Big Lake, GR, and Chisago Lakes playing at a higher level

Ryan James January 16, 2026 @ 11:49 AM

We got Three Up, Three Down in Class AAA and three northern Minnesota Class AAA teams are playing well.   Three Up   Big Lake (8-3). The Hornets have won four games in a row and look to be one of the biggest surprises of Class AAA basketball right now. Big Lake is leading Class AAA in scoring at 85.3 points per game. Wins over Perham and Princeton highlight their current run plus they beat Chisago Lakes just before they started their run. Senior Trevor Stukenholtz is putting up 19 points a game and [player_tooltip player_id='2462338' first='Lane' last='Pettis'] is scoring 17 a game Also, sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2413330' first='Judd' last='Layton'] is a player we thought was going to have a great winter after seeing him in the summer and fall and he is scoring 18 points a game.   Chisago Lakes (5-8). After a rough start the Cats have won three games in a row beating some pretty solid teams. They surely look to have found a groove in the middle of the season. There were rough spots to start the year like a 26 point loss to Zimmerman and a 43 point loss to Monticello. That said the Cats have turned things around beating Hill-Murray, Princeton and they went from the blowout loss to Zimmerman to beating Zimmerman by a score! Chisago Lakes has had a hard time shooting behind the arc but Colton Betts is scoring 13 a game and shooting almost 38 percent at the arc to help their team extend the floor. [player_tooltip player_id='1560843' first='Cohen' last='Underhill'] and [player_tooltip player_id='3077591' first='Joe' last='Couwenhoven'] are scoring 15 a game each.   Grand Rapids (9-3). After losing three of their first five games this season the Thunderhawks have won seven in a row and are playing like one of the best two teams in the section. They are allowing only 56 points per game. GR was another team that beat Zimmerman, they have also beat Denfeld, Esko, Bemidji and several others. Depth has been developed for GR as leading scorer [player_tooltip player_id='1560804' first='Joey' last='Sutherland'] now has quality, consistent help from Logan McNear, Brenden Sylvester, and [player_tooltip player_id='2814304' first='Gavin' last='Wegwerth'].   Three Down   Delano (3-10). The Tigers are giving up nearly 78 points per game which is one of the first highest totals in Class AAA basketball. They have lost seven of their last eight games and the lone win was against Big Lake who is in the top section of this article. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='2910343' first='Nate' last='Nielsen'] leads the team with 12 points per game.   Minneapolis Roosevelt (6-7). There was a time where we thought Roosevelt had an outside chance to battle for the City title and a week ago they were just battling to get to .500. They had lost six of seven games but have bounced back to beat Cooper and this 8-6 Minneapolis North team everybody said is ranked and could win state. Roosevelt has had a tough schedule though and we think they could turn things around quickly. Cam Sandeen just had 22 points to help beat Cooper, and [player_tooltip player_id='1560875' first='Calvin' last='Peterson'] is averaging 22 points a game.   New Ulm (6-6). We are using this spot to point out that while the New Ulm record might be .500, they have stacked their schedule. They have played close games with number one ranked Belle Plaine, 3rd ranked and undefeated JWP, top ten ranked St. Peter, top ten ranked Willmar, former top ten team JCC and Marshall. That is a hefty start to the year for New Ulm plus they beat Waseca, LCWM, and they beat the turnaround game with Marshall. The schedule definitely lightens up some, and they should be battle tested for the playoffs. [player_tooltip player_id='2815445' first='Levi' last='Hopp'] is scoring 19 a game for New Ulm.

We got Three Up, Three Down in Class AAA and three northern Minnesota Class AAA teams are playing well.