The Conference Race Review
The Conference Races! Who is in full control? Where is there a race? NHR runs you through several races right now.
Big Nine. It’s a tough horse race with Rochester JM a half game a head of Austin after beating them earlier in the year. Austin gets a final game of the year rematch in Austin on March 3rd. At 12-3 Owatonna is the team with the outside chance as they do play both Austin and JM again.
Central Lakes Conference. St. Cloud Tech and Fergus Falls are both 9-2 in league play with Alexandria two games back. These two play each other on February 23rd with Tech also facing Alexandria in the season finale.
Gopher. After beating NRHEG this week WEM is 9-1 in league play, NRHEG is 7-1. They are far and away ahead of the rest of the league.
Granite Ridge. The Cathedral/Zimmerman game tomorrow will go a long ways with the league. Cathedral has a half game lead over Zimmerman after beating them last month. Becker is right behind them at 7-3 (Cathedral is 8-1, 8-2 for Zimmerman in league play).
Heart O Lakes. Perham and Breckenridge and then everybody else. DGF is 5-2 in league play but 7-11 overall. Perham and Breckenridge have each beaten each other so the league will likely be a tie unless one of them gets upset and that’s not likely as the rest of the league is in rough shape record wise.
Hiawatha Valley League. The Blue is all Goodhue. They are 11-2 and in second place the teams have a losing record. On the Gold side Lake City is 11-1, a game and a half ahead of Lourdes. With Byron, Pine Island, Lourdes, and Lake City in the Gold that league is much, much tougher.
Lake Conference. The four Lake squads are starting their second half go-round shortly with Wayzata having a half game lead on EP.
Metro East. Mahtomedi’s win over Tartan has them at 10-0 with Tartan 9-1. North St. Paul is in third at 8-2. The Zephyrs and Titans go at it this weekend and if the Zephyrs win that one they are in the driver’s seat in a big way.
Metro West. This is a Jefferson/Cooper race with the Jags having a one game edge based on their three point win over the Hawks on January 20th. The rematch is next Tuesday.
Minneapolis City. North has beaten Henry twice and are in firm control of first. The better race may be for second with Henry at 10-2 and Roosevelt at 8-3 (14-6 overall).
Minnesota River. Jordan owns a half game lead on much improved Sibley East (15-3, 8-2). The Hubmen crushed Sibley East by 27 in the first game, they play again the final game of the year.
Mississippi 8. Rogers is 8-0, Big Lake 6-1. Two teams that are much better than anybody expected. The Royals won nine in a row and beat Big Lake 73-65. They play again next Tuesday.
MCAA. Heritage Christian has this league wrapped up barring a major collapse. They’ve beaten New Life Academy recently giving them a two game lead. New Life vs Southwest Christian will be a good race for second.
Northwest Suburban. Champlin Park has ran away with “One” while on the other side Armstrong is 11-1 with a one game lead on Maple Grove in “Two”. Maple Grove won the head to head match-up and has a chance at Armstrong in two Fridays.
South Suburban. Apple Valley has beaten Lakeville North twice giving them a two game lead. The surprise is that despite a near .500 record overall, Lakeville South is 8-3 in conference play.
St. Paul City. Highland Park is 15-4, Central 11-9, everybody else has a losing record. That said Highland has two league losses and Central is undefeated after seven games. Watch out for the Governors though who are in second at 5-2, two games back of Central.
Suburban East. Woodbury and Cretin-Derham Hall are tied at 9-1 with East Ridge beating in second at 8-2. This league could go anywhere after the Raptors crushed the Raiders last week when CDH was without their coach and two starters. Anybody’s league, the Royal/Raider rematch is February 24th.
Tomahawk Conference. Springfield is 13-0, Cedar Mountain/Comfrey is 10-2, MN Valley Lutheran is 8-3, and the rest of the teams have losing records. Springfield has already beaten CMC twice.
Valley Conference. Cleveland has the league in their grasp with a 10-0 record. St. Clair and Mankato Loyola are two games behind.
Wright County Conference West. The East has barely played any games. The West is led by Annandale at 7-1 and Watertown-Mayer at 6-1. Royals won the first game by two, the second contest is tomorrow night.