mystique has taken a hit. The AAAA field now has a pathway. But this loss may only provoke the bear—or in this case lion. The Royals will no doubt be refocused. We will see how the Lake handles the new motivation. Up first to face the roar—-Buffalo.

AAAA

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

AAA

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

AA

1. Providence (5)
2. Albany (6)
3. Goodhue (1)
4. Minnehaha (4)
5. New London-Spicer (3)
6. Pequot Lakes (7)
7. Perham (8)
8. Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial (2)

A

1. Mountain Iron-Buhl (7)
2. Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart (2)
3. Henning (6)
4. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (5)
5. Hayfield (1)
6. Fertile-Beltrami (8)
7. Lac qui Parle Valley (3)
8. Heritage Christian (4)