Minnesota Playoff Central: 87 Years Later, Farmington is Back

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 32 teams for the State Tournament are set. How did we get there from Friday night? We give our final Minnesota Playoff Central recap! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Playoff Central.</strong>  In 1937 the Hindenburg went down, the Golden Gate Bridge opened, the movie Snow White was released and Farmington went to the State Tournament. Last night [player_tooltip player_id='1287441' first='Brandon' last='Hrncir'] had 17 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists and junior [player_tooltip player_id='1617794' first='Ryan' last='Beckwith'] scored a game high 26 to lead the Tigers! Farmington has to be one of the more physical, balanced teams entering the state tournament. They have had some bad losses this year which I think puts them in the back of the minds of some people, but right now they are playing great basketball and they have the size to play with anybody.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As for the first timers club, welcome West Central Area! The towns of Kensington, Hoffman, Barrett, Elbow Lake, and Wendell are all celebrating right now as the constant top five Class A squad this year fulfilled their dream and is headed to state. Junior 6'5 big [player_tooltip player_id='2451433' first='Ben' last='Bye'] had a big initial half and West Central is now set for the big stage. And they are almost certainly the top contender to knock off number one Cherry right now. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For the fifth straight year Nevis will be playing in the state tournament. They have somewhat quietly put together a very nice run of dominance in their section. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Upset City</strong>. I have a hard time calling any of the lower seeds that won last night getting an upset, but I guess the closest thing would have to be Minnehaha Academy beat St. Paul Academy. Even though the Redhawks have been to state the last eight seasons now. That said, Minnehaha entered the playoffs at 11-14 and they did lose to SPA by 20 points a few months ago. So to turn that around and earn a 73-57 win is a noteworthy victory and an upset in some ways. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Big Stage</strong>. I think most of the eyes of the metro were likely on Breck versus Minneapolis North. North made a nice run to the section final but lost to a strong 1-2 senior Mustang punch 91-74. [player_tooltip player_id='1151197' first='Daniel' last='Freitag'] and Hanif Muhammad each scored 27 points. Breck was up double figures fast and never looked back. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Performers</strong>. Zeke Austin scored 25 for Albany and [player_tooltip player_id='1286547' first='Sam' last='Hondl'] had 17 allowing the Huskies a chance to repeat as state champs. They beat Annandale 63-53 who was led by the 26 points from [player_tooltip player_id='1441861' first='Isaak' last='Eenhuis']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>How about [player_tooltip player_id='1284216' first='Timmy' last='Guler']!?!?!?!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What a moment for Guler who fights back from a bad knee injury and does it with 22 points, nine assists, five boards and five steals in a section championship game! Great story right there. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As for top ranked Cherry, they severely outplayed Mountain Iron-Buhl 99-55 with [player_tooltip player_id='1288733' first='Isaac' last='Asuma'] scoring 18 points with 10 assists, seven rebounds and five blocks, [player_tooltip player_id='1579910' first='Noah' last='Sundquist'] putting up 18 points and 12 boards, and [player_tooltip player_id='1601068' first='Noah' last='Asuma'] hitting six threes for his 19 points with eight boards and five assists. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284094' first='Caiden' last='Swenby'] scored 25 for Fertile-Beltrami who beat Red Lake 92-67. It will be Fertile-Beltrami's first trip to state in 23 years.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Stewartville to state means three teams from the Hiawatha Valley made it to state. And all of them in different classes (Lake City, Goodhue). The Tigers had three guys in double figures led by a team high total from [player_tooltip player_id='1434064' first='Tegan' last='Malone']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tip of the Hat to the Career</strong>. [player_tooltip player_id='1284147' first='Jack' last='Robison'] of Lakeville North had his season end last night. The next time he will play will be in Badger Red but before we get that far, need to recognize the 22 point, 6.5 rebound, 2.5 assist, and 1 steal a game average this season with an impressive 53 percent shooting including 38+ percent from the arc. Not to mention, if you ever ask anybody about Jack, the first thing they always talk about is how strong of character he has and how good of a kid he is. Definitely one of the elite student athletes in the senior class. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->