THE OPENER

The 2024-25 season has one week of practice under their collective belts and the first games jump start Thanksgiving by a week this year. The landscape has shifted with player movements, coaching movements and a smattering of conference movements.

One movement that will be curtailed this season is my travel schedule. I will not be heading out to games every day, or hours and hours away. My quest for the top 200 is a thing of the past. I will instead choose to pick and choose. I will see the best available game if the spirit moves me, and the distance (and weather) is right. The wall-to-wall coverage (with at least one exception) will be curtailed. That exception will come this weekend with the Breakdown Tip Off. Usually it is held at Hopkins, but now it will be moving to Southwest Christian in Chaska. It usually is a two day affair, but now it is only Saturday.

One change I am considering is to harken back to the roots for those familiar with the old BlogSpot postings. I used to link stories from around the world. That won’t be happening. But I might bring back some features—like daily posts and recaps (from what I can tell) from the action the night before.

For example: The HIGH FIVE

The High Five were the highest five scorers at the D1 Level the day before. On Sunday, November 17 these are the Minnesota high school players that hit the highest notes.

1. Taylor Woodson, Minnesota, Hopkins 18
2. Annika Stewart, Minnesota, Wayzata 18
3. Mikayla Aumer, North Dakota, Cambridge-Isanti 17
4. Nunu Agara, Stanford, Hopkins 15
5. Mara Braun, Minnesota, Wayzata 13

Looking at that list a couple of things should leap out at you—with the Gophers in operation they had three players make the list. Four of those players on the High Five played not only in the Lake Conference but also section 6AAAA. In fact, all five players were AAAA based. Hopkins and Wayzata monopolized the list with two each. The only non-Lake player to crash the party was Mikayla Aumer of Cambridge-Isanti. Is it any wonder why they call it the Great Lake? That competition schedule primes those players for the next level.

THE WEEK AHEAD

43 games start off the season on Thursday, November 21. One tournament begins that day with the four team Dover-Eyota event. Interesting match ups that day include:

Wayzata at New Ulm
Jordan at Minneapolis North
Maple Grove at Eden Prairie

There will be 62 more contests on Friday with another four-team tournament hosted by Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s. The week concludes with 33 games on Saturday, which includes 16 at the Breakdown Tip-Off at SWC.

SEEDING THE STATE

Every week, usually on Sunday, but this week Monday, I will list the teams I see as the top of their section. The MSHSL will now be seeding teams one through eight instead of one through five in the state tournament. That should give clarity on who will be facing who and no one vs. six potentials like in the past. Thank goodness we are moving in the right direction in this regard. But a note of caution….in the volleyball tournament just completed on November 9 two classes failed to send the #1 seed to the finals. The #5 seed in AAA Alexandria won that class and #4 in AA Hawley prevailed in that class.

After next Saturday expect this list to be scrambled.

AAAA

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

AAA

1. Benilde-St. Margaret’s (6)
2. Alexandria (8)
3. Stewartville (1)
4. DeLaSalle (4)
5. New Ulm (2)
6. Two Rivers (3)
7. Totino-Grace (5)
8. Rock Ridge (7)

AA

1. Providence (5)
2. Minnehaha (4)
3. Crosby-Ironton (7)
4. Sauk Centre (6)
5. New London-Spicer (3)
6. Rochester Lourdes (1)
7. Barnesville (8)
8. Glencoe-Silver Lake (2)

A

1. Goodhue (1)
2. Mountain Iron-Buhl (7)
3. Mayer Lutheran (4)
4. Cass Lake-Bena (8)
5. Hancock (6)
6. Walker-Hackensack-Akeley (5)
7. Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s (2)
8. Central MN Christian (3)