The Four Most Interesting Teams of the Week: Jan. 28-Feb. 3

We return for the final month of regular season play with four teams to keep an eye on this week. NHR breaks down one team from each class and their week’s schedule ahead!

Class A: Spring Grove - A three-game slate this week for the Lions consists of Waukon (IA), Grand Meadow and Mabel-Canton. All three are likely wins on paper, and an undefeated week would put Spring Grove at 16-1 on the season. Alex Folz and Ethan Matzke are continuing to prove themselves as an overpowering duo in Class A and the Lions will need these wins to position themselves favorably in Section 1 seeding.

Class AA: Osakis - Still undefeated on the season is Osakis, 15-0 and looking ahead to a hopeful state tournament contender label. Leading the way is Daniel Savageau scoring close to 23 points per game and Brandon Boogard around 14. They’ll take on Browerville and Upsala this week, two teams hovering around .500 so far. Can the Silverstreaks (top 10 nickname) stay spotless? They’ve done enough to buy us in already, I think they keep it up.

Class AAA: Willmar - The Cardinals are 7-8 this year playing tough west central teams all season. It won’t get any easier with both big St. Cloud schools on the slate this week. Two more conference opportunities are needed to stay in the hunt for 5AAA seeding (especially the Apollo game). Marshall, Alexandria and others are still to come. Can Willmar pick up two quick wins to cushion the tough schedule ahead?

Class AAAA: Centennial - At 10-7, the Cougars are sitting well in the topheavy Northwest Suburban. They face a guard-heavy Maple Grove team that they match up well with on Tuesday and a struggling Andover group on Friday. Ricky Eason, Carter Anderson, Riley van Buskirk and Matt Wyffels all average more than 13 points a game so their balance is definitely playing the role of difference maker in their wins. Two more would go a long way for a home game in the playoffs.