Friday Night Preview & Predictions

It's cold, very cold. Some games won't be played tonight, and some will. If those old school busses can make it to gyms without breaking down these are the good gams to see this evening.   Esko at #2 Perham The Skinny: Esko lost four of their first six games this year but since then this team - who is playing without a 7-foot-3 center in the middle of a zone and without a long time head coach - are just starting to gel in a new era. Recent wins over Pequot Lakes and Cromwell show that Esko will be a challenger to Perham, one of the state's best teams. Top Match-Up: Payton Wefel/Camden Berger vs Jenson Beachy/Carter Cresap. The guard match-ups tonight should be excellent. Wefel leads Esko in scoring while Beachy is the Perham leader period. Top Prospect to See: Josh Jeziroski. Josh is headed to Bemidji State next year and he's a part of a Perham group of frontline players that should have a big edge on Esko. Prediction: Esko has improved but not to the point that they will take out Perham in that hornet's nest. Perham wins by 12.   #6 Eden Prairie at #3 Hopkins The Skinny: Another night, another Class AAAA basketball game amongst the super heavyweights. Hopkins is coming off a loss to DeLaSalle where the Islanders totally controlled the action led by Tyrell Terry. EP is a bit deeper, Hopkins is a big bigger, both need this win. The winner will stay on top of the Lake Conference standings. Top Match-Up: Kerwin Walton vs Connor Christensen. Kerwin is one of Minnesota's best shooters, Connor is one of the state's better defenders. They are D1 Minnesota teammates and they are about the same size as wings. Top Prospect to See: Zeke Nnaji. Last time we saw Zeke he went for 40 plus last Friday against Wayzata. Tonight Nnaji - a future Arizona Wildcat - leads the Royals vs rival EP. Prediction: One score game. Who wins? Tough call. Honestly it's tough to say. Hopkins swept the games last year so we say Royals by a point.   #1 Minnehaha Academy at Caledonia The Skinny: Two of the best programs in Class AA get their yearly contest this evening after a reschedule or two. Caledonia has a lot of new players and in 2019 they have only lost one game. In 2018 there were three losses and early season struggles with new faces, but now that the Warriors have gelled they are playing much better. Good enough to give the defending champs a run? Top Match-Up: Jalen Suggs vs Eli King. Both are big guards, Jalen is a five-star standout, Eli is one of the state's best frosh. Jalen is of course an elite playmaker, Eli does his share of handling as well. Both are explosive. Top Prospect to See: It's Suggs, but after that there are many more. Chet Holmgren has top 25 level ability nationally as a sophomore, Eli King will rank nationally, Noah King (a junior) is a D1 offered PG, and Prince Aligbe has an offer as a Redhawks sophomore. Prediction: Caledonia has improved and the gym will be wild but Minnehaha still wins in a four score game. This is a Class AA title game rematch.   #1 DeLaSalle at #5 Holy Angels The Skinny: Here is your chance AHA. It's been a fantastic season for the Stars and now they have a chance to upset their long time opponent. The Islanders won the first game by 32 points but every other AHA opponent in the last four weeks has lost by big numbers. Could be a fun chance to see a team try and upset a #1. Top Match-Up: Tyrell Terry vs Charles Johnson. Tyrell handles the pace of the game, Charles Johnson works every day to mess up the pace of an offense. Tyrell scored 31 while Johnson had 17 the first time around. Top Prospect to See: Tyrell Terry is the top player, then you have a solid senior in Jamison Battle followed by Cade Haskins. Cade is a sharp shooting sophomore. Emmett Johnson is a top freshman in the state and a key player for AHA. Prediction: The Islanders won by 32 last time, it likely won't be that big of a difference this time, but it's still about a 14 point game we guess.   #10 WEM at Blooming Prairie The Skinny: WEM is one of the biggest surprises in the state of Minnesota this year and now they are a top ten team. Blooming Prairie was expected to be good with a nice team and they have lived up to expectations at 13-4. Top Match-Up: Kaden Thomas vs Tanner Ranslow. Kaden is a 6-foot-3 young and talented guard while Tanner is a 6-foot-1 senior. Both score 6-7 baskets a nice on average. Top Prospect to See: Gabe Hagen and Karson Vigeland are juniors at 6-foot-3 that play in the frontcourt, Kaden Thomas is a 6-foot-3 guard and a true all around player. Prediction: WEM crushed BP by 25 last time. This game is in the home of the Fighting Blossoms so it will be closer. Bucs win by ten.   New Ulm Cathedral at #5 Minnesota Valley Lutheran The Skinny: Cathedral and Valley Lutheran played a classic in the last game with MVL winning by three. MVL has pushed into the top five in the state while racking up a number of good wins while Cathedral is still the solid team they were expected to be. Top Match-Up: Jon Zinniel vs Jace Marotz. If Jake Kettner isn't defending Zinniel it will likely be Marotz. Jace is about 6-foot-3 in the frontcourt and Zinniel is a stretch forward. Top Prospect to See: Jake Kettner. Jake is surely a guy being considered for the Mr. Basketball Watch List as the future USF talent has led MVL way past what people expected. Prediction: Kettner goes for 30, MVL wins but nine.