February 18th: The Biggest Night of the Regular Season

<p>Tonight is the night to get out and see a high school basketball game in Minnesota.  Options? There are many.  Previewing February 18th, the biggest night of the regular season.  Here is the list of games and why they are crucial:</p> <p>Totino-Grace at Park Center.  The Eagles and Pirates came into the season with many thinking they are the most talented teams in the state and many still believe that.  TG beat PC earlier in the season and tonight is the rematch.  These new rivals are on top of the Northwest Suburban with identical 13-1 records.  A lot is on the line. </p> <p>Hayfield at Martin County West.  Hayfield has done a great job of scheduling some of the better teams in their class in preparation for the state tournament.  Their latest big game?  A match-up with top ten opponent Martin County West.  The top ranked Vikings are led by [player_tooltip player_id="962284" first="Isaac" last="Matti"] while MCW has [player_tooltip player_id="962279" first="Zach" last="Anderson"]. </p> <p>Farmington at Shakopee.  In a 4:30 match-up (the perfect first game for a double header) we have top ten opponents the Farmington Tigers and the Shakopee Sabers. Shakopee beat Farmington the first time around and now the teams are 11-2 sitting on top of the conference.  The winner takes the lead.  [player_tooltip player_id="958680" first="Kyle" last="Hrncir"] vs [player_tooltip player_id="850728" first="Nick" last="Katona"] is a great match-up. </p> <p>South St. Paul at Tartan.  If anybody is going to stop SSP from winning the league title again the Packers have to lose tonight.  South St. Paul is two games ahead of Tartan for first and the Titans need to get this win or the title will almost certainly go back to the Pack.  </p> <p>Mankato West at Mankato East.  Owatonna is so far ahead of the pack that the Big Nine is theirs.  This game is more about competition and one of the biggest rivalries in southern Minnesota.  The game is at East and just like earlier in the year, we might see all sports fans in Mankato at this game again. </p> <p>Wayzata at Eden Prairie.  The Trojans are 1.5 games ahead of the league and EP is in second place.  With Tonka 2.5 games behind and Hopkins three games behind, a win for Wayzata tonight would pretty much give the Trojans the Lake title. </p> <p>Benilde-St. Margaret’s at Bloomington Jefferson.  That Metro West league title is wide open with Cooper, Orono, BSM, Jefferson, and Chanhassen all right there in a close race.  BSM is in first at 10-3 (along with Orono) while Jefferson is a game back at 9-4.  Big game this evening. </p>