A busy Saturday with plenty of results.
D1 HIGH FIVE
Alayna Contreras, Kansas City, Hopkins 35
Avery Koenen, North Dakota State, Montevideo 30
Paige Meyer, South Dakota State, Albany 27
Gianna Kneepkens, Utah, Duluth Marshall 20
Tori McKinney, Minnesota, Minnetonka 17
Macy Smith, Oakland, Spring Lake Park 17
Totals: 129
D2 HIGH FIVE
Bri Stoltzman, Southwest MN State, Mankato West 30
Audrey Swanson, Southwest MN State, Waconia 25
Peyton Blandin, Southwest MN State, Farmington 17
Lindsey Becher, Concordia St. Paul, Mounds View 15
Lydia Haack, Concordia St. Paul, Elk River 15
Totals: 102
D1 topped D2 by 27. At all five spots D1 led D2. Six players squeezed into the five spots at D1. The Lake Conference had 52 points, all at D1. The NW Suburban had 32 points. It was AA players that ruled D1 with 77 points. Seven AAAA players made up eleven of the combined squad.
POINT PARADE-13
Parade starts at 25. If there is a player missing email kja8067@gmail.com
AAAA-1
Autumn McCall, Centennial 27
AAA-3
Mya Moore, Orono 27
Anna Greene, Mahtomedi 26
Mya Wilson, Hill-Murray 25
AA-5
Maddyn Greenway, Providence 32
Maddy Hamdorf, Southwest Christian Chaska 32
Tori Oehrlein, Crosby-Ironton 27
Clarissa Sauer, Winona Cotter 27
Savi Borowicz, Jordan 26
A-4
Kenzie Dahl, Badger/Greenbush-Middle River 32
Elsa Retzlaff, Hillcrest Lutheran 30
Kate Thayer, Northome/Kelliher 27
Marisa Tusler, West Lutheran 25
TOP OF THE CLASS (GRAD)
2025 Maddy Hamdorf, Southwest Christian Chaska; Kenzie Dahl, Badger/Greenbush-Middle River 32
2026 Maddyn Greenway, Providence 32
2027 Mya Wilson, Hill-Murray
2028 Elsa Retzlaff, Hillcrest Lutheran 30
RANKED RESULTS
Winner High 109 Minnehaha
Winner Low 43 Anoka
Loser High 73 Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
Loser Low 17 Avail Academy
Biggest Margin 86 Minnehaha v Concordia
Smallest Margin 1 Minnetonka v Prior Lake; New Ulm v St. Peter; Annandale v Osakis
Most Combined: 150 Northome/Kelliher v Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
Least combined: 78 Ely v Bigfork; Anoka v Andover
Margins 30 or more 23
Margins 5 or less 11
Average 55.56
Winner Average 66.70
Loser Average 44.42
Ranked Average 71.89
Nonranked Average 50.31
Average margin 22.28
Average combined: 111.12
Ranked Upsets: x
AAAA Ave 55.82
AAA Ave 55.38
AA Ave 56.68
A Ave 54.41
There were 14 upsets on Saturday, three involved 4s over 1s. Two of those happened in AAAA. In section 2 #4 seed Chaska, who was walloped 87-56 back in December by #1 Eden Prairie, stopped the Eagles in overtime 66-64. It must have been a bad day to be an E in AAAA. In section 4 #4 seed Roseville, who lost to #1 East Ridge 57-42 in December and 51-44 in January, proved it is hard to beat a team three times with their 57-50 upset. The other AAAA take downs also involved sections 2 and 4 with 3s over 2s. #3 seed Minnetonka squeaked by #2 Prior Lake in section 2 65-64 (more on that below). #3 seed White Bear Lake beat the #2 seed Stillwater Ponies for the second time in two weeks in the other section 4AAAA semi 46-42. One more upset came with #3 seed Brainerd getting revenge over #2 Elk River in section 8. The Elks beat the Warriors earlier in the year.
AAA was relatively upset free. There was one 3 beating a 2 and that came in section 1 with Stewartville topping Red Wing 52-50. The Tigers are the defending 1AAA champs. An upset was avoided in section 2 with #2 New Ulm overcoming a 15-point deficit against #3 St. Peter 65-64 (there is that score again).
AA was drama free….at least in final results. In section 6 #4 seed Annandale almost saw their season come to a close escaping with a 58-57 win over #12 seed Osakis.
Not the case in A. Specifically section 8. Two teams that have been in the top 10 polls fell by the wayside. In the biggest upset of the day #4E seed Mahnomen/Waubun stunned #1W Kittson County Central 56-49. The Thunderbirds are now 17-11 while KCC lost only for the third time this year. The Bearcats were in the top 10 poll all year. MW trailed at half. 8A was cross fertilized meaning the East faced the West in the quarters. #1E Kelliher/Northome survived to fight another day a 77-73 nailbiter with #4W BGMR. #2E Cass Lake-Bena wasn’t as fortunate. #3W EGF Sacred Heart won 52-46. The only ho-hum game was #2W WAO over #3E Fosston, the defending section champ, 61-30. Other lower seeded teams winning in A were more of the 2/3 or 4/5 variety. In section 1 #3 Grand Meadow had a relatively easy 60-39 win over #2 Spring Grove. Clearly a mis-seeded #5 Lester Prairie in section 4 waltzed over #4 CHOF 60-27. LP probably should have been a #2 seed. #3 Upsala pulled an upset in 5E over #2 BBE 54-51. The Jaguars had been ranked most of the season. There were two more upsets in section 7. #5 Chisholm streaked by #4 Floodwood 55-48 and #6 Ely left #3 Bigfork howling 45-33.
So….is there a chance any class will have all #1 seeds play in the state? AAA is on track. A can get there too, but it is wobbly. There is no chance in AAAA or AA. So far two #1s are gone in AAAA; one for sure in AA. Is there any chance any class will have all ranked teams at state? No. Not one. AAAA was missing sections 4 and 7; AAA is missing section 3; AA is missing section 2 and 8; A is missing 3. More to fall? We will see.
As for the ranked casualties….#3AA New London-Spicer was the first ranked team to fall, but they were in a ranked v ranked battle (#6AA Minnewaska was victorious). The Wildcats are also the highest ranked team to exit the post-season. Two more fell in ranked v ranked on Saturday (#6AAAA Prior Lake, #9AAA Delano). Saturday two more ranked teams left the field, but they were dispatched by unranked foes….#5AAAA Eden Prairie and #8A Kittson County Central. EP has the highest ranking to fall to the unranked.
AAAA
1
#1 Lakeville North 61, #4 Farmington 42
#2 Rochester Mayo 54, #6 Owataonna 45
2
#3 Minnetonka 65, #2 Prior Lake 64
#4 Chaska 66, #1 Eden Prairie 64 OT
3
#1 Eastview 58, #4 Hastings 44
#3 Rosemount 65, #2 Eagan 56
4
#3 White Bear Lake 46, #2 Stillwater 42
#4 Roseville 57, #1 East Ridge 50
6
#1 Wayzata 96, #4 Armstrong 25
#2 Hopkins 74, #3 Edina 37
7
#1 Anoka 43, #5 Andover 35
#2 Centennial 67, #3 Forest Lake 61
8
#1 St. Michael-Albertville 74, #4 Sartell 42
#3 Brainerd 69, #2 Elk River 61
AAA
1
#1 Byron 58, #5 Northfield 42
#3 Stewartville 52, #2 Red Wing 50
2
#1 Marshall 89, #4 Mankato West 39
#2 New Ulm 65, #3 St. Peter 64
3
#1 Cretin-Derham Hall 66, #4 South St. Paul 27
#2 Two Rivers 71, #3 St. Paul Como Park 45
4
#1 DeLaSalle 68, #4 St. Anthony 46
#2 Hill-Murray 59, #3 Mahtomedi 51
5
#1 Monticello 63, #4 St. Francis 24
#2 Totino-Grace 69, #6 Fridley 58
6
#1 Orono 73, #4 Richfield 40
#2 Benilde-St. Margaret’s 87, #3 Delano 48
7
#1 Rock Ridge 68, #4 Cloquet 34
#2 Hermantown 78, #3 North Branch 45
8
#1 Alexandria 59, #4 Little Falls 25
#2 Fergus Falls 59, #3 Willmar 47
AA
1
#1 Caledonia 78, #4 Winona Cotter 59
#2 Dover-Eyota 71, #3 Rochester Lourdes 64
4
#1 Minnehaha 109, #8 Concordia 23
#2 Visitation 68, #10 Columbia Heights 24
#3 St. Croix Lutheran 54, #6 St. Croix Prep 36
#4 St. Agnes 51, #5 St. Paul Johnson/ Washington 33
5
#1 Providence 101 #4 Holy Family 25
#2 Minneapolis North 67, #7 Dassel-Cokato 46
#3 Jordan 74, #6 Watertown-Mayer 55
#4 Maranatha 69, #5 Southwest Christian Chaska 61
6
#1 Sauk Centre 68, #8 Foley 48
#2 Royalton 49, #7 Albany 43
#3 Milaca 61, #6 Spectrum 35
#4 Annandale 58, #12 Osakis 57
7
#1 Crosby-Ironton 83, #8 Esko 44
#2 Proctor 68, #7 Aitkin 28
#3 Duluth Marshall 93, #6 Barnum 27
#4 Pequot Lakes 64 #5 Mesabi East 32
8
#1 Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 69, #8 Hawley 49
#2 Barnesville 66, #10 Frazee 63
#3 Pelican Rapids 68, #6 Perham 49
#4 Menahga 54, #5 East Grand Forks 50
A
1
#1 Goodhue 74, #4 Rushford-Peterson 51
#3 Grand Meadow 60, #2 Spring Grove 39
4
#1 Mayer Lutheran 80, #9 Avail 17
#2 United Christian 73, #7 New Life 52
#3 West Lutheran 65, #6 PACT 50
#5 Lester Prairie 60, #4 CHOF 27
5E
#1 Braham 67, #5 Swanville 58
#3 Upsala 54, #2 Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 51
5W
#1 Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 69, #5 Sebeka 30
#2 Bertha-Hewitt 61, #3 Pine River-Backus 46
6N
#1 Hillcrest Lutheran 65, #4 Park Christian 47
#2 Underwood 60, #3 New York Mills 53
6S
#1 Breckenridge 66, #4 Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 49
#2 West Central 62, #3 Hancock 57
7
#1 Mountain Iron-Buhl 85, #8 Hill City/Northland 38
#2 Cromwell-Wright 64, #7 Cherry 39
#5 Chisholm 55, #4 Floodwood 48
#6 Ely 45, #3 Bigfork 33
8
#1E Northome/Kelliher 77, #4W Badger/Greenbush-Middle River 73
#2W Warren-Alvarado-Oslo 61, #3E Fosston 30
#3W EGF Sacred Heart 52, #2E Cass Lake-Bena 46
#4E Mahnomen/Waubun 56, #1W Kittson County Central 49
MILESTONES
New Ulm senior Maddie Backer reached the 1000-point level with 15 points in the 65-64 win over St. Peter.
On the rebound…Hillcrest Lutheran senior Katelyn Olstad is now a 1000/1000 member adding rebounds to her point milestone achieved earlier this year. Rebounds happened in the 65-47 victory over Park Christian Saturday.
Late additions….
Junior Margo Klaassen of Willmar Community Christian got to 1000 points against Prior Lake Christian Academy on 2.27.25. Who are these schools? They are part of the MCAC, outside the MSHSL.
Mountain Iron-Buhl Sophomore Anna Neyens achieved the 1000 point mark vs. Cook County on Thursday.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT…..Minnetonka v Prior Lake
This game was drama with a capital D. I am not talking about the defense necessarily, but I am talking about the twists, turns and final results that made this state tournament semifinal worthy. All the hallmarks of a classic and competitive game were in place with two ranked teams facing each other in the loaded 2AAAA section. In the end #7AAAA ranked (and #3 seed) Minnetonka escaped with a last possession bucket by Lanelle Wright over #6AAAA ranked (and #2 seed) Prior Lake. If you were just looking for a great game, something to talk (or write) about you were not disappointed. Neither of these teams faced each other during the season.
I could spill plenty of ink, or what passes for ink on the internet, just on the last few minutes of the game. There were choices by both teams (and officials) that left me and my associates in the crowd scratching our collective heads. Let’s dig in.
The Lakers struck first and were up 6-2 after five possessions. The Skippers tightened the game up, but PL zipped out to a 19-11 advantage. There was a chance to add to the lead on a three on one break, but PL didn’t return the ball to the left side and Lanelle Wright got the stop, and that kicked off a 23-8 finish to the first half in the last 7:34. The visitors were up 34-27 at the break.
The Skippers would rather skip over the start of the second half where they missed five straight free throws before finding the bottom of the net and by that time PL saw some hope. It took Minnetonka seven possessions to score. It was 35-30 when PL kicked in their transition game scoring three straight possessions to inch forward 36-35. The flow then see-sawed back and forth three times with the lead and two ties. Delaney Eggert of Minnetonka broke a 42 all tie with a triple. Soon Minnetonka was up 61-50 on a 19-8 spurt with 3:30 left in the game. It looked like it was over for the hosts. Then some calls that were made or not made started piling up. There was what the stands around perceived to be a travel right before a foul was called. With 2:22 left it appeared to the crowd that Minnetonka had grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled, but a 35 second violation was called instead. There were no video replays which I would think will be available at state. PL struck for two straight 3s and it was 61-56 with two minutes to go. We had entered crunch time (five points or less with four minutes or less). PL hit the jackpot proverbially with a six-point possession with 55 seconds left. First Brooklyn Holmberg connected on a 3 from the left corner. During the flight of the ball Bree Bowman was fouled. That meant she was headed to the line for two as Minnetonka was over the limit. She made the first, missed the second, but Alaya Carter grabbed the miss and was fouled on the shot from the right block. She delivered both free throws and Minnetonka led 63-62. The next Minnetonka possession ended up in a turnover with a mega-mega dribble exhibition. The Lakers missed the layup and there was a scramble for the loose ball which ended up in a jump situation. PL had the arrow. However, there were some words exchanged (apparently) and a technical foul was assessed to Arianna Peterson which ended her day. Bowman went to the line for the two shots and scored. Now PL was up 64-63 with 16.2 seconds left. After the time out PL inbounded back to Bowman, and she was immediately fouled with 14.7 left. This time the free throws were misses and Minnetonka made sure they secured the ball with Harley Wock doing the honors. A Minnetonka time out set up their final possession with Wright driving into the lane and connecting from just inside the free throw line. That proved to be the game winner. There were 4.3 seconds left after a PL time out. They got the ball into Anna Traschel, who had injured her left ankle earlier in the game. She advanced the ball up to about mid court and launched a desperation 3 the was off the mark. Minnetonka had dodged a drama filled final few minutes and as a reward will now host #4 seed Chaska on Thursday.
As you can imagine, the pp100s were tight. Minnetonka right at the century with 100, down from the 113.3 at the half. PL was 97.0, up slightly from 90 at the half. The bench battle belonged to the Lakers 21-3. The Starters clearly favored Minnetonka 62-43.
Examining the four factor stats both teams had 39 rebounds and were within an eyelash of each other on offensive rebounding numbers 35.7% for PL, 35.3 for Minnetonka. PL had one more turnover at 13-12 with both teams right in the same vicinity with PL coughing it up every 24.77 touches to 24.25 for Minnetonka. Both teams missed six free throws. Minnetonka was off at the start of the second half. It was the spotlight at the end that burned PL. But in reality, it was the execution on the half court that separated these two teams. Minnetonka shot 42% on 2s, 41% on 3s—with seven made to 35% on 2s and 33% for PL. The Lakers did make nine 3s, five in the second half. They also ran the floor better with a 7/10 conversion rate. I had no transitions recorded for Minnetonka. The longer touches fell to Minnetonka 3/9 for the game to 1/10. In a game with slight differences that was huge.
On the individual side of the equation Minnetonka had two players make the 31 club, both on the nose. Lanelle Wright had a game high 19 points, 7 d stops and 5 distributions; Peterson scored 15 points, had 14 d stops and 2 distributions. No one from PL joined in. The closest was Bowman at 27.
UNBEATEN
No changes in the list—again. We may see another week for no change. Monticello has a date with Totino-Grace to get to state. Providence has a semi against Maranatha next in 5AA; Royalton survived #7 seed Albany 49-43 in the 6AA quarters. Next up is #3 seed Milaca. CI faces Pequot Lakes in the 7AA semis.
AAAA-0
AAA-1
Monticello
AA-3
Providence, Royalton, Crosby-Ironton
A-0
STREAKING
No changes….for this week other than adding to win totals. Who is in line to stop the streaks? Park Center in the 5AAAA final; Totino-Grace in the AAA final; Maranatha in the 5AA semi; Goodhue in the 1A final. That last listing will prove to be the toughest hurdle to jump.
AAAA: 18 Maple Grove
AAA: 28 Monticello
AA: 38 Providence (11 last year +27 this year)
A: 17 Grand Meadow
QUEST FOR..
THE QRF
Due to the bubbling nature of the QRF one team was sliced off with no effort on my part this week. I am now at 94% complete for the top 50 (Proctor, and Rock Ridge, Fergus Falls)
1-10 10/10-1.000
1-20 20/20-1.000
1-30 30/30-1.000
1-40 39/40-.975
1-50 47/50-.940
Biggest fish left to fry….is still #39 Proctor.
TOP 10s
One move in the polls drops my totals to 77.5%.
AAAA 10/10-1.000
AAA 9/10-.900 (Rock Ridge slides into #10 spot)
AA 7/10-.700
A 5/10-.500
overall it is 31/40 or .775
#1s EACH SECTION
No changes for my quests here. And it won’t be finished with JCC (AA); Central MN Christian; and Kittson County Central all finished for the year.
AAAA 8/8—1.000
AAA 7/8-.875 just missing Rock Ridge from section 7.
AA 5/9-.556 (section 3AA is split) missing JWP in section 2; Jackson County Central section 3 south; Sauk Centre section 6; DGF section 8
A 6/12-.500 (splits in 3, 5, 6, 8) missing 3N, 3S, 6N, 6S, 8E, 8W
Overall, 26/37 or .703
SEEDING THE STATE
There are several changes due to the losses. Minnetonka replaces Eden Prairie in AAAA. Minnewaska takes New London-Spicer’s spot, but Minnehaha, Caledonia both move up as a result in AA. MACCRAY replaces Central MN Christian.
AAA stays rock solid.
AAAA
- Maple Grove (5)
- Hopkins (6)
- Eastview (3)
- Minnetonka (2)
- Michael-Albertville (8)
- Lakeville North (1)
- White Bear Lake (4)
- Anoka (7)
AAA
- Monticello (5)
- Orono (6)
- Marshall (2)
- Alexandria (8)
- DeLaSalle (4)
- Byron (1)
- Rock Ridge (7)
- Cretin-Derham Hall (3)
AA
- Providence (5)
- Crosby-Ironton (7)
- Minnehaha (4)
- Caledonia (1)
- Minnewaska (3)
- Sauk Centre (6)
- Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (8)
- Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton (2)
A
- Goodhue (1)
- Mountain Iron-Buhl (7)
- Breckenridge (6)
- Mayer Lutheran (4)
- Northome/Kelliher (8)
- Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s (2)
- Braham (5)
- MACCRAY (3)
THE WEEK AHEAD
The final section week starts slowly on Monday with five games (one of which is a game with no section implications). Tuesday builds to 18. We drop to 3 on Wednesday including the first championship to be decided—2AAA at St. Peter on the Gustavus campus between Marshall and New Ulm. Championship Thursday has 20 contests. Everything wraps up on Friday with six games.
So some schools opted out of sections. Technically they can still play games up to and including the final day of the season, which is Saturday, March 15. These teams are usually smaller charter and/or private schools mainly residing in sections 4AA or 4A. Who knew?