Minnesota Playoff Central: #6 Hawks vs #7 Sabers, Denfeld Pulls Upset, More

<p>We are a few days into March Madness and already there have been some monster upsets in the state of Minnesota.  What are the big games tonight?  Who is out?  What top player saw his career end early?  We have that and more in Minnesota Playoff Central!</p> <p><strong>Minnesota Playoff Central</strong>. For a few teams the playoffs began late last week.  For some the weekend was the end of their season.  After games Monday, Tuesday, and then tonight on Wednesday, nearly every team in Minnesota will have kicked off March Madness.  Even crazier, nearly half of the teams in Minnesota will be done playing after this evening! </p> <p><strong>The Big Stage</strong>. #6 ranked Chaska is at #7 ranked Shakopee (so yes we of course disagree with the section seedings, these teams have the same record, how the hell can Shakopee be the host when Chaska beat them?). Let's start off by saying that this game will surely be better than at least three of the first round state tournament games.  Imagine that.  A first round of section play that will be better on paper - and in resume - than THREE of the four Class AAAA state tournament games.  That pays a respect to how good 2AAAA is, and shows how unbalanced the state tournament is in terms of the quality of teams that make it.  </p> <p>Since the calendar moved to 2019 the Hawks from Chaska have lost one game.  They are the hotter team coming in and earlier in the year they beat the Sabers 59-56.  A balanced attack led by 16 points from Cole Nicholson, 15 from Conner Krenos, and 13 from Spencer Goetz brought the Hawks the win.  Will Cordes scored 20 for Shakopee but Charlie Katona was held to 14 and there was little scoring support for others.  Nicholson and Katona were both limited the first time around, which player will have the breakout game?</p> <p>This is far from the only big game.  It's the biggest but there are several others including:</p> <ul> <li>North St Paul at Tartan</li> <li>St. Paul Central at White Bear Lake</li> <li>Chanhassen at Edina</li> <li>Minnetonka at Eden Praire</li> <li>Mayo at New Prague</li> </ul> <p><strong>Upset City</strong>!  Duluth Denfeld knocked off Hermantown 64-61.  Hermantown came into the game at 16-9, they went to state last year, and were our preseason pick to play in the section final.  Denfeld was three games .500 coming into this contest but still earned the win by three points. Junior Denfeld shooter Josh Reinertsen scored 20 including four threes to bring Denfeld a huge win.  They will now play Cloquet on Friday. </p> <p><strong>Upset City 2. </strong>BSM over Cooper is really an upset in seed more than actual upset.  Cooper was a two seed but they were only two games over .500 while BSM was 8-18 before their win last night.  The Red Knights actually beat Cooper by 18 just four weeks ago.  BSM had five guys in double figures led by junior Nick Peterson and sophomore Derric Standifer who each had 15.  Also in this section Minneapolis Henry (16-11) defeated top ten Mound-Westonka in the 4/5 game. Junior guard Glentrell Carter is leading Henry with 15 points a contest. </p> <p><strong>Right on Schedule</strong>. Last Friday I watched Orono outplay Wacoina in an important rivalry game.  Just four days later the two teams met in the same building only PJ Hayes led his team to a 77-70 victory with 27 points.  Simon Rice scored 19 on several triples last Friday but was held to six points last night.   Waconia received big minutes from Ryan Biehn as well as the senior scored eight times. </p> <p><strong>Where's the Czar?</strong>  Last night the TC Hoops Czar saw Kennedy and Harding.  Here was his final summary twitter message: "Kennedy def Harding 78-51. Terrell Barber 16, Amarion Hanspard 14, Laronte Marmont 13. Simeon Sharp 18, Jovan Christian 16 for Harding. 3AAA Semifinal is Friday." </p> <p><strong>Tip of the Hat to the Career</strong>.Connor Bich of Hermantown.  Bich is a 6-foot-7/6-foot-8 shooter that will play his college basketball at Dakota Wesleyan.  Bich scored 23.5 points per game as a senior having an excellent season.  Bich led Hermamtown to the state tournament last year and had an excellent 17u season with the Minnesota Comets DLR squad. </p>