The Friday Night Preview and Predictions

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We get you ready for the big games in Minnesota with a preview and a prediction for each game! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>8AAAA Minnetonka at 1AAAA Hopkins</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tonka angle. Tonka has won 14 of 16, they gave the Royals a strong punch in the previous game (68-61), and [player_tooltip player_id='1567964' first='Isa' last='El-Amin'] is playing at a very high level. The Skippers are balanced but can they get enough of that balance against a team like the Royals?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Royal angle. They are pumped up to play another rival. They feel they are the victim in all of this local media attention as of late. They will be motivated to play another rival and show they can do it while behaving in the stands and behaving towards the officials. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prediction. Hopkins by 14.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5AA Blake at 6AA Breck</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Blake angle. The Bears slipped recently with their second loss of the season (to Holy Family). Blake has the talent to make a run but even though Breck has had some struggles, they still beat Blake by 13. [player_tooltip player_id='1585946' first='Omar' last='Kaba'], [player_tooltip player_id='2118459' first='Carson' last='McMichael'], and [player_tooltip player_id='1586877' first='Ian' last='Schnabel'] are having strong seasons but the Bears are getting depth from others too. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Breck angle. The Mustangs are 14-9. They have lost a lot of games but keep in mind, all nine of those losses are to big school teams and seven of those nine are top ten ranked teams. Breck is 8-0 against Class AA teams this year with [player_tooltip player_id='1574225' first='Miles' last='Newton'] score 21 points a game and [player_tooltip player_id='1560824' first='Deangelo' last='Dungey'] giving 15 plus points a game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prediction. Breck by nine. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>1AA Albany at 10AA Holdingford</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Albany angle. The Huskies haven't played a close game in six weeks. They are 22-0 on the season and only one game - against Pequot Lakes - finished as a single digit game. And it's not like they aren't playing good teams, they are are just playing incredible team basketball on both ends. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Holdingford angle. The Huskers are 22-2 on the year and on a 19 game winning streak. The losses came to a 15-win Paynesville team and a 16-win Sauk Centre team. And both were in the first half of December. [player_tooltip player_id='2524653' first='Dawson' last='Hofer'] is pry the best scoring sophomore you don't know about as he has a number of 30+ scoring games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prediction. This is a great chance for Holdingford and a great game for their community. They get their shot. And it's good for Albany to get another challenge. That said, I think Albany wins by 16.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>7AA Cannon Falls at 10AAA Stewartville </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cannon Falls angle. Cannon Falls has had a great year, and a bit of a surprising year, but they have been tripped up as of late getting blown out by Caledonia and getting upset by Lake City. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Stewartville angle. Stewartville has also had a few recent slip-ups. They dropped a game to Byron but then dropped a huge game to Faribault which was a section loss. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prediction. Both of these teams need a win. Not just to become the outright second place team in the league - a small thing, but a thing, but also to get back on a winning track against a good team heading into the playoffs. Cannon Falls won the last one, Stewartville wins here by four. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>9A Springfield at TMB</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Springfield angle. The Tigers feel so close. They are a deeper team and a top ten team. The CMC loss hurt but they have rebounded. They bounced back from the Cedar Mountain loss to beat them, now they have a chance to bounce back from CMC loss to play TMB.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>TMB angle. TMB is 21-4 on the season and not only did they just beat CMC, they beat them by 21! And TMB is on a nine game winning streak. TMB is about as deep as Springfield with [player_tooltip player_id='2104478' first='Trevor' last='Smith'], [player_tooltip player_id='1617680' first='Alex' last='Munson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2841167' first='Griffin' last='Zick'] scoring regularly in double digits. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prediction. TMB was undefeated in the Camden South, they win by two. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->