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 Metro Combo</strong>. The easier thing to do would be just head to Red Wing. You get Blake vs Hastings at 5:30pm which includes Grayson Okoronwko versus [player_tooltip player_id='1244764' first='Owen' last='Bernatz'], and then Red Wing hosts a very good East Central team in the nightcap. Keep an eye on Benjamin Carlin of East Central. He is a sophomore coming off of a near double-double average at 6'6 as a freshman. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Friday's Best</strong>. This would be Sauk Centre at Maple River. Sauk Centre is a top ten Class AA teams whereas Maple River is in the first year after graduating an outstanding senior class. Sauk Centre is the favorite but they are the ones making the trip south. Here is a guess on some match-ups you could see. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Damian Ahrens (5'11 jr) vs [player_tooltip player_id='2124218' first='Zach' last='Trio'] (6'0 soph). Ahrens is tough and a good shooter, averaged 7.5 last year. Trio is the right fit to step into the ball handling role at some point for the Eagles. Tough kid that defends and is vocal. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284153' first='Jay' last='Neubert'] (6'2 sr) vs Aaron Pawlitschek (6'0 sr). Neubert is one of the best players in the state, Aaron was a starter for Maple River last year and the best returning player. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2375104' first='Andrew' last='Drevlow'] (6'3 sr) vs Arden Pawlitschek (6'0 sr). Drewlow scored 12 points a game last year with his perimeter shooting touch and growing game. Arden was a deeper bench reserve that will move into a good role. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284134' first='Ethan' last='Riley'] (6'3 sr) vs Drake Evanson (6'2 sr). Ethan does some of everything. He averaged nine points, six boards, three assists and 1.5 steals a game. Drake is the second biggest returning forward for Maple River and he is a senior. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Chad Herickhoff (6'7 jr) or Troy Hansen (6'6 jr) vs [player_tooltip player_id='2109861' first='Wyatt' last='Birr'] (6'6 jr). If Sauk Centre goes big they have guys with good size in Chad and Troy, although neither has much experience yet. Birr came off the bench last season and is ready for two years as a starter. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Bang For the Buck</strong>. The Hermantown event is where you are going to see the most games with the best teams. They have match-ups of Kasson-Mantorville vs Duluth Denfeld, Big Lake vs Duluth Denfeld, Kasson-Mantorville at Hermantown, and Big Lake vs Hermantown! All of these games are excellent games. Two games each day. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten Weekend Games</strong>!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>#9AA Sauk Centre at Maple River (Friday)</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Champlin Park at Maple Grove (Friday)</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Chisago Lakes at Delano (Friday)</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Battle Lake at #5A West Central Area (Saturday)</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Lester Prairie at Dassel-Cokato (Saturday)</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Rochester Century at Farmington (Friday)</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Big Lake at Hermantown (Friday)</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Kasson-Mantorville vs Duluth Denfeld (Friday) at Hermantown</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Big Lake at Duluth Denfeld (Saturday) at Hermantown</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>New Ulm at Jordan (Saturday)</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list -->