For the week:

Nine games, 17 new teams (1 duplicate) 179 new players, 1198 miles

For the season: 133 games, 211 teams (19 duplicates)  2089 players, 11,484 miles

Or 2734.29 trips back and forth from my grocery store.

The regular season is now over. Sections will start for most of the rest of the state. Already the southern small classes have been in action. I had a foot or keyboard in both worlds last week. There was some mop ups for the 200 in AAA and AA. All the #1 seeds are now under the microscope, except for 8A. Don’t worry. Your time is coming….like Saturday all day.

Time is running out. Decisions are already going to be made that I don’t want to make. Saturday March 2 is the feast of games. But they are all over the map. The politicians are ruining my viewing schedule. Both of the next two Tuesdays are blanks….well at least this Tuesday with the caucuses. That means there are only five instead of six dates to chart this week. The early part of the week I will be able to see multiple games on one day. But Thursday is a big crossroads day. Either I chart a top 150ish team and miss out on some others. By Saturday the field will be winnowed so much I believe I will have charted all the survivors. Maybe one or two stragglers could slip by and that will give me my targets for the following week.

REAR VIEW MIRROR

MONDAY: Lester Prairie 83, Central MN Christian 78

Just like last week I headed west on Highway 7 to see a 4A team vs a 3A North team. The week before it was a pair of #1s. On this date it was a pair of #2s. Last year both played in 2A North. Now both are moved over one section. This game also featured two underclass players that delivered a strong performance. Addison Hoof of LP already has 2000 points in her career. She added 37 more to her totals. Freshman point guard Sienna Duininck had 25 for CMC. This turned out to be the “best” game with both teams clicking. The host Bulldogs led early 18-10. The Bluejays came right back to tie it at 28. CMC kept the heat on and pulled in front 39-33 at the break. With the score tied at 43 Hoof hoofed it. She scored three straight lay ups, the first two off her own steals, the third off another steal by a teammate. The Bulldogs never trailed after that. They stretched their lead to 13 (68-55). But the Bluejays fought back to 81-78 after a Duininck 3 with 14 seconds left. Hoof added insurance free throws for the final margin.

TUESDAY: Austin 60, Northfield 52

With 4:30 left in the first half Northfield led 26-19. At half the host Packers were on top 35-26, a 16-0 run. Rattled and tattered. Things didn’t get easier at the start of the second half with Austin going up 45-28, a 26-2 run over the course of two halves. This furious run was spearheaded by the energy from Marissa Shute of Austin who had seven steals on the night. Careless Austin fouls and second chance points gave Northfield hope. The Raiders found life again with Kaitlin Schulz popping two straight 3s late to make it 56-52 with 1:33 left.

WEDNESDAY: Bloomington Kennedy 59, Cooper 50

This was a game of severe point swings and corresponding mood swings. A fairly tight start gave way after eight straight points by Kennedy’s Hailey Williams, two from behind the arc, and the final two on an &1 that failed to go. That broke a 21 all tie in the last 1:30 of the first half. Cooper came out smoking in the second half and regained the lead with a 20-4 burst to start. Explosive Somah Kamara had 13 points herself for the Hawks during the surge. But that explosiveness also took energy. And the pendulum swung back to the host Eagles with a 15-1 run of their own and they reclaimed the lead on parent night 48-42. Another eight-point burst by Williams got the Eagles off the ground, again with two straight 3s and two free throws in three possessions. The lead stayed level behind that burst.

THURSDAY: Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 78, Pine River-Backus 36

This started the blowout section of the week with only one more competitive game in the mix. I made my way up to Leech Lake because WHA is in the top echelons, is the #1 seed in 5A West, and the calendar would not give me a better option. PRB last year made the final four of the 5A West. They could get there again. But WHA has too much firepower. Five Wolves ended up in double digits for the game led by Ava Welk’s 21. PRB only mustered one double digit performance.

FRIDAY: Glencoe-Silver Lake 71, Dassel-Cokato 50

The Panthers built up a 37-28 margin over the host Chargers by half. GSL freshman Brooke Mickolichek and DC’s Riley Harrison each had 25 points. There was more firepower in the GSL arsenal despite not having Mylea Monahan all season. I do have to say that the longer white sleeved uniforms made it look like GSL was longer.

SATURDAY

Saturday was spent in my first coaching stomping grounds, section 3A South, with the tournament held at Worthington. I got my start coaching boys basketball at Ellsworth, MN which was then in district 8 in class A (during the two class era). Saturday I saw some old coaching compatriots and even a former students that recognized me after almost 40 years. As for the action only one game was compelling and did not require the clock to run. In fact it went overtime. And it involved Ellsworth, in a fractured way. Today they are paired with Adrian. The games are held mainly in Adrian, the colors are Adrian’s, the mascot (Dragons) is Adrian’s. I was told about 75% of the team is Adrian students.

Usually, the teams that made it had a tentpole player that their success revolves around. HBC, WWG, and Edgerton’s leaders are all seniors. The exception is SWC which has a deep selection of players and across the graduation classes. That is one reason why they are #1.

GAME 1: Southwest MN Christian 86, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 38

The Eagle defense blitz was on from the git go and TMB struggled to cross the time line. There were 31 turnovers in this game. But in the first half SWC feasted on the turnoverfest to the tune of 86% shooting. Inevitably SWC cooled off to 69% from 2s. Madyson Fey made the 31 Club alone in the first half. She did not add to her totals in the second half as many others got a chance. SWC’s Ana Veldkamp led all scorers with 22.

GAME 2: Hills-Beaver Creek 64, Adrian/Ellsworth 61

It looked like the Patriots had this game neatly tied up with a bow with an 18-point lead with over 12 minutes left in the game. A 17-0 run by the Dragons gave the Worthington gym the only juice of excitement all day. AE had the ball with 20 seconds left and a tie score but missed on a shot in the lane and a second chance that ended up being a three. HBC won the tip in overtime and Lanae Elbers cashed in her 3. This was the first of three straight Patriot scores (63-58). A late three with 23.7 seconds left by Brylee Zebe cut the deficit to two. Too much time elapsed before the inevitable foul which HBC tacked on a point. AE had one last crack with ten seconds left but their 3 misfired. HBC breathed a sigh of relief. Elbers outscored AE’s Shandra Cuperus 23-22.

GAME 3: Westbrook-Walnut Grove 58, Murray County Central 25

This game was sluggish at the start with both teams struggling on offense. It was 13 all with 6:47 left. The Chargers snapped out of their slumber to score 24 points the remainder of the half to lead 37-16. The Rebels would only add nine more in the second half. WWG’s Izzy Klumper led all scorers with 18 points.

GAME 4: Edgerton 67, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 30

The Flying Dutchmen made sure they got off to a quick start scoring on six of their first seven possessions to lead 11-0. No sluggishness here. Edgerton had 30 by half. RTR had 30 at the end of the game. 6-1 senior Alyda Vande Griend had 26 for Edgerton.

SECTION PREVIEW

Before state everyone looks at the top seeds, the polls and fantasizes about the dream field. The tournament field never really turns out to be as good as the one in the imagination. Head scratchers happen every year (except the virus year). Since the virus is in remission right now expect to scratch your head a few times on Saturday.  Most everyone practices all year for the final two weeks of the season to get a chance to play the final two hours on the last day of the tournament.

Here is the outlook for the four classes:

AAAA: I expect Lake schools to be playing again in the final on the last Saturday in March. It has been Hopkins and St. Michael-Albertville the past two years. Minnetonka is looking to crash that party. Of those three teams STMA might have the best path to state. 2AAAA is a land mine with Eden Prairie falling to two to the Skippers. Chaska, and Prior Lake could be dangerous for a game if teams aren’t ready. Every year Wayzata thinks and hopes it can get past mighty Hopkins. Every year they do their best Charlie Brown in an attempt to kick the ball. Every year Lucy (in this case Wayzata) pulls the ball back at the last second. Maple Grove will be looking to break into this mix.

As for the other races 4AAAA is probably the most topsy turvy swervy curvy section. East Ridge is on a roll. The Raptors have never been to the state tournament but could go this year for the first time. They have a recent addition: Kendall Barnes, a refugee from Roseville. The Raiders season imploded a few weeks back. They are no longer part of the questions in 4AAAA. But ER, Stillwater and White Bear Lake all be circling each other. Woodbury is dangerous as the Ponies found out.

AAA: Benilde-St. Margaret’s has been on a roll since the return of Olivia Olson. A back to back title is a strong possibility. Delano is in their way in 6AAA. Teams that beat BSM when Olson was sidelined may find the going tougher the next time around. I am talking about Alexandria and DeLaSalle.

At the start of the year Becker had growing pains. Now they are the #1 seed in 5AAA. Could Roosevelt get to state. The Teddies moved up from 4AA. Cretin-Derham Hall plays a AAAA schedule and will be a hurdle. Rock Ridge may be making the tournament for the first time. The former Virginia and Eveleth-Gilbert squad is the #1 seed in 7AAA. Section 1AAA might be the most competitive.

AA: I can see the top three teams battling this out. Albany has one loss and a win over Providence. Minnehaha is nipping at the Lions heels. The other AA contingents either don’t have the schedule or balance that these other three have. Any number of schools can come out of 1AA, 2AA, 7AA, or 8AA. The section races are going to be interesting. The state might not be as compelling.

A: Last year Mountain Iron-Buhl won their first title. Goodhue has since moved down, and the Wildcats have resided at #1 for most of the season. They face a steady diet of AAA and AA in the Hiawatha Valley. Having spent a decent amount of time in A the last few weeks it appears that this could be the best-balanced tournament of the bunch. Mayer Lutheran just went to MIB and stopped the Rangers. ML lost at home to Minneota. Section 2A North is not as powerful as last year’s model, but still a strong field with BLHS, Sleepy Eye and SESM & BOLD. Section 6 promises to be interesting in both halves. I have yet to see 8A and that should give me the last insights going forward.

PP100S

Week 14 looked a lot like week 13: the leader of the pack (Walker-Hackensack-Akeley) hit 120, the weekly average was only 0.14 off last week’s. But the similarities grind to halt when it comes to competitive margin. Last week the spread was 18.26. The week it exploded to 33.89. But what can you expect with four running time games, three of which came in section action—the quarterfinals of 3A South. The hope is the running time action will be evaporated at least by Saturday. Winners had an extremely robust 99.39. That was helped by four Centurions, only one of which found themselves in a competitive game—and that was the first game of the week with Lester Prairie beating Central MN Christian who had a 95.1 pp100. The smallest spread came in the only 3A South quarterfinal NOT to go to running time with #4 Hills-Beaver Creek surviving a late collapse to #5 Adrian/Ellsworth in overtime. That spread was three. The pp100s were NOT helped by four teams (all victims of running time) that failed to crack 55 pp100.

With no AAAA action the top spot went to A with a pp100 of 84.24. AA came next with 81.75. AAA was four points off at 77.4.

THE BEST THIS SEASON

Week	Leader	Pp100	All pp100
1	Minnetonka	122.2	80.18
2	Rosemount	138.1	76.78
3	Duluth Marshall	115.7	78.23
4	Lakeville North	127.5	75.65
5	Burnsville	88.2	73.14
6	Mankato East	105.3	75.73
7	Fairmont	108.0	81.26
8	Ogilvie	115.8	80.83
9	Rochester Lourdes	96.6	71.82
10	Benilde-St. Margaret’s	105.6	83.9
11	Pelican Rapids	118.2	81.26
12	Shakopee	111.1	76.14
13	St. Peter	120.6	82.58
14	Walker-Hackensack-Akeley	120.0	82.44

Walker-Hackensack-Akeley is the second A team to lead the list.

31 CLUB

There were fourteen 31 Clubbers in the nine games charted this week. Two of those members upped it to the 41 Club and both of those players did it on the first game of the week. Addison Hoof of Lester Prairie led all with 49. Sienna Duininck of Central MN Christian joined her in the higher level 41 Club with 44. Three others just missed out by one—stranded at 40. Each game had at least one 31 Club performance.

Southwest MN Christian and Walker-Hackensack-Akeley each had a pair of 31 Clubbers. Class A led the way with 10 members. AA had one (only one game), AAA had three (in two games). 31 Clubbers finished with an 11-3 mark on the week.

The upper class held the upper hand with seniors garnering six entries, juniors five, one solitary sophomore and two freshman.

THE BEST THIS SEASON

Week	Player	School	Grad	Score
1	Maddyn Greenway	Providence	2026	56
2	Tori Oehrlein	Crosby-Ironton	2026	68
3	Chloe Johnson	Duluth Marshall	2028	63
4	Jocelyn Land	Holy Family	2024	49
5	Livi Downs	Mankato West	2026	44
6	Lauren Bengston	Cretin-Derham Hall	2024	42
7	Rylie Cother	Jackson County Central	2025	54
8	Grace Heins	Ogilvie	2024	51
9	Katelyn Olson	JWP	2026	38
10	Mattea Henry	Woodbury	2024	53
11	Alexis Rose	Becker	2024	57
12	Catherine Walker	Breck	2025	40
13	Rylie Cother	Jackson County Central	2025	64
14	Addison Hoof	Lester Prairie	2025	49

Hoof is the second A player to lead (the other Grace Heins, Ogilvie). She also continues a streak by the 2025s out to three.

TOP OF THE LIST

With Walker-Hackensack-Akeley, Glencoe-Silver Lake and Southwest MN Christian seen, that leaves only the 8A #1s on the list. Fosston and Kittson County Central both need to win on Thursday for me to have a chance to cross them off on Saturday at Thief River Falls.

AAAA: 1.000 8/8
AAA: 1.000 8/8
AA: 1.000 10/10
A: .846 11/13

Top 10 polls

two to go—all in A.

AAAA 10/10 100%
AAA 10/10 100%
AA 10/10 100%
A 8/10 80%

QRF

The quest was 200. That won’t happen. With 25 teams left and basically 10 calendar dates available (figure one a date) that is hard to squeeze. So, 150 looks like a strong possibility. Even 160 might happen. 170 (12 to go) is too far out. The problem is too many games on Saturday at too many sites, too far apart at the same time. This really is on the A and AA angles. There are no AAA teams higher than 182.

Rank	Seen	%
1-10	10	100
1-25	25	100
1-50	50	100
1-75	75	100
1-100	100	100
1-125	124	99.2
1-150	147	98.0
1-175	162	92.6
1-200	175	87.5
1-225	187	83.1
1-250	194	77.6
1-275	204	74.2
1-300	209	69.7

The biggest fish left to fry? Fosston at #125.

As for the completeness of each class

AAAA: 100%
AAA: 85.94%—9 to go
AA: 54.33%—58 to go
A: 24.49%—111 to go

Most of the action this week will be in A. Probably only one AA team will be crossed off.

SOLOISTS

Two soloists were evicted in overtime losses. St. Peter left the list on Thursday with a 73-72 overtime loss at home to Byron on Thursday. Menahga lost at Pelican Rapids on Friday 50-47 in overtime. Cass Lake-Bena upended Fosston 63-34. No overtime was required there.

Was 5 now 2

AAAA: none
AAA: Delano
AA: Albany
A: none

Danger ahead: Delano sees Richfield in the 6AAA quarters, get by the Spartans and they might see another Spartan—-Orono. Albany will see either Royalton or Milaca on Saturday in the 6AA quarters.

WINLESS

The big news was the long 46 game drought is over for Ortonville. The Trojans snapped that on Friday facing winless Ashby, the new leaders in A. Fond du Lac Ojibwe also left this list on Thursday with a 61-46 win over Silver Bay on the road. Mound-Westonka exited with a win over Apple Valley on Saturday in the first round of sections in 6AAA.

Was 11 now 8

AAAA: none
AAA: 1 Minneapolis Edison
AA: 2 Albert Lea, Cristo Rey Jesuit
A: 5 Immanuel Lutheran, Parnassus Prep, St. Paul City, Ashby, Cook County

STREAKING

New leaders in AAAA, AA and A. Soloing in AAA. Hopkins lost to Minnetonka on Friday in AAAA opening the way for…..Minneapolis Southwest??? The Lakers are the #3 seed in 6AAAA (Hopkins’ section). They won’t be going to state. Benilde-St. Margaret’s is now all by their lonesome with St. Peter’s loss to Byron on Thursday by one. BSM can get to state and win it. Menahga’s 23 game streak was stopped by Pelican Rapids in overtime on Friday 50-47. Albany takes over the top spot in AA with 17 straight wins. Can they get to state? Yes. Can they win AA? They would have a hard road if they were either the #2 or #3 seed since the turnaround from Friday Semis to Saturday championship is 16 hours, the shortest of all classes. With Fosston’s loss there is a two-way tie for the lead between Hayfield and Minneota. Can they get to state? Hayfield must get through Goodhue. Minneota must get by Southwest MN Christian. Both Vikings will need strong performances to get there.

AAAA: 8 Minneapolis Southwest.
AAA: 18 Benilde-St. Margaret’s
AA: 17 Albany.
A: 11 Hayfield and Minneota

There is a new leader with Ortonville’s 46 game losing streak over. Albert Lea now leads this parade with 29 straight losses over two years. Also leaving the list, in the first game of sections, was Mound-Westonka on Saturday with a 68-55 win over Apple Valley. Minneapolis Edison replaces the WhiteHawks. The only team that has finished their season on this list is Albert Lea. The other three have a remote chance to leave, but a better chance to add to their totals.

AAAA: 25 Bloomington Jefferson 25 (all this year after opening with a victory)
AAA: 27 Minneapolis Edison 26+1 ly
AA: 29 Albert Lea 26+3 ly
A: 26 Ashby 25+1 ly

ROAD AHEAD

Sections begin for most. Saturday is the mega-day on the calendar. Too many games, too many sites. Too hard to get to all the must-see games. There will be some surprises, there always is.

SEEDING THE STATE

Flips in AAAA & A; New entries in AAAA, AAA, A. No changes in AA.

AAAA

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

AAA

1. Benilde-St. Margaret’s (6)
2. DeLaSalle (4)
3. Alexandria (8)
4. Byron (1)
5. Peter (2)
6. Becker (5)
7. Rock Ridge (7)
8. Minneapolis Roosevelt (3)

AA

1. Providence (5)
2. Minnehaha (4)
3. Albany (6)
4. New London-Spicer (3)
5. Crosby-Ironton (7)
6. Perham (8)
7. Winona Cotter (1)
8. Glencoe-Silver Lake (2)

A

1. Goodhue (1)
2. Hancock (6)
3. Mountain Iron-Buhl (7)
4. Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart (2)
5. Minneota (3)
6. Mayer Lutheran (4)
7. Kelliher/Northome (8)
8. Braham (5)