Tuesday Night Preview and Predictions: Monster Conference Battles

Some Big conference battles will be going on tonight, we give you the key player, a prediction, and an idea of where the leagues are.   1AAAA Tartan at South St. Paul   Key Player. [player_tooltip player_id='1548694' first='Keishion' last='Jarmon'] of SSP. Jarmon is scoring 16 points a game with four assists, four boards and almost three steals a contest. The type of athlete and producer that has forced SSP opponents to defend two players after a long pregame chatter.   Prediction. Tartan will win..... 88-72 is our final score prediction. Tartan is two games up on everybody in the Metro East including SSP, and SSP is the other main competitor after Mahtomedi.   4AAAA Maple Grove at 9AAAA Eden Prairie   Key Player. [player_tooltip player_id='2137323' first='Carter' last='Pulrang'] of EP. Carter is a junior and the third leading Eagles scorer at over 13 points a contest. What difference can he make? Two games ago against Wayzata, Carter scored once and they lost big. Against Edina, Carter had 15 and they won. Watch his shooting numbers tonight and see how much that can affect the game.   Prediction. Crimson win by eight. The Lake has one loss leaders at the top (Buffalo and Wayzata) and then MG and EP are right behind them with two league losses. To stay in the league race both teams need this game tonight.   4AAA Northfield at Rochester Mayo   Key Player. Tyler Hupton of Northfield. Mayo will be the deeper team here but the Raiders are on a 15 game winning streak. Mayo is the home team though and getting healthier from their December Gopher basketball symptoms (if you don't know, Gopher basketball never has a full slate of healthy guys). Hupton is key because he is the second leading scorer at 12.5 a game and he is clearly the Raider three point shooter to find as he makes almost 39 percent of his attempts   Prediction. This is a big one. Both teams have one loss in league play. Key note, I am not really sure what is a league game and what isn't in the Big Nine any more but the standings say 11-1 each so let's just have fun with it. Winner is 12-1 against league teams, loser is 11-2.   3AA Goodhue at 9AA Cannon Falls   Key Player. [player_tooltip player_id='2569260' first='Miles' last='Rechtzigel'] of Cannon Falls. If the Bombers win this game, Miles will likely play a big part. He is a 6'3 guard scoring nearly 22 points a game that had 33 in a big win over Triton, and has scored 27, 25, and 27 in recent wins over La Crescent, Byron and Lourdes respectively.   Prediction. Goodhue wins 86-80. Goodhue won the first game 91-75 and they are playing better basketball right now. Goodhue is 9-0 in league play and only ZM and Cannon Falls seem like they have a chance of hanging on in the race, but to do that Cannon Falls has to win (Goodhue is up two games from second).   Lakeville South at Farmington   Key Player. Nate Owata. This guy is so interesting to me. He is a 6'6 senior and has really came out of nowhere in terms of names we were aware of.   Prediction. This is for the right for second in the South Suburban. Prior Lake is undefeated and in first, the Cougars and Tigers are the only teams within striking distance at two league losses. To stay in the race both teams need the win. South won the first game 70-66, I say Farmington wins 72-68 (I swear with South the opposite of what I say happens every time).   10AA Holy Family at 5AA Southwest Christian   Key Player. [player_tooltip player_id='2438075' first='Talbot' last='Jones'] of Southwest Christian. Jones is a sophomore guard that really found his grove just after Christmas scoring in double figures in all games but one, after no double figure games before Christmas. When Jones is in double digits, the Stars are undefeated.   Prediction. Stars win 77-75 in a great game. Both teams are playing well, and just a few weekends the Fire got used to the court with a win over Concordia Academy on the Stars floor, and now they come back to try and get another win there.   St. Cloud Apollo at 10AAA Sartell   Key Player. Karson Lewis of Sartell. Lewis is another player that has found a groove. He hit seven threes and scored 27 points in the win over Bemidji, scored 14 in the big win over Willmar, and had 20 in the win over Sauk Rapids.   Prediction. After losing three of their first four, Sartell has caught a wave and they're riding that thing to wins in eight of their last nine games including Ws over Bemidji, Tech, Willmar and Apollo the first time. Apollo had a bad loss at Rocori but they have bounced back to win three in a row and now we have a big game tonight. Sartell wins by five.   St. Cloud Cathedral at 4AA Pequot Lakes   Key Player. [player_tooltip player_id='2395557' first='Gus' last='McKenna'] of Pequot Lakes. [player_tooltip player_id='2127213' first='Tollef' last='Birkeland'] hasn't played all season and this program is still winning in bulk. One key reason in this team basketball success is [player_tooltip player_id='2395557' first='Gus' last='McKenna'], a 6'7 sophomore that has made many stand up and take notice (he has a twin named [player_tooltip player_id='2395830' first='Oliver' last='McKenna'] who is another another Pequot player with potential).   Prediction. Cathedral is 10-3 but they just lost to Pierz and have a tough week with Pequot Lakes, Albany and Holdingford. Pequot Lakes wins by 13.

Some Big conference battles will be going on tonight, we give you the key player, a prediction, and an idea of where the leagues are.