Minnesota Playoff Central: NYA and Wake Highlight Thursday!

Ryan James March 10, 2023 @ 11:10 AM

Another 53 high school basketball teams in Minnesota had their season's end last night. That's about one-seventh of the teams in the state. That said, 53 others are moving in! We break it down now in Minnesota Playoff Central.   Playoff Central. If you had told me before the season Norwood-Young America was going to beat Glencoe-Silver Lake by ten in the playoffs and it wasn't an upset I would have never believed you. But the Raiders improved to 23-4 on the season with last night's win. The senior combination of Braeden O'Neil and [player_tooltip player_id='1225639' first='Noah' last='Strickfaden'] has been dynamite all season averaging 26 and 18 points respectively. NYA is going to be a very tough out.   Two State contenders had strong scares last night as Spring Lake Park gave Park Center a run and Providence Academy gave Maranatha Christian Academy a lot of trouble. The Pirates were in a one score game with the Panthers at the half but [player_tooltip player_id='1172835' first='Casmir' last='Chavis'] went for 25 and led Park Center on an 18-0 run that changed the game.   MCA had a dog fight with Providence but prevailed 48-42.   Upset City.  Cedar Mountain improved to 13-15 on the season ended the multi-year state tournament run by SESM in the process. Sophomore guard Blake Steffl hit the game winner in the lane giving his team a huge dosage of March Madness. And this was after senior Dakota Pendleton went for a game high 28 points. Pendelton set the tone with a quick 29 and the Steffl put the game away scoring the final two of his 18 at the end. One of the biggest upsets of March so far!   The Big Stage. The spot with a double header tonight is Princeton. The Tigers take on Becker - who has gone younger after injuries hurt their year - followed by a potentially really fun game between St. Francis and Big Lake. [player_tooltip player_id='1288794' first='Mitchell' last='Hill'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1617802' first='Trevor' last='Maruska'] lead Big Lake as they try and slow down UND signed [player_tooltip player_id='962233' first='Matthew' last='Bothun'] and his 26 points a game.   Top Performers. Here is a list to run through!   [player_tooltip player_id='962322' first='Alec' last='Wake'] had 43 points for Northland highlighted by ten threes made! Northland defeated Nashwauk-Keewatin.   Richfield sophomore Cj Armstrong scored 35 points leading the Spartans past Bloomington Kennedy in the first round of the playoffs.   Mt. Iron-Buhl beat Wrenshall in running time with Nik Jesch scoring 28 points. Also winning in running time was Cherry beating Floodwood led by 28 points from [player_tooltip player_id='1579910' first='Noah' last='Sundquist'].   [player_tooltip player_id='1612342' first='Deidrick' last='Taylor'] of Minneapolis Edison had 27 as well leading Edison over Southwest Christian.   Junior [player_tooltip player_id='1617782' first='Micah' last='Hudock'] scored 39 points for Mounds Park Academy beating Higher Ground.   Tip of the Hat to the Career. Mr. Basketball top ten finalist [player_tooltip player_id='962210' first='Quyavant' last='Douglas'] had his season end at Brooklyn Center as the Centaurs were beaten badly by Breck. Douglas scored 22 after a rough first half start. He's scored 30 points a game this year as a senior.

Another 53 high school basketball teams in Minnesota had their season's end last night. That's about one-seventh of the teams in the state. That said, 53 others are moving in! We break it down now in Minnesota Playoff Central.