Minnesota Playoff Central: Wednesday
Three days left of section basketball. Tonight we get our first group of teams that have their tickets punched to the State Tournament. Playoff Basketball in The State of Buckets! 14th or 15th? Minnesota-Scores.Net has, and still has Austin vs Northfield…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThree days left of section basketball. Tonight we get our first group of teams that have their tickets punched to the State Tournament. Playoff Basketball in The State of Buckets!
14th or 15th? Minnesota-Scores.Net has, and still has Austin vs Northfield and Rochester JM vs Lakeville North as Friday games. It also says on the front page of the Boys Basketball Activities page that these games are on the 15th, but when you click on the brackets it says 14th (which has also been said on Twitter). Make sure you are aware of this if you are planning to attend these contests at the Rochester Civic Center. I still am not sure what date the games are being played but common sense tells me it’s Thursday. Why? Because all the 1A and 1AA semis are tonight and the winners will need a day of rest.
The Big Stage. The best bang for the buck is at the Rochester Civic Center. Four games will be played there this evening including Hayfield vs Spring Grove (Mason Tapp of Hayfield is a prospect to watch), La Crescent vs Lake CIty (Nathan Heise is on the rise state wide), Caledonia vs St. Charles (King Brothers Eli and Owen competing), and Rushford Peterson vs Randolph (Carysn Gunderson is a standout for the Rockets).
The other location to look at attending games tonight would be the STMA double-header of Breck vs Maranatha Christian and Minneapolis North taking on Litchfield. So many good players in these games. David Roddy goes against Clarence Daniels and the depth of MCA. Eli Campbell’s shooting touch against Owen Boerema’s versatile 36 minutes of bringing everything at you.
Upset City! I’m doing this feature commonly at 5am each do so forgive me if I make some mistakes (although in these wee hours the results all may not be reported in). Like missing that on Monday DGF pulled off a major upset against Osakis 59-55. Osakis was a 1-loss team but DGF improved to 19-9 on the season with the win. DGF came out in a zone that Osakis struggled with and never really could figure out. Nathan Leitner, Jacob Strand, and Drew Coalwell were all in double figures for the Rebels.
Right on Schedule. Champlin Park knocked off Roseville by 20 and Park Center withstood a furious early defensive effort from Osseo to win 61-52. The number one ranked Pirates now take on the Rebels (23-5), a team the Pirates beat 71-54 earlier in the season. Manny Tamba led four Pirates in double figures with 13 points. Jacob Johnson lead CP over Roseville with a game high 16. These teams play Friday night for a state tournament berth.
Where’s the Czar? The TC Hoops Czar travels landed him at Prior Lake HS last night for the 2AAAA monster double header in front of an over-flowing crowd (for the first game). “Prior Lake def Shakopee 75-59. Robert Jones 23, Dawson Garcia 21. Brooks Allen 20”. The second game was EP vs Edina, and it was dominated by EP. “Eden Prairie def Edina 63-40 in 2AAAA semis. Ariel Bland 20, Drake Dobbs 21. Jacob Hutson 17, Jack Middleton 12 (all but 2 in 2nd half)” Tweets the Czar.
Tip of the Hat to the Career. The hat tip starts with Edina where Jack Middleton ended a brilliant senior season against rival EP. Jack Middleton is an all-state defender but he became a viable Mr. Basketball semi-finalist with the additions of his offensive game leading to a 25 point per game season. I’ve said it before, saying it again. UMD got a steal in Jack Middleton.
Alert! Crosby-Ironton and Greenway I believe have each been ranked this year but Pequot Lakes knocked the Rangers out of the playoffs with a 12 point win and then put 20-win Greenway in their place 71-56. Next up is Esko for the right to play at state. Esko has made a constant living at state but Pequot Lakes is peaking at the right time.