Postseason Preview: Section 3AAA
Postseason Preview: Section 3AAA
Section basketball is kicking off this week for the big schools. Here are some things to know about Section 3AAA:
Favorite: St. Thomas Academy
The Cadets quietly enjoyed a 20-win campaign and look primed to get to the state tournament.
Sporting good wins over Mahtomedi, North St. Paul and Rochester Lourdes, the Cadets have certainly been hardened by a Metro East Conference schedule.
STA has two guys to watch this year and in the future as Jack Thompson (averaging 16 points per game) is just a sophomore and Sam Vascellaro (13 points, 6 rebounds) is a junior. Aside from those two, the hallmark of the team seems to be depth as the Cadets have seven other guys that score 4-9 points per game.
In the hunt: St. Paul Highland Park, Simley
The Scots of St. Paul Highland Park won 22 games in the regular season and certainly have the potential to advance to the state tournament. Their hopes almost entirely rest on the shoulders of senior duo Amitri Collins-Westlund and Dreem Kelly-Jabbar. Collins-Westlund averages 20 points and is the team’s top playmaker on the perimeter while Kelly-Jabbar puts up 19 points and does a lot of his damage inside.
If there’s a question about the Scots, it’s regarding their schedule. They did beat Minnehaha Academy in January in a nonconference game and they beat a decent Fridley team early in the season. So there are some wins to draw on when trying to project how far they can go.
Simley earned the No. 4 seed in the section but actually beat Highland Park early in the year. The Spartans lost more games than they won during the regular season though, which speaks to the depth of this section.
DeAndre Smith and Jake Binley average 19 points per game each, and while the team is young and lacks size, they’ve got the firepower to at least make a push.
Section Outlook
With just two teams sporting winning records, it looks like St. Thomas Academy and St. Paul Highland Park should be the heavy favorites to meet up in a section championship game. If that does in fact happen, the Cadets probably get the edge given their balance and their experience in tight games throughout the year. But the Scots have shown they can put up points in bunches throughout the year, and when a team has two guys capable of putting up more than 20 points on any given night, they’ve got a shot.
Section Seedings
- Thomas Academy
- Paul Highland Park
- Richfield
- Simley
- Bloomington Kennedy
- Paul Harding
- Holy Angels
- South St. Paul