The Minnesota Hoops Weekend

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Where should you be looking to watch high school basketball games this weekend in Minnesota? We give you the weekend run down now!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Friday Combo</strong>.  Start at Mounds Park Academy who is taking on Breck for a 6pm tip off. Mounds Park is more competitive this year led by sophomore forward [player_tooltip player_id='2104531' first='Wyatt' last='Srsen'] who scores 22 points a game. Breck junior Hanif Muhhammed leads a balanced Breck squad who is 10-5 on the year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>From there you can likely cruise around 694 and get to the heavy weight battle between Maranatha and New Life Academy (leave by 7:20 and you can do it!). MCA is ranked third in Class AA with a balanced roster of SIX players scoring double digits and more are seniors. [player_tooltip player_id='1617685' first='Bailey' last='Mcdonald'] leads at 17 points a game. New Life is ranked third in Class A and is pushing for a state title behind [player_tooltip player_id='1225656' first='Max' last='Briggs'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1225651' first='Erick' last='Reader'].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Friday's Best</strong>. We stick with that Skyline Conference match-up as we go deeper into the contest. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One. Trell McCrimmon vs [player_tooltip player_id='1225656' first='Max' last='Briggs']. McCrimmon got the better of Briggs in game one as Trell got to the rim to score while he, the Blufords, and the rest of the MCA guards swarmed Briggs into a tough game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two. [player_tooltip player_id='1617685' first='Bailey' last='Mcdonald'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1288756' first='John' last='Kirschling']. McDonald scored eight times off the bench in the first game while Kirschling gave NLA a chance with his three point touch.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Three. Jarory Purnell vs [player_tooltip player_id='1730571' first='Colter' last='Stone']. The wing workers both average nine a game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Four. [player_tooltip player_id='1288817' first='Drew' last='Balentine'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1727584' first='Colton' last='Hendricks']. Hendricks scores 11 a game, Balentine is close to that. Balentine is more face-up, Hendricks around the rim. NLA is way bigger but MCA rebounded way better in game one. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Five. Nick Anderson vs [player_tooltip player_id='1225651' first='Erick' last='Reader']. Nick Anderson had an excellent first game while Reader leads NLA at 16 and 12.5 a night. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Bang For the Buck</strong>. Winter Classic. The Winter Classic in Alexandria is a mix of boys and girls games all day tomorrow and it has some great match-ups. The headliner is Alexandria vs Orono which has three top five prospects in the state in that game ([player_tooltip player_id='1284138' first='Grayson' last='Grove'], [player_tooltip player_id='1572690' first='Chase' last='Thompson'], [player_tooltip player_id='1484016' first='Brady' last='Wooley']) plus is sounds like [player_tooltip player_id='1189958' first='Isaiah' last='Hagen'] will be back for the contest. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Perham vs Albany is a top ten Class AA game match-up two state contenders. The [player_tooltip player_id='1339995' first='Soren' last='Anderson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1288685' first='Micah' last='Thompson'] duo matches up with [player_tooltip player_id='1286547' first='Sam' last='Hondl'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1358621' first='Tysen' last='Gerads']. The real match-up to watch might be Alex Ohm vs Esekial Austin at lead guard. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The event also has [player_tooltip player_id='1284153' first='Jay' last='Neubert'] and Sauk Centre taking on Pelican Rapids, and [player_tooltip player_id='962228' first='Owen' last='Leach']'s DGF team facing Osakis.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Saturday's Best.</strong> Eastview at Minnetonka is a huge game. Athletes all over, Tonka has more guards, Eastview has more size. Both are big favorites right now to come out of their section and play in the state tournament. It will be great to see [player_tooltip player_id='1178256' first='Elias' last='Batala'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1284083' first='Andy' last='Stefonowicz'], and [player_tooltip player_id='962207' first='Ibrahim' last='El-Amin'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1139192' first='Dylan' last='Omweno'], plus [player_tooltip player_id='1287440' first='Jonathan' last='Mekonnen'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1284162' first='Jordan' last='Cain']. Eastview has so much more size with [player_tooltip player_id='1140498' first='Chet' last='Kloss'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1625012' first='Myles' last='Adams'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1625011' first='Mario' last='Adams'], it will be interesting to see how that affects the game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten Weekend Games</strong>!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>6AAAA Eastview at 4AAAA Minnetonka (Saturday)</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>4A New Life Academy at 3AA Maranatha Christian (Friday)</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>4AA Albany vs 7AA Perham (Saturday) at the <strong>Breakdown Winter Lakes Classic</strong> in Alexandria</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>8AAAA Buffalo at 4AAAA Minnetonka (Friday)</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>8AAA Orono at 5AAA Alexandria (Saturday) at the <strong>Breakdown Winter Lakes Classic</strong></li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>6AAA Stewartville at 6A Goodhue (Friday)</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>9AA Mora at 4AA Albany (Friday)</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Delano at 1AA Holy Family (Friday)</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Caledonia at 6AA Maple River (Friday)</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>6AAA Stewartville vs Mounds View (Friday) at Kasson-Mantorville</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list -->