Previewing the HVL/TRC Showdown

Two of the best small-school conferences in the state are meeting up for what should be a terrific day of hoops Saturday in Rochester. The Hiawatha Valley League and Three Rivers Conference are sending some of the best boys and girls teams in the state for the HVL/TRC showdown. It's got big time teams like Caledonia and Goodhue. It's got some under-the-radar teams like Plainview-Elgin-Millville and Pine Island. And It's got some of the best individual players southern Minnesota has to offer at the small-school level with the likes of Owen King and Broc Finstuen. It should be a great full day of basketball. <strong><u>Saturday Schedule</u></strong> <strong>Fillmore Central vs. Goodhue – 11:45 a.m.</strong> Goodhue and Fillmore Central meet up for what should be a good football game on the basketball court. The Wildcats just keep on churning out wins. Currently sitting at 6-0 with wins over Zumbrota-Mazeppa, Hayfield and Rushford-Peterson, the Wildcats look as strong as ever. Fillmore is 2-2 with wins over Grand Meadow and LeRoy-Ostrander. <strong>Plainview-Elgin-Millville vs. Zumbrota-Mazeppa – 2:15 p.m.</strong> This one could be one of the better games of the day. Z-M is currently 4-1 and is playing well since its opening game loss to Goodhue. PEM lost its opener to Lake City and just got walloped by a really good St. Charles team. Both teams are kind of in that second tier of teams in each respective conference. But both teams also look capable of winning 15 games or more this year. PEM's got Barron Holtz and Gavin Folkert while Z-M leans on Isaiah Nolte and Alex Guse. <strong>La Crescent vs. Triton – 4 p.m.</strong> Triton and La Crescent have both struggled out of the gate this season. Each team has one win so far this year and a couple of double-digit losses. The Lancers have a good pair of guards in Ben Nelson and Jason Gurholt so they could have the edge on a Triton team that is still looking for consistent impact players. <strong>Dover-Eyota vs. Pine Island – 5 p.m.</strong> Dover-Eyota gets a tough back-to-back slate between Friday and Saturday as the Eagles play at Goodhue Friday then get Pine Island Saturday. Dover beat Wabasha-Kellogg in its second game of the year but lost to Zumbrota-Mazeppa and Kingsland. Pine Island is off to a terrific start and Broc Finstuen's been a rock star for the Panthers early in the year. <strong>Chatfield vs. Hayfield – 5:45 p.m.</strong> Hayfield and Chatfield get one of the early games. After losing three straight games to start the year, the Vikings have won two in a row. They lost to St. Charles, Maple River and Goodhue – three of the best teams in small-school southern Minnesota. Chatfield lost its first two games of the year to Plainview-Elgin-Millville and Lake City and gets St. Charles the night before. So this will be a good test to see if the Gophers have improved. &nbsp; <strong>Caledonia vs. Cannon Falls - 8:30 p.m.</strong> This will be a big test for the Bombers as Caledonia is one of the elite teams in Class AA.  It's a rematch of last year's Section 1AA semifinal game so there could be some intrigue from that angle. But the Warriors have looked very strong so far this year while Cannon Falls struggled to beat Triton and Kenyon-Wanamingo. Caledonia enters the game 5-0 on the year with wins over Rushford-Peterson and Esko. Owen and Noah King are two of the best players in the state regardless of class while the Bombers lean on Ryan Dirckx and Anthony Hurton. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;