ESKO 69, AITKIN 40

It is winter in Minnesota. It gets cold. It snows. The metro area called

SATURDAY TWO-FER

Yesterday (I didn’t write right away last night) I was out to chart two

RED WING 59, NORTHFIELD 49

For the second time in less than a week #2AAA Red Wing was under

the microscope. Tonight, I was back in RW with #20AAA Northfield on the menu. This was the best window to see the Raiders, last year’s AAA runner up, and that was the reason for the return trip. It had implications for the Big 9 conference crown and was important for seeding in 1AAA. Plus it was a rivalry game in the sense both teams were former Missota Conference members that returned back to the Big 9 a few years ago. The last meeting was a narrow one point win for RW. It looked like that was the direction the game was headed at half time with the hosts holding a 24-22 lead at the break. But RW with Lindsay Reps long distance shooting opened it up in the second half to win by double digits 59-49. The teams had contrasting offensive emphasis. RW is known for their long bombs, but only had one at the break, which made a Winger fan next to me a bit concerned. Lindsay Reps was the only Winger to connect from downtown tonight, but she did so at a 60% clip (6/10). She led RW with 25 points, 18 of which came in the critical second half run. Northfield made use of post Rachel Kelly who had a game high 26 points.

Kelly tied it right away in the second half on the first possession. Kelly gave Northfield their last lead at 30-28. Reps ended any thoughts of a Northfield upset with a 3 that put the Wingers up for good at 31-30. Northfield turned it over on their next three possessions. Reps again found the range from the left side arc for a 34-30 lead. This was part of a 12-1 RW push over 11 possessions that put the Raiders behind the 8 ball and forced them to play catch up. If you notice the box below, RW had a +13 advantage in turnover differential. Eight of the 24 Raider turnovers happened in the critical 11 possession stretch. The Raiders were able to slice into the lead (49-42) with 3:43 left after an &1 by Kelly. Reps put a RIP on Northfield with a dagger 3, her last of the night to make it 54-42 with a little over 2  minutes left.

To refresh everyone’s memory, on Saturday RW beat Rochester Mayo 65-59, and is consistent with their pp100 which was right on the nose at 100 on Saturday. Tonight they were 1.7 better.

RW is now 12-2. Northfield falls to 7-8.

TRENCH PLAYER: Lindsay Reps with 25 points (18 in the second half), all six of RW’s 3s (on 10 attempts), 156.2 pp100, and a 39 score in the 31 Club.

CRISTO REY JESUIT 82, EAGLE RIDGE ACADEMY/INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF MN 38

Wednesday nights feature few games, usually with smaller metro

3 GAMES FROM THE MLK/ST. KATE’S EVENT

I was able to get to three of the five contests at the annual Martin

SATURDAY TWO-FER BIG 9 STYLE

I continued my tour of the Big 9 with a pair of Saturday games. Both

BRAINERD 54, ALEXANDRIA 45

Brainerd handed #2AAA Alexandria their second straight road loss

PROVIDENCE 48, EDINA 44

Providence edged host Edina in a Wednesday night non conference

5 GAMES FROM THE KASSON-MANTORVILLE SHOWCASE

Showcase Saturdays are cropping up with more frequency in recent

PRINCETON 76, NORTH BRANCH 39

Sometimes beginnings do not point the way for the finale. Tonight,