Parrish leads Wolves to second half blowout

Prologue
Some love for the little guys as I venture out to the 6 vs 11 game in section 4A with Minnesota Transitions hosting Christian Life.  Christian Life went 12-1 to win the EMAC regular season but was knocked off in the EMAC tournament championship game.   No concessions for the 3rd straight game is killing the beverage counter.  At least I should still hit the 130 game mark for the season.

Song of the Day
Sign Your Name - Terence Trent D'Arby

Total Beverage Consumption Counter: 1348 ounces  (115 games, 99 days)

• 12 oz 7 Up 
• 20 oz Barq's Root Beer
• 20 oz Mug Root Beer 
• 80 oz Sprite 
• 84 oz Dr Pepper
• 160 oz Red Powerade
• 232 oz Red Gatorade
• 184 oz Coke 
• 520 oz Pepsi

Game Time
Christian Life comes out in a 2-3 zone and that allows the Hawks to slow the tempo.  Isaiah Williams coast to coast for 2 and that's ties the game at 4 at the 13:22 mark.  Lewis McCaleb was uncanny finding soft spots in the middle of the Hawks zone.  He passes and cuts for 2, then cuts to a gap for 2 more, buries a 3 and takes it to the rack for 2 more.  Donald Williams adds a 3 point play to end a 7-0 run.  20-12 MTS at the 9:44 mark and Christian Life needs time.  Caleb Wochnick carrying the Christian Life offense.  He scores 2 free throws and a bucket as the Hawks hang around.  37-28 MTS at the half.

The 2nd half is a huge half from Willie Parrish for MTS.  He starts with a jumper and runs for a layup.  He adds his 1st bomb of the half and the lead is 10 at the 14:20 mark.  Isaiah Williams with a steal for 2 and knocks down an inside out 3.  Parrish off a turnover with another dagger from deep.  59-44 MTS with 10:24 left.  James Hancock a pair of buckets as MTS extends the lead to 20.  Parrish back to back 3s and the lead is 23 with 6 minutes left.  Between that and the MTS pressure, this one gets out of hand.  MTS wins 94-62.

Post Game
Christian Life gets 19 points from senior point guard Mick Spangrud.  Junior forward Caleb Wochnick with 18.  Very porous 2-3 zone in the middle and limited adjustments out of it.  But not much you were going to do in this one would have helped.  They played 7 with the 2 reserves being sophomores.

For MTS, Willie Parrish with 28 points on 7 3s.  25 of those points and 6 of the 3s in the second half when he got it going.  Soph Lewis McCaleb finishes with 18.  10 players score for the Wolves.  Too athletic and too much pressure for the win.  MTS will play at Heritage in the quarters on Saturday night. 

Lakers beat the buzzer

Prologue
Off to Prior Lake to see the Lakers host the opening round 4 vs 5 game against Chaska in section 2AAAA.  No concessions despite an early arrival as the concession stand wasn't open at the start of warmups.  Ah the shame.  With top seed Shakopee getting a battle, Kennedy just hanging on and Jefferson upsetting the 2 seed Chanhassen, you have to think something good will happen here and this one didn't disappoint.

Song of the Day
Rock N Roll Part 2 - Gary Glitter

Total Beverage Consumption Counter: 1348 ounces  (114 games, 98 days)

• 12 oz 7 Up 
• 20 oz Barq's Root Beer
• 20 oz Mug Root Beer 
• 80 oz Sprite 
• 84 oz Dr Pepper
• 160 oz Red Powerade
• 232 oz Red Gatorade
• 184 oz Coke 
• 520 oz Pepsi

Game Time
Its a miserable start for Prior Lake.  After scoring off the opening tap, the Lakers don't find the basket until the 12:05 mark.  Chaska gets an easy bucket off the BLOB using THE WORLD'S WORST OFFENSE cut and another BLOB layup.  Freshman Myles Hanson knocks down a 3 and its 13-7 Chaska at 9:20.  Forward Connor Bair with a pair of buckets and a Kevin McKiernan 3 in transition from Jon Sobaski.  Peyton Sanders keep Chaska up with 3 of 4 free throws.  McKiernan coast to coast for 2 free throws and another bomb.  Jason Faul cuts for a layup to tie at 27 before another McKiernan 3.  Chaska counters with a long Eric West 3 and Myles Hanson beats the halftime buzzer for 3.  33-30 Chaska at the half.

Hanson again for 3 to start the 2nd half and a Sanders tip and the Chaska lead is 8.  Sobaski a pair of steals for layups, Bair on the pick and roll for 2 free throws, Sobaski coast to coast to give Prior Lake the lead.  Sobaski adds a fading floater in the lane to conclude the 16-2 Prior Lake run.  46-40 Lakers with 10:25 left.  Jacob Hansen then heats up.  He hits a pair of 3s that sandwich a 3 from Bair. Sobaski to Bair for a layup and Faul scores to forces a Chaska timeout.  57-50 Prior Lake leading with 6:08 left.

West off the bounce and Hansen pulls up in transition to cut the lead to 4.  Sobaski drives before Hansen counters with a back cut and crazy tough floater on the left baseline.  McKiernan with his only points of the 2nd half with a 3 point play at 4:19.  63-56 Prior Lake.  Hansen still has it going with a 3.  Bair scores but countered by a controversial overrule that results in an And 1 for West.  It was the 4th time in the game where there was a valid question of whether the player was shooting or not.  Hansen follows that with another bomb and its 65 all just inside of 3 minutes left.  McKiernan to Bair for a layup countered by Hansen with 2 free throws.  Prior Lake holds but takes a bad 3 with 1:05 left, Chaska goes quick and misses a tough shot with 52 ticks left.  Prior Lake holds for the last shot.  Sobaski takes it and goes with 10 seconds left and his pass is tipped out of bounds with 6.4 left.  After a Prior Lake timeout, its Sobaski off the quick hitting screen and roll.  Shot no good, Bair no good, 3rd time no good, Faul with the putback as the horn sounds.  Did it beat the horn?  Referees huddle and YES the basket counts.  Prior Lake wins 69-67 at the buzzer.

Post Game
Chaska finishes their season at 16-10 with a solid 9-5 finish in the final season of the Missota Conference.  They'll move to the new Metro West Conference next season.  Jacob Hansen with 18 of his 27 points in the second half.  That included 4 of his 5 3s.  Not a good job of finding him by Prior Lake.  Eric West, Peyton Sanders and the freshman Myles Hanson all with 12 points.  Have to like Hanson's upside as a 6'3" athletic wing.  With him, Hanson and Sanders and guard Colby Murphy returning next season, the Hawks do have some nice pieces to build around.

Prior Lake improves to 16-11 overall.  Connor Bair with 15 of his 23 in the 2nd half.  Kevin McKiernan 11 of his 14 in the 1st half.  Not a great game early but Jon Sobaski scores 11 of his 13 in the 2nd half with some critical plays.  Coach Rubishko won't be happy with the 10 3s Chaska hit, especially with the quality of those looks.  Nice minutes off the bench from soph Jack Kortes but he was their only scorer off the bench.  Next up for the Lakers is 1 of 2 quality rivalry games in the 2AAAA semis at Apple Valley Saturday night.  Kennedy vs Jefferson in 1 semifinal while Prior Lake gets old rival Shakopee in the other semi.

Stars shine in road playoff win

Prologue
Its opening night of the playoffs in the metro.  I'm off to the 4 vs 5 game in section 6AAA with Washburn hosting Holy Angels.  The hot dog not prewrapped tonight, assembly required at the concession stand.  12 ounces of Sprite to go with it.  We get the Washburn pep band but not for the pregame.  Only for the anthem and during the game.  Interesting way to do it.

Song of the Day
We Built This City - Starship

Total Beverage Consumption Counter: 1348 ounces  (113 games, 97 days)

• 12 oz 7 Up 
• 20 oz Barq's Root Beer
• 20 oz Mug Root Beer 
• 80 oz Sprite 
• 84 oz Dr Pepper
• 160 oz Red Powerade
• 232 oz Red Gatorade
• 184 oz Coke 
• 520 oz Pepsi

Game Time
Jeff Jones drives for a pair of free throws and its 5-4 Holy Angels 3 mines in.  Then Holy Angels opens up the lead with a 14-2 run.  Connor Failor off the bench with a pair of hoops during that run.  Taylor BonGiovanni with a pair of buckets during the run as well as he got off to a hot start.  A loose ball ends up in the hands of Joey Poehling for 2 to end the run.  19-6 Stars at the 9:35 mark.  Kevin Gleason banks in a 3 on a post kickout to break the run with BonGiovanni getting a rest.  Charlie Koontz was ice cold early but found his offense in the latter part of the 2nd half.  He scores all 9 of his 1st half points the rest of the half.  Holy Angels 30-20 at the break.

Wallace Hicks with a huge swat of Jeff Jones to start the half, but its Washburn with the momentum.  Evan Shepherd with a 3.  Then a 3 point play to start a 7-0 run.  34-30 AHA with 13:54 left and AHA takes their 2nd timeout of the half to try and keep this one from flipping quickly.  Washburn misses 3 chances to cut into the lead.  Shepherd with another bomb to counter a Koontz bucket and the Millers are within 3.  They can't convert another pair of chances to get even closer.  Koontz driving for 2 and a pair of post free throws to push the lead back to 7.  Shepherd deep and playable again, then Jones coast to coast and he finishes with the scoop.  40-38 Holy Angels hanging on as they take another timeout with 6:54 left.

Its Koontz back to the charity stripe via post up and via and offensive board.  He makes 3 straight free throws from that.  Then Holy Angels outworks Washburn for a loose rebound and that becomes a bucket that pushes the lead to 46-38 with 4:23 left.  Then 2 missed Washburn free throws.  But this one still isn't over as Shepherd sets a nice back screen and pops on the inbounds for a corner 3.  Jones misses a good look with 1:30 left.  Holy Angels makes 8 of 10 free throws from there.  Holy Angels moves on with the 54-45 road win.

Post Game
Evan Shepherd with 15 of his 18 points in the 2nd half to lead Washburn.  He had 4 3s in the 2nd half.  Jeff Jones with a quiet 10 points but no other help for the Millers.  Washburn did get some good looks against the length of the Holy Angels 2-3 zone.  With 2 disappointing years of underachieving with a talented roster and Reggie Perkins back at Washburn as the AD (won the 2009 state title as Washburn head coach), you have to wonder if the writing is on the wall for Perkins to reclaim his old job.  The Millers finish the season 16-10.

Charlie Koontz leads Holy Angels with 22 points.  Taylor BonGiovanni was hot early and finished with 13 points.  Coach Jesse Foley masterful job managing momentum with his timeouts.  Nice strategy to use the length with the 2-3 zone.  Though they aren't very agressive with it like say a Columbia Heights is.  Wallace Hicks only 2 points but gave the Stars great minutes.  He played much bigger than his size getting on the defensive board and opened eyes with the huge swat of Jeff Jones early in the 2nd half.  Holy Angels advances to Saturday night's 6AAA semifinal in Chanhassen against #1 seed Holy Family.  Holy Family beat the Stars 63-38 in mid-December.

Totino-Grace claims final North Suburban crown

Prologue
Off to Totino-Grace to see the #5AAA Eagles host #8AAA Columbia Heights.  The winner gets the final North Suburban championship.  The usual quality walking taco on the menu and no better way to end the regular season than with a can of Pepsi.  Spring Lake Park, Minneapolis Henry and De La Salle all watching their section foes tonight.  Nice work by the large choir with the national anthem and a nice crowd on hand.  We get John Lithgow and the Nutty Professor working both the JV and varsity.

Song of the Day
Fly like an Eagle - Steve Miller Band

Total Beverage Consumption Counter: 1336 ounces  (112 games, 96 days)

• 12 oz 7 Up 
• 20 oz Barq's Root Beer
• 20 oz Mug Root Beer 
• 68 oz Sprite 
• 84 oz Dr Pepper
• 160 oz Red Powerade
• 232 oz Red Gatorade
• 184 oz Coke 
• 520 oz Pepsi

Game Time
Reggie Meyer with 2 quick 3s and and TG adds another bomb for a 9-2 lead at the 16:08 mark.  Coach Troy Russell takes timeout to regroup his guys.  Meyer keeps it going with a nice curl for a 3 point play and converts and inbounds lob for a 19-7 Eagles lead.  Heights then goes to an extended 2-3 zone and that helps bring them back.  Jarrett Baptiste with a bucket and Tak Anway converts a turnover to conclude a 10-2 run.  21-17 Totino-Grace as they take time at the 7:12 mark.  The rest of the half stays pretty even.  Seth Sullwold sits the last 4 minutes with 3 fouls for Totino-Grace.  31-25 Totino-Grace holding the lead at the half.

Totino-Grace with the 7 point lead and then a bad technical from the 3rd offical (not the guys mentioned above).  Meyer converts both of those but no points on the possession.  Then Meyer out of the high post to Colin Fleming for 3.  Add in a Cole Wagner layup and the lead is 14 with 12:22 left.  Baptiste gets a long breather.  Meyer with a 3 point play in that rest period to push the lead to 13.  Baptiste returns with 7:02 left and the Hylanders spurt.  Montroy Scott with a pair of 3s, Anway drives for 2 and Colton Williams converts a turnover.  10-0 Heights run and its game on.  56-53 Totino-Grace with 4:31 left.

Heights started to see their zone get carved up but their man was far worse.  They go back to man out of the timeout in a bit of a surprise.  The teams trade buckets, Heights turns it over and Meyer takes 1 bounce and hits a cold blooded jumper with 3:12 left for a 7 point lead.  Williams grabs a missed free throws and makes 2 of his own freebies to cut the lead to 4.  Meyer with a great cut and Fleming finds him for a layup with 1:50 left.  Totino drives for a layup as Heights was trying to foul and the refs wouldn't blow the whistle.  8 point game.  Richard Thomas was a spark off the Heights bench.  He buries a jumper and 3 triples in the last 1:10 to keep it interesting.  But Totino-Grace goes 8-8 from the foul line in the last minute to seal the victory.  Totino-Grace wins 74-71 to clinch the final North Suburban Conference championship.

Post Game
Colton Williams with 21 points to lead Columbia Heights.  Soph foward Jarrett Baptiste finishes with 17.  Richard Thomas with 16 off the bench, 11 in the last 1:10.  The Heights 2-3 zone was effective for a while and they did try to trap short corner out of it.  But they also left the backside block open and that was exploited.  Heights opens the playoffs on Thursday with a grudge match against Como Park.  Heights had won 13 out of 15 games coming into the night.

Reggie Meyer with another outstanding game for the Eagles and I think my prediction of league MVP has to come true.  He finishes with 28 points, 13 of those in the 1st 6+ minutes.  Seth Sullwold with 12 points despite foul trouble.  Colin Fleming with all 11 of his points in the 2nd half.  Great night for those 3 seniors.  Totino-Grace opens on Thursday with Minneapolis Henry.  TG won the regular season meeting by 14 but that was a 4 point game with about 2 minutes left and one of Henry's top players didn't play in one half of that game.  Anything can happen 2 thru 7 in 3AAA.  Totino-Grace with the momentum of 7 straight wins heading into the playoffs.

2013-14 Playoff Predictions

Its time once again for the always infamous bracket predictions.  A chance to throw the outrageous at the wall and see if it sticks and to spew some opinion on particular matchups.  So without further delay, here's what see.

Section 4A (high seeds 2/25, 2/27, 3/1, 3/4 High Seeds and at Macalester 3/7)
Pigtails: Nova, CPA and Hope
Round of 16: MCA, Bethany, SW Christian, W Lutheran, Heritage, MTS, Legacy, North
Quarters: MCA, SW Christian, Heritage, North
Semis: MCA, North
Champion: North

For the 1st time ever, I'm actually confident in the pigtail picks (saw 2 of those teams this year).  The 8/9 game at CHOF should be very good as Bethany won the 1st meeting at CHOF by 2.  I think a case can be made that Bethany should be hosting that game.  CHOF young but with more overall pieces than Bethany but Sam Hagen is the top player on the floor in that one.  The 7 vs 10 game is a rematch of a game I saw in November with Cristo Rey winning at Legacy and they did it without star frosh Jericho Sims.  I still think Legacy is better but an upset alert has been issued.  Christian Life may have won the EMAC regular season but the EMAC has struggled against most of the section.   North vs Maranatha is an state tourney worthy game.

Section 4AA (high seeds 2/27, 3/1, 3/4 High Seeds and at Macalester 3/7)
Round of 16: St Croix Prep, St. Croix Lutheran, Concordia, New Life, Roosevelt, Trinity (2 byes)
Quarters: Minnehaha, Concordia, New Life, SPA
Semis: Minnehaha, SPA
Champion: Minnehaha

I'll take all of the chalk in this section.  SPA would like to have back their 53-47 loss at Minnehaha early in the year where I saw them give up a big lead to a young Redhawks squad.  (Czar's Note: I blew that one, SPA did give up a big lead but ended up winning that game by that score).  Now that they have a full season in, I expect Minnehaha to be better than that night.  New Life Academy is a dangerous sleeper team here.

Section 5AA South (2/27 High Seeds, 3/1 and 3/4 TBD, and at SCSU 3/7)
Quarters: HLWW, Providence Academy, Breck, Watertown-Mayer
Semis: HLWW, Watertown-Mayer
Sub Section Champion:  HLWW
5AA Champion: North Winner

The idea of the west metro schools not playing locally is a bit strange when we're used to seeing them here.  Providence Academy stays disciplined enough to knock off Brooklyn Center again.  Breck gets through round 1 and then loses another close one to Watertown-Mayer to end a very disappointing season.  HLWW wins the subsection but falls to the winner of the loaded and far stronger north half.

Section 3AAA (2/27 High Seeds, 3/4 and 3/7 at Coon Rapids)
Quarters: De La Salle, Fridley, Columbia Heights, Totino-Grace
Semis: De La Salle, Totino-Grace
Champion: De La Salle

Keep an eye on the 3/6 and 4/5 games here.  Como Park has knocked off Fridley and Columbia Heights this season and lost by 4 to Totino-Grace.  All of those on the road.  Spring Lake Park would not surprise me with a win over Fridley despite losing to them twice in the result season.  TC Robinson could put the Panthers on his back at least for a game.

Section 4AAA (2/28 High Seeds, 3/4 and 3/7 at St. Paul Washington)
Quarters: Johnson, Hill-Murray, Central, St. Thomas Academy
Semis: Johnson, St. Thomas Academy
Champion: St. Thomas Academy

I'll go out on a limb on this one.  Johnson hasn't been challenged in weeks and they really don't have much scoring outside of Jalen Mobley and Peirre Conwell despite having 5 guys in double figures.  St. Thomas Academy has put it together winning their last 11 on their way to the Classic Suburban title.  While Johnson has taken it to the Cadets the last 2 years in section play, I think all the factors lineup for STA to have a great chance to win and I'll make that pick.  I'll also take Hill-Murray to avenge 2 tight regular season losses to Simley as I think Dick Ghizoni will have a plan.

Section 6AAA (2/25 High Seeds, 3/1 and 3/6 at Chanhassen)
Quarters: Holy Family, Washburn, Waconia, Benilde-St. Margaret's
Semis: Holy Family, Waconia
Champion: Holy Family

Fun section here.  Despite a head to head win I thought Waconia and BSM should have flopped the 2 and 3 seeds and I'll pick it that way.  I think Waconia avenges that loss and I think Holy Family knocks off Washburn again.  Holy Family's big front line just too much for Waconia in the championship but expect a game more like their 3 point meeting in game 1 than the 21 blowout in game 2.  High quality final there.

Section 1AAAA (2/26 and 3/1 High Seeds and 3/7 at Mayo Civic Center)
Quarters: Lakeville North, Owatonna, Rochester John Marshall, Farmington
Semis: Lakeville North, Rochester John Marshall
Champion: Lakeville North

Owatonna lost in 2 OT and won the last meeting vs Century, have to like that upset pick.  Farmington gets through round 1 but the loss of Zach Speikers is just too much to overcome Rochester John Marshall.  Lakeville North will get a test from JM but ultimately move on.

Section 2AAAA (2/26 High Seeds, 3/1 and 3/7 at Apple Valley)
Quarters: Shakopee, Prior Lake, Bloomington Kennedy, Chanhassen
Semis: Shakopee, Chanhassen
Champion: Chanhassen

Coach Willie Braziel went undefeated in section and still got the 3 seed.  I know he won't be happy with that.  While he has a great case, its also hard to argue with the way Chanhassen has been playing.  They won 9 of 10 before losing to Red Wing last week.  They just knocked off Shakopee and I don't think that's a fluke as I think they'll do it again.  Prior Lake vs Chaska is an outstanding 4 vs 5 game.  The biggest Vegas line that you would have a sneaky chance to win on?  How about Burnsville vs Shakopee.  Shakopee needed overtime to win their annual regular season battle.  But Burnsville top guards, #1 scorer Zach Smith (out injured) and Jake Ruffing (limited by bad thumb) are question marks for the game.

Section 3AAAA (2/26 High Seeds, 3/1 and 3/6 at Farmington)
Quarters: Apple Valley, Rosemount, East Ridge, Cretin-Derham Hall
Semis: Apple Valley, East Ridge
Champion: Apple Valley

Best matchup here is the dynamite semifinal between Cretin-Derham Hall and East Ridge.  East Ridge just knocked off CDH to win the Suburban East.  Ryan Keenan and Ryan Mathis inside changes the complexion of things for East Ridge. They missed the CDH win in January.  Then you look at what CDH has done in their big games (losses to DLS, East Ridge, Bettendorf, 2 to Woodbury).  East Ridge will be able to slow tempo and win.  But a CDH vs Apple Valley final would be one of the more high scoring games of the season and very entertaining.

Section 4AAAA (2/26 High Seeds, 3/1 and 3/5 at East Ridge) 
Quarters: Woodbury, Mounds View, Tartan, Stillwater
Semis: Woodbury, Tartan
Champion: Tartan

Stillwater got a great draw here has they won at Roseville in the regular season and they lost the 2 games to Woodbury by a combined 6 points.  I can pick them once as Roseville's disappointing season would have proper disappointing ending with a home playoff loss.   Tartan's ability to play off the bounce is the difference in knocking off Mounds View.  Tartan can also matchup with Woodbury's offense.


Section 5AAAA (2/27 High Seeds, 3/3 or 3/4 then 3/7 at Rogers)
Quarters: Champlin Park, Centennial, Maple Grove, Osseo
Semis: Champlin Park, Osseo
Champion: Champlin Park

Osseo without Ian Theisen will get through the 1st round and then they get a brutally tough semifinal with Maple Grove.  Champlin Park with no problems in their first 2 games and I think they are too much for Osseo in the 3rd meeting of the teams.

Section 6AAAA (2/27 High Seeds, 3/1 and 3/5 at Chaska)
Quarters: Hopkins, Armstrong, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka
Semis: Hopkins, Eden Prairie
Champion: Hopkins

I've beaten the Armstrong or Tonka seeding argument to death so I won't go there here.  Hopkins is a bad matchup for Armstrong (see Champlin Park) with their length and athletes and they'll ultimately win the section.  EP and Tonka with another battle but away from home I think the Tonka shooting isn't there and EP is too good defensively.  Only question is can they find enough offense outside of Wallace and Gillard. 

Section 7AAAA (2/27 High Seeds, 3/4 and 3/7 at North Branch)
Quarters: St. Francis, Blaine, Andover, Cambridge-Isanti
Semis: St. Francis, Andover
Champion: St. Francis


Here's a stat, Hopkins and Apple Valley have more wins than the bottom 5 teams in this section combined.  I'll take St. Francis by default.  My sleeper here is Blaine with Jason Travis leading the way and lots of length, they can steal this bad section.

Section 8AAAA (2/25 High Seeds, 3/1 at SCSU, 3/6 Neutral Site)
Quarters: Tech, STMA, Buffalo, Elk River
Semis: Tech, Elk River
Champion: St. Cloud Tech

I'll predict this section since I saw the top 3 seeds.  Tech is the best team here and they really shoot it and have a star in Andy Foley.  Elk River gets Buffalo again in a classic semifinal.  Cody Dorow and Moorhead lost by 1 at home at STMA and now get the road game there.  Dorow won't be enough to carry the Spuds on.

Johnson takes home another Twin Cities title

Prologue
A busy day on the final Saturday of the regular season.  A 12 oz coke at Richfield and a pair of 12 oz cans of Dr. Pepper on the beverage counter.  Johnson with the pricey but outstanding walking tacos.  The travel around to the days games still hideously bad.  My adventure to Richfield took almost 3 hours.  Then a great crowd for a highly anticipated Twin Cities game.

Song of the Day
Drive - The Cars

Total Beverage Consumption Counter: 1324 ounces  (111 games, 94 days)

• 12 oz 7 Up 
• 20 oz Barq's Root Beer
• 20 oz Mug Root Beer 
• 68 oz Sprite 
• 84 oz Dr Pepper
• 160 oz Red Powerade
• 232 oz Red Gatorade
• 184 oz Coke 
• 508 oz Pepsi

Game 1: Henry Sibley at Richfield
So I was critical of Omar McMillan's handling of Richfield's senior night last year and this year he decides to start a sophomore and a junior.  Color me confused after it was important to start all seniors (but not the right ones last year).  A very slow 1st half with Sibley running some of THE WORLD'S WORST OFFENSE.  Richfield very depleted with no Patrick Dembley so they extend with 2 guards and slow the pace way down.  Godfrey Luke with a 3 after a possession of almost 3 minutes.  12-9 Richfield at that point. Sibley in control after that but they never put it away.  They take a 19-17 lead to half and the lead hovers from 5-10 most of the rest of the game.  Mark Pumper steps up with 10 of his 14 in the second half.  Sibley goes 1-8 from the line in a stretch near the end but they hang on for a 45-38 win.

Game 2: Twin Cities Game - North at Johnson
Full house on hand for this one.  North gets off to a great start with a pair of Tyler Johnson layups and an Issac Johnson 3 for a 9-1 lead less than 3 minutes in.  Johnson takes timeout and regroups.  They counter with a 20-6 run of their own to take their first lead.  21-15 Johnson at the 8:26 mark.  Tyler Johnson for 3 to bring North back to a 23 all tie.  Then Johnson spurts again with a 13-1 run.  North closes to trail the Govs 36-31 at the half.

The 2nd half is all about Jalen Mobley and Tyler Johnson.  Mobley picks up a loose ball and converts a 3 point play to end a 7-0 run and push the lead to 45-33.  Tyler Johnson for 3 and a free throw to end that run but Mobley with the BLOB backside duckin for a 3 point play (we talked about that vs Central) and converts a turnover to keep the lead at 11.  Peirre Conwell picks up his 4th foul with 13:54 left and has to sit for Johnson.  Mobley then controls with the pass.  He finds Eric Elliot for a layup as DDM action with the dish to the post spot very effective for the Govs in this game.  Then Mobley to Mitchell McDonald for 2 more. Soph Andre Smith off the bench puts back a miss and Mobley finds him for 3.  61-46 Johnson 11:30 to play.

Tyler Johnson steals a pass, goes behind the back with the dish and then puts back the missed layup.  After a strong Mobley drive and finish, Issac Johnson counters with a 3 point play and jumper.  He then blocks a shot which Tyler Johnson converts with 7:05 left.  That brings the North fans to their feet to make noise.  The Johnson lead cut down to 69-62.  Tyler Johnson adds 2 free throws and Jamil Jackson buries a 3, Mobley counters those with a pair of buckets as the scoreboard ping pongs back and forth.  Then a brutal charge call on Jamil Jackson and its his 5th with 5:39 left.  He also gets the frustration T.  Somehow Johnson steps up shoots a free throw and misses but Mobley then gets to take 2 more freebies.  No idea how that happens.  Mobley then finds McDonald for 3 on the possession.  79-67 Johnson with 5:10 left.  The outcome not in doubt after that.  Johnson wins the Twin Cities Game 91-81.  Tyler Johnson with 20 of his 29 points in the 2nd half for North.  No stopping him getting to the rim or the foul line.  My game MVP Jalen Mobley with 19 of his 24 in the second half but his distribution in the second half was huge.  Eric Elliot with 13 points, Mitchell McDonald with 19.  For North, Jamil Jackson adds 16, Issac Johnson 13. 

Cougars hang on to end the regular season.

Prologue
The schedule dwindled some so I change plans to get a look at Burnsville at Lakeville South.  1st look at Burnsville this season and with both teams not favored in 1st round games next week I figured another look at frosh Jack Sorenson would be a good thing.  Nice work from the Lakeville South pep band in my limited listening (late arrival and electronics panic).  Interesting variation on the "Jump shake your booty" chant from students as they used it on a player's mom.  Funny but scary at the same time.  Mom didn't oblige but did find the humor in it.

Song of the Day
Hot for Teacher - Van Halen

Total Beverage Consumption Counter: 1288 ounces  (109 games, 93 days)

• 12 oz 7 Up 
• 20 oz Barq's Root Beer
• 20 oz Mug Root Beer 
• 68 oz Sprite 
• 84 oz Dr Pepper
• 160 oz Red Powerade
• 232 oz Red Gatorade
• 184 oz Coke 
• 508 oz Pepsi

Game Time
Pretty even 1st half.  Cody Kairis for 2 and buries a 3 at the 12 minute mark.  That gives Lakeville South their 1st lead at 15-12.  Soph Jason Gumm good minutes off the Burnsville bench in this one.  He converts back to back buckets and then after a Lakeville South 3 scores again before getting into foul trouble.  18 all at 10:20.  Kairis with a jumper for a 1 point Cougars lead but then a technical on South.  Joe Morris makes the 2 technicals but misses the front end of the bonus on the foul.  They also convert the possession for a 3 point lead.  Morris with the post turnaround, converts a turnover for 2 and to the rank for 2 more as he turns down a ball screen.  Burnsville by 5.  The turnover bug starts to bite but Burnsville still takes a 39-34 lead to halftime.

Lakeville South comes out with the 1st 6 points of the half as they turn up the pressure.  Strange that Burnsville's bigs who really weren't ball handlers were trying to handle the full court defense.  Didn't get that at all.  A feed for a Kyle Martin layup and a 3 point play from Brenon Larson-Gulsvig and the Cougars lead is up to 7.  Sorenson for 3, 2 Martin free throws and Afron Janetkhan for 3 and Kairus off the baseline screen for the 3 point play.  The run is 13-2 and the Cougars lead 70-57 with 6:55 left.  Gumm back in the game with 4 fouls and he knocks down 3 bombs in a 2 minute stretch.  He hits the last 3, Brett Shepley with a slick post move faking middle and finishing with the left hand and Ben Nienow trails the break and buries a 3.  That's an 8-0 run for the Blaze and the lead for Lakeville South is down to 76-72 with 3:51 left and they need a timeout to regroup.  A pair of free throws cuts the lead to 3 and South will go to the 2 guard X delay game.  They make 8-8 from the line in the last 2:33 with 1 turnover to seal the game.  Lakeville South wins 85-80.

Post Game
Burnsville finishes the regular season 8-18 overall, 3-15 for 9th place in the South Suburban.  Joe Morris leads the way with 19 points.  Fellow junior forward Brett Shepley adds 14 as does guard Levi Miller and soph reserve Jason Gumm.  Turnovers ultimately the difference as the ball security just wasn't good enough against the extended defense.  But keep in mind leading scorer Zach Smith would likely be that guy and he didn't play tonight.  They will likely open the playoffs at Shakopee on Wednesday in the 1 vs 8 game in section 2AAAA.

Lakeville South finishes 10-15 overall, 7-11 in the South Suburban.  That's good enough for a 3-way tie for 6th in the league standings.  Cody Kairis finishes with 22 points to lead the Cougars.  Jack Sorenson finishes with 16 points after a rough start of turnovers and missed shots.  Kairis 6-6 down the stretch from the charity stripe.  Lakeville South likely the 6 seed in 2AAAA.  That means a trip to Chanhassen most likely or Kennedy in round 1 on Wednesday.

Nolan's hot shooting leads Falcons

Prologue
A nice snow makeup game fills in the Wednesday slot on the schedule.  Its Elk River at Armstrong in their second meeting in 8 days.   Armstrong won the 1st meeting 80-44.  Edina and Hopkins in the building watching Armstrong for section play.  Fairly light crowd gets entertained by today's tune.

Song of the Day
DJ Casper - Cha Cha Slide

Total Beverage Consumption Counter: 1288 ounces  (108 games, 91 days)

• 12 oz 7 Up 
• 20 oz Barq's Root Beer
• 20 oz Mug Root Beer 
• 68 oz Sprite 
• 84 oz Dr Pepper
• 160 oz Red Powerade
• 232 oz Red Gatorade
• 184 oz Coke 
• 508 oz Pepsi

Game Time
Evan Nolan with his 1st 3 of the night as Armstrong jumps out to a 7-1 lead.  Elk River would take their first lead on a 3 from soph guard Matt Keller at the 7:48 mark.   That forces an Armstrong timeout.  Clay Elrod with a layup and a 3 to counter a BLOB 3 from Nolan.  Keller from keep again and a Mitchell Weege floater puts Elk River up 27-26 at the 4:30 mark.  All Armstrong to close the half.  Soph lefty Melvin Newburn with 2 putbacks, soph Judie Alade takes the inside out pass for 3 and knocks down another jumper.  Nolan with 3 more bombs and a Casperson 3 point play.  Its a 21-1 Falcons run to end the half.  47-28 Armstrong at the break.  Nolan with 7 3s and 21 points.

For as hot as Armstrong was in the last 4:30, they can't find it in the 2nd half.  Elrod aggressive with 5 quick points and the lead is down to 12.  Devell Miller controlling the inside at 5'11".  He sticks back 2 misses, 1 for a 3 point play.  Keller to the bucket and Elrod inside for 2 free throws.  Its a 17-4 Elk River run to cut the lead to 51-44 with 11:40 left.  The 2nd Armstrong FG of the half doesn't come until Alade knocks down a 3 with 8:50 left to keep the lead at 12.  Nolan in the post for 2 and a skip pass finds Jerome Dixon for 3 and the lead is back to 66-50.  15-6 Armstrong spurt in 3:35.  The Elks won't go away quietly.  Weege and Elrod counter with triples, Miller with a sweet pick and roll layup.  Sean Burns with a big swat but it goes right to Elrod in the left corner and he buries the triple.  Elk River wipes away Armstrong's run with a 15-5 run of their own.  71-65 Falcons 3:25 left.  But Elk River would get no closer as Armstrong makes their free throws.  Falcons win 85-75.

Post Game
Elk River falls to 15-10 overall, 9-10 in the NW Suburban.  They've lost 4 in a row bookended by the 2 Armstrong games and road losses at Maple Grove and Osseo just last night.  Tough stretch for the Elks.  Clay Elrod wasn't on the glass but he did finish with 26 points.  Soph guard Matt Keller with a nice outing of 18 points.  Devell Miller 15 of his 16 in the 2nd half.  Section 8AAAA is QRF seeded and its shaping up to be a mistake unless it gets within tiebreaker margin.  Buffalo lost to both Elk River and St. Cloud Tech during the season, Tech has a better overall and section record but unless something drastic happens Buffalo will get the 1 seed thanks to the lunacy of choosing to have the QRF do the seeding.  I have no problem with Buffalo at 2, but I could make a much better case for them at 3 than at 1.  Note that section 8 used to do a points system for years before having to choose coaches or QRF.  Remember if you points seed, you MUST use QRF, also a thoroughly stupid rule, but that's the MSHSL for you.  Should make for an entertaining set of semis at St. Cloud State 1 week from Saturday.

Armstrong is now 20-5 overall, 16-3 in the NW Suburban which clinches 2nd there.  Evan Nolan 7 3s all in the 1st half, 27 points.  Sean Burns chips in with 15, Ryan Casperson with 12.  After a tough 3 game slide, Armstrong has now won 6 in a row.  They'll finish at Anoka on Friday.  As to seeding in 6AAAA, Armstrong and Minnetonka will be one of the more heated seeding discussions out there.  Minnetonka would like to think a win over Eden Prairie on Friday would bump them to the 2 seed.  In a just world I don't think that game matters.  I think they're the clear 4 seed.  They'll argue no worse than 3 because of their big win at Armstrong.  But the Skippers aren't close enough in the QRF or CzarPI or have the overall record close enough to make that case.  It becomes a big deal because the 3 seed avoids Hopkins in the semis.

Apple Valley clinches another conference title

Prologue
Its Super Tuesday with 5 Conference Titles possibly at stake tonight.  I venture to #5AAAA Lakeville North for their South Suburban showdown with #1AAAA Apple Valley.  Lakeville North could share the crown with a win while Apple Valley would win it outright with a win.  We get a bad officiating crew which lived up to its billing.  Full house in the stands and all the way around the railings.  The large North pep band also up on the rail with the tuba section.  Mr Basketball committee chairman Ken Lien getting jiggy with the drum line just before tip.  A great selection of 80s from them.  We get 1 classic from the band and repeated later on the public address.

Song of the Day
Sweet Child O'Mine - Guns N Roses

Total Beverage Consumption Counter: 1268 ounces  (107 games, 90 days)

• 12 oz 7 Up 
• 20 oz Barq's Root Beer
• 20 oz Mug Root Beer 
• 68 oz Sprite 
• 84 oz Dr Pepper
• 160 oz Red Powerade
• 212 oz Red Gatorade
• 184 oz Coke 
• 508 oz Pepsi

Game Time
JP Macura with a pair of sweet Dirk Nowitzki fades from the left block for a 6-2 Lakeville North lead.  Tyus Jones countering with a floater off the ball screen, a free throw and then he finds Robert Tobroxen for 3 to put Apple Valley up 10-8 at the 11:10 mark.  Macura with 2 free throws and a putback.  Tyus to the rim off the ball screen for 2 and he knocks down a 3.  Macura again in the post for 2 free throws.  Brock Bertram a 3 point play on the BLOB, then Macura blocked and Dennis Austin scores for a 23-16 Apple Valley lead at the 3:15 mark.  Macura gets away with a pushoff and then converts a 3 point play.  Tyus to Bertram on the screen and roll but that leads him directly into his 3rd foul just before the half.  Tyus with a pair of free throws, JP with a 3 and then a pair of late free throws.  27-25 Apple Valley at the half.  JP Macura with 19 of those 25 for Lakeville North.  Tyus with 12 points and 3 assists for 7 more to carry the Apple Valley offense.

Bertram quickly picks up his 4th foul on another charge and has to sit.  But Apple Valley expands the lead to 7 thanks to a Gary Trent 3 point play.  Lakeville North regroups after a timeout.  Macura coast to coast for 2 free throws, an assist for a layup and coast to coast again for 2 more.  Now Apple Valley needs a timeout.  34-33 Eagles with 10:25 left.  A foul called on Macura has the Apple Valley crowd howling about star treatment which is ironic considering all of the calls Tyus has gotten over the years.  Connor Flack was the only other offense for Lakeville North in this one.  His bucket in the post and then 3 tie the game at 38 with 8:06 left.  That was after a sweet pass from Trey Pipkins to Dennis Austin for a layup out of the side screen/roll action.

Coach Goring rolls the dice and brings Bertram back into the game with 7:58 left and a 2 point lead.  A sweet Macura assist keeps the lead at 2 before a Dennis Austin post up, Macura missed front end and a 3 point play from Tyus.  47-40 Apple Valley at that point and it appears they may pull away.  Carl Engwall stops that with a 3 point play that gets the crowd roaring as its the 5th foul on Bertram.  JP with 2 free throws and a Bronson Bruneau jumper after he comes back in with 4 fouls.  47 all with 3:25 to play.  Macura misses a good look at a 3.  Apple Valley takes timeout and the PA plays Sweet Caroline.  Turn the music off and play and we'll sing anyway!  OOOH OOOH OOOOOH!.  Tyus to Pipkins who can't finish the layup with 2:15 left.  Lakeville North runs their deliberate offense and takes it down to 13.7 left when they take timeout.  Out of the timeout, Flack catches in the backcourt and just goes.  He gets all the way to the rim and can't finish.  Out of bounds to Apple Valley with 6.6 to play.  Tyus gets and flies down the right wing, his pullup from 17 feet is in and out at the buzzer and we'll play OT.

Tyus starts the overtime with a 3 point play and 1 of 2 from the charity stripe.  North can't convert a turnover and Trent makes 2 free throws on the other end.  Then after another Lakeville North miss, Austin is fouled on purpose in the post but steps up and makes both.  Tyus fouled on a rebound and surprisingly misses both freebies.  North for 3.  Then Tyus drives and in another surprise tries to dunk and misses that.  Macura lays that in and the lead is down to 3.  Then another Apple Valley turnover converted by Drew Stewart and the lead is down to 55-54 with 40 seconds left.  Tyus makes 1 of 2 with 21.7 left.  Macura drives baseline but his pass back out is picked off by Austin and on the breakaway its an intentional foul.  Austin makes both and that's all she wrote.  Apple Valley wins 59-56 in overtime.

Post Game
Another instance of JP Macura not getting much help.  He finishes with 27 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.  So he was part of at least 40 of the 56 points.  Connor Flack finishes with 15 points.  Lakeville North ran a ton of X delay game (2 guards pass/cut, backcut if overplayed, very common delay set) to keep the pace of this one down.  Macura struggled to get looks cutting or off the bounce against Robert Tobroxon but had success in the post that the Panthers surprisingly never came back to in the second half.  The Panthers shoot 17 of 27 from 2 but only 3 for 20 from 3 (vs 15-30 in the first meeting).  Lakeville North falls to 20-5 overall, 15-2 in the South Suburban.  They end the regular season on Friday at Prior Lake.

Apple Valley wins the conference title outright and maintains their winning streak against Minnesota opponents.  Tyus Jones with not one of the better performances.  25 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 6 turnovers with some decisions that were not Tyus like.  Dennis Austin 12 points, Brock Bertram 9 points and 10 boards but most of that damage was done early.  Lakeville North still got beat on the glass but it was only 37-26 in this one and only 11 2nd chance points.  Apple Valley now 24-1, 17-0 in the South Suburban.  They finish up at home against Rosemount on Friday.

Both teams will head into the playoffs as the favorites in their respective sections but the roads won't be easy.  Farmington gave Lakeville North all they wanted earlier in the year and the Panthers needed a blowout performance from Macura to hang on in OT.  Rochester John Marshall is no slouch in that section either.  Apple Valley gets East Ridge and Cretin-Derham Hall.  Cretin-Derham Hall's high powered offense is always dangerous.  East Ridge was a mash unit for most of the conference season and won the Suburban East anyway

February 16th, 2014 CzarPI

This is the 6th CzarPI of the 2013-14 season (see CzarPI Explained here). It includes games through Saturday, February 15th, 2014. The value in () after the CzarPI value is the team's strength of schedule ranking within their class

Class AAAA

1. Hopkins - 64.13 (2)
2. Apple Valley - 62.38 (12)
3. Eden Prairie - 59.15 (3)
4. Champlin Park - 58.94 (37)
5. Lakeville North - 58.83 (10)
6. Shakopee - 58.45 (5)
7. St. Cloud Tech - 57.64 (46)
8. Chanhassen - 56.97 (22)
9. Robbinsdale Armstrong - 56.63 (23)
10. Cretin-Derham Hall - 56.4 (43)
11. Osseo - 56.14 (11)
12. Buffalo - 55.67 (41)
13. East Ridge - 54.63 (56)
14. Minnetonka - 53.94 (6)
15. St. Francis - 53.88 (57)
16. Woodbury - 53.36 (26)
17. Mounds View - 53.1 (59)
18. Bloomington Kennedy - 52.7 (7)
19. Maple Grove - 52.61 (25)
20. Rochester John Marshall - 52.58 (61)
21. Rosemount - 52.51 (9)
22. Chaska - 52.47 (34)
23. Prior Lake - 52.04 (13)
24. Farmington - 51.87 (53)
25. Tartan - 51.86 (62)
26. Elk River - 51.74 (45)
27. Park Center - 50.73 (32)
28. Bloomington Jefferson - 50.56 (14)
29. Edina - 50.35 (15)
30. Moorhead - 49.07 (30)
31. St. Michael-Albertville - 48.92 (24)
32. Lakeville South - 48.64 (1)
33. Brainerd - 48.38 (48)
34. Henry Sibley - 48.27 (44)
35. Eagan - 47.67 (17)
36. Centennial - 47.5 (33)
37. Andover - 47.34 (20)
38. Minneapolis South - 47.3 (54)
39. Roseville - 47.2 (29)
40. Cambridge-Isanti - 46.64 (64)
41. Rochester Century - 46.59 (51)
42. Burnsville - 45.16 (4)
43. White Bear Lake - 45.11 (27)
44. Stillwater Area - 44.83 (21)
45. Wayzata - 44.04 (18)
46. Mahtomedi - 43.64 (60)
47. Minneapolis Southwest - 43.37 (55)
48. Owatonna - 42.16 (40)
49. Northfield - 42.05 (31)
50. Robbinsdale Cooper - 41.2 (16)
51. Rogers - 41.1 (58)
52. Blaine - 40.82 (50)
53. Rochester Mayo - 40 (28)
54. Eastview - 38.57 (8)
55. North St. Paul - 35.62 (63)
56. Forest Lake - 34.59 (42)
57. Hastings - 31.45 (38)
58. Duluth East - 30.44 (47)
59. Bemidji - 30.14 (36)
60. Anoka - 26.96 (19)
61. Park of Cottage Grove - 24.34 (49)
62. Coon Rapids - 18.8 (39)
63. St. Louis Park - 17.56 (35)
64. Irondale - 17.06 (52)

Class AAA

1. Holy Family Catholic - 58.1 (33)
2. Austin - 57.91 (21)
3. DeLaSalle - 57.36 (8)
4. Marshall - 56.61 (16)
5. St. Paul Johnson - 55.74 (57)
6. Waconia - 55 (5)
7. Albany - 54.38 (40)
8. Orono - 54.36 (11)
9. Thief River Falls - 53.4 (48)
10. Big Lake - 53.32 (28)
11. Detroit Lakes - 52.87 (36)
12. Kasson-Mantorville - 52.86 (35)
13. Totino-Grace - 52.64 (59)
14. Red Wing - 52.42 (15)
15. Willmar - 52.26 (49)
16. St. Thomas Academy - 51.94 (55)
17. Grand Rapids - 51.76 (29)
18. Cloquet - 51.75 (60)
19. Sartell-St. Stephen - 51.67 (9)
20. Minneapolis Washburn - 51.44 (27)
21. Columbia Heights - 50.82 (62)
22. St. Paul Central - 50.61 (58)
23. Hermantown - 50.22 (18)
24. St. Cloud Apollo - 49.66 (23)
25. Mankato West - 49.58 (38)
26. Delano - 49.3 (45)
27. Hill-Murray - 49.13 (51)
28. Benilde-St. Margaret's - 48.61 (39)
29. Alexandria - 48.51 (42)
30. Winona - 48.47 (46)
31. Fergus Falls - 48.45 (14)
32. Stewartville - 48.26 (43)
33. Simley - 46.99 (64)
34. Spring Lake Park - 46.85 (19)
35. Fridley - 46.36 (63)
36. Holy Angels - 46.08 (2)
37. Hibbing - 45.92 (32)
38. New Prague - 45.21 (1)
39. Little Falls - 44.86 (54)
40. Zimmerman - 44.78 (22)
41. Monticello - 44.66 (47)
42. Mankato East - 44.62 (17)
43. Blake - 44.15 (26)
44. Chisago Lakes Area - 43.82 (31)
45. Hutchinson - 43.47 (3)
46. St. Paul Como Park - 42.67 (24)
47. Becker - 41.98 (50)
48. Worthington - 41.16 (6)
49. Minneapolis Henry - 40.92 (20)
50. St. Paul Highland Park - 40.83 (52)
51. North Branch - 40.49 (34)
52. Princeton - 39.4 (37)
53. Mound-Westonka - 39.33 (4)
54. Albert Lea - 37.4 (13)
55. New Ulm - 35.08 (12)
56. Duluth Denfeld - 34.68 (44)
57. Dassel-Cokato - 34.31 (30)
58. St. Anthony Village - 33.03 (56)
59. St. Paul Harding - 31.59 (53)
60. Richfield - 27.97 (10)
61. Rocori - 27.68 (7)
62. South St. Paul - 27.25 (61)
63. Faribault - 25.5 (41)
64. Sauk Rapids-Rice - 0 (25)

Class AA

1. Waseca - 58.7 (24)
2. Caledonia - 57.3 (46)
3. Fairmont - 56.87 (10)
4. Crosby-Ironton - 56.11 (61)
5. Mayer Lutheran - 55.75 (29)
6. St. Cloud Cathedral - 55.63 (25)
7. Hayfield - 55.56 (56)
8. Annandale - 55.53 (8)
9. Barnum - 54.87 (110)
10. Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted - 54.51 (59)
11. Esko - 54.38 (101)
12. New Life Academy - 53.99 (106)
13. Barnesville - 53.91 (79)
14. St. James Area - 53.85 (58)
15. Perham - 53.64 (33)
16. Plainview-Elgin-Millville - 53.61 (60)
17. New Richland-H-E-G - 53.44 (67)
18. Belle Plaine - 53.41 (23)
19. Braham - 53.32 (100)
20. Redwood Valley - 52.94 (72)
21. Virginia - 52.9 (107)
22. Pelican Rapids - 52.76 (31)
23. Byron - 52.6 (42)
24. Crookston - 52.42 (81)
25. Chatfield - 52 (44)
26. Jackson County Central - 51.77 (18)
27. Sauk Centre - 51.76 (55)
28. Cannon Falls - 51.72 (63)
29. East Grand Forks - 51.69 (39)
30. Minnehaha Academy - 51.03 (12)
31. Jordan - 50.87 (6)
32. Moose Lake-Willow River - 50.55 (70)
33. Melrose - 50.14 (77)
34. Rochester Lourdes - 50.13 (28)
35. Eden Valley-Watkins - 50.07 (38)
36. Waterville-Elysian-Morristown - 49.98 (69)
37. Watertown-Mayer - 49.76 (48)
38. St. Charles - 49.54 (74)
39. St. Croix Lutheran - 49.33 (45)
40. St. Paul Academy - 49.27 (97)
41. New London-Spicer - 49.2 (15)
42. Montevideo - 49.18 (20)
43. Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop - 49.17 (119)
44. Hawley - 49.01 (13)
45. Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial - 48.9 (76)
46. Minneota/Lincoln HI - 48.88 (115)
47. Providence Academy - 48.87 (90)
48. Brooklyn Center - 48.1 (103)
49. Norwood-Young America - 48.06 (62)
50. Concordia Academy-Roseville - 48 (91)
51. LeSueur-Henderson - 47.62 (71)
52. St. Peter - 47.58 (2)
53. Martin County West - 47.52 (52)
54. Minnewaska Area - 47.3 (35)
55. Milaca - 47.19 (116)
56. Glencoe-Silver Lake - 46.92 (54)
57. Park Rapids Area - 46.92 (96)
58. Tri-City United - 46.56 (36)
59. Lake City - 46.42 (111)
60. Mora - 45.88 (78)
61. International Falls - 45.81 (51)
62. Hinckley-Finlayson - 45.75 (99)
63. Maple River - 45.63 (7)
64. Paynesville Area - 45.3 (80)
65. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle - 45.22 (65)
66. Maple Lake - 45.18 (85)
67. La Crescent - 45.18 (4)
68. Rockford - 45.16 (19)
69. BOLD - 45.1 (95)
70. Tracy-Milroy-Balaton - 44.97 (68)
71. Breck - 44.79 (50)
72. Staples-Motley - 44.54 (43)
73. St. John's Prep - 44.23 (92)
74. Breckenridge - 44.22 (30)
75. Benson - 44.02 (114)
76. Proctor - 43.99 (66)
77. Blue Earth Area - 43.9 (1)
78. Eveleth-Gilbert - 43.71 (117)
79. Aitkin - 43.71 (89)
80. Pipestone Area - 43.58 (5)
81. Pine City - 43.5 (105)
82. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton - 43.36 (3)
83. Pine Island - 43.06 (86)
84. Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta - 43.05 (21)
85. Litchfield - 42.81 (9)
86. International School of MN - 42.54 (126)
87. Rush City - 42.47 (109)
88. Dover-Eyota - 42.28 (32)
89. Winona Cotter - 42.12 (73)
90. Trinity School - 42.02 (94)
91. Sibley East - 41.82 (26)
92. Two Harbors - 41.63 (102)
93. St. Croix Prep - 41.39 (122)
94. Prairie Seeds Academy - 41.1 (124)
95. Minneapolis Roosevelt - 40.61 (14)
96. Minneapolis Edison - 40.53 (98)
97. Windom Area - 40.49 (34)
98. Spectrum - 39.92 (125)
99. Pillager - 39.89 (93)
100. Roseau - 39.84 (108)
101. Pequot Lakes - 39.54 (75)
102. Zumbrota-Mazeppa - 37.5 (64)
103. Frazee - 37.5 (22)
104. Foley - 37.38 (37)
105. Duluth Marshall - 36.85 (83)
106. Great River - 36.82 (130)
107. St. Paul Washington - 36.61 (123)
108. Mounds Park Academy - 36.23 (127)
109. Mesabi East - 34.36 (11)
110. Bagley - 34.33 (87)
111. St. Agnes - 33.83 (113)
112. Osakis - 33.61 (53)
113. Pierz - 33.28 (40)
114. Lewiston-Altura - 33.25 (17)
115. St. Paul Humboldt - 32.71 (104)
116. Lac qui Parle Valley - 31.89 (112)
117. Holdingford - 31.42 (27)
118. Deer River - 30.93 (49)
119. Luverne - 30.84 (16)
120. Wadena-Deer Creek - 30.25 (57)
121. St. Paul Prep - 29.5 (128)
122. Badger/Greenbush-Middle River - 29.31 (118)
123. Yellow Medicine East - 28.29 (88)
124. Triton - 28.09 (84)
125. FAIR School - 24.32 (121)
126. Warroad - 23.68 (82)
127. Greenway - 22.34 (120)
128. Medford - 22.31 (41)
129. Hmong Academy - 20.16 (129)
130. Kenyon-Wanamingo - 0 (47)

Class A

1. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa - 59.04 (11)
2. Battle Lake - 58.1 (50)
3. Rushford-Peterson - 57.17 (39)
4. Upsala - 56.03 (45)
5. Dawson-Boyd - 55.6 (90)
6. Wheaton/Herman-Norcross - 55.06 (38)
7. Maranatha Christian - 54.97 (52)
8. United South Central - 54.42 (31)
9. Southwest MN Christian - 54.38 (110)
10. Ely - 54.18 (132)
11. Red Lake - 54.04 (3)
12. Walker-Hackensack-Akeley - 53.63 (86)
13. Fertile-Beltrami - 53.4 (83)
14. Canby - 53.06 (73)
15. Browerville - 53.04 (13)
16. St. Clair - 53 (71)
17. Heritage Christian - 52.89 (37)
18. Mountain Lake Area - 52.76 (128)
19. Cass Lake-Bena - 52.61 (69)
20. Northern Freeze - 52.4 (47)
21. Fond du Lac Ojibwe - 52.25 (121)
22. South Ridge - 52.02 (108)
23. Bigfork - 51.4 (116)
24. Fosston - 51.27 (94)
25. Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City - 51.11 (70)
26. Hillcrest Lutheran Academy - 50.96 (30)
27. Floodwood - 50.37 (85)
28. Southwest Christian - 50.32 (22)
29. Chisholm - 50.23 (41)
30. Park Christian - 50.18 (96)
31. Sleepy Eye Saint Mary's - 50.14 (112)
32. Spring Grove - 50.05 (142)
33. Warren-Alvarado-Oslo - 49.15 (57)
34. Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity - 49.12 (2)
35. West Central Area - 49.02 (53)
36. Verndale - 48.77 (143)
37. Ada-Borup - 48.71 (66)
38. Central MN Christian - 48.58 (97)
39. Minneapolis North - 47.88 (18)
40. Russell-Tyler-Ruthton - 47.83 (44)
41. Henning - 47.81 (62)
42. Mountain Iron-Buhl - 47.48 (77)
43. Stephen-Argyle - 47.28 (109)
44. Blooming Prairie - 47.06 (43)
45. Mankato Loyola - 47.02 (29)
46. Ellsworth - 46.92 (131)
47. Swanville - 46.73 (65)
48. Cedar Mountain/Comfrey - 46.73 (81)
49. Ortonville - 46.59 (27)
50. North Woods - 46.56 (10)
51. Goodhue - 46.19 (95)
52. Bethlehem Academy - 45.66 (33)
53. Ashby - 45.61 (12)
54. Menahga - 45.49 (118)
55. Northome/Kelliher - 45.26 (103)
56. Kimball Area - 44.76 (75)
57. Springfield - 44.49 (35)
58. Blackduck - 44.49 (87)
59. Kittson County Central - 44.44 (58)
60. Lanesboro - 44.39 (135)
61. Christian Life School - 44.34 (154)
62. Minnesota Valley Lutheran - 44.05 (32)
63. Goodridge/Grygla - 43.62 (127)
64. West Lutheran - 43.5 (19)
65. Win-E-Mac - 43.4 (34)
66. Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart - 43.21 (105)
67. Nevis - 42.87 (54)
68. Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley - 42.86 (15)
69. Mabel-Canton - 42.71 (125)
70. Wabasso - 42.54 (126)
71. Southwest United - 42.34 (113)
72. Minnesota Transitions Charter - 42.34 (133)
73. Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton - 42.22 (48)
74. Wrenshall - 42.14 (68)
75. Legacy Christian - 41.91 (40)
76. Mahnomen - 41.89 (55)
77. CHOF - 41.64 (146)
78. Fillmore Central - 41.29 (16)
79. Cherry - 41.23 (14)
80. Bethany Academy - 40.99 (99)
81. Granada-Huntley-East Chain - 40.96 (28)
82. Isle - 40.95 (136)
83. Waubun - 40.9 (119)
84. NCE/U-H - 40.66 (84)
85. Truman/Martin Luther - 40.55 (93)
86. Lake Park-Audubon - 40.11 (100)
87. Schaeffer Academy - 40.04 (145)
88. MACCRAY - 39.9 (17)
89. Sleepy Eye - 39.54 (115)
90. Cristo Rey Jesuit - 39.3 (130)
91. Grand Meadow - 39.17 (141)
92. Onamia - 38.91 (120)
93. New Ulm Cathedral - 38.68 (101)
94. Nicollet - 38.65 (137)
95. Hills-Beaver Creek - 38.53 (111)
96. East Central - 38.18 (91)
97. Red Lake County - 38.14 (64)
98. North Lakes Academy - 37.91 (151)
99. Kingsland - 37.91 (1)
100. Parkers Prairie - 37.84 (46)
101. Liberty Classical Academy - 37.3 (157)
102. Wabasha-Kellogg - 37.25 (9)
103. New York Mills - 37.16 (107)
104. Madelia - 37.11 (72)
105. Hope Lutheran - 36.99 (139)
106. Lyle/Austin Pacelli - 36.9 (138)
107. Cromwell - 36.61 (49)
108. Underwood - 36.18 (6)
109. Littlefork-Big Falls - 36.16 (92)
110. Lakeview Christian - 35.87 (5)
111. Bertha-Hewitt - 35.56 (78)
112. Hill City - 35.52 (82)
113. PACT Charter - 35.41 (74)
114. Murray County Central - 35.39 (102)
115. Randolph - 35.11 (59)
116. Houston - 34.87 (123)
117. Westbrook-Walnut Grove - 34.24 (122)
118. Southland - 34.22 (8)
119. Glenville-Emmons - 34.12 (149)
120. MN Academy for the Deaf - 33.71 (158)
121. Nashwauk-Keewatin - 33.36 (134)
122. Cook County - 33.31 (106)
123. Rothsay - 33.14 (21)
124. Laporte - 32.54 (26)
125. Lakeview - 32.2 (56)
126. Northland - 32.19 (124)
127. Clearbrook-Gonvick - 31.83 (42)
128. Pine River-Backus - 31.54 (4)
129. Nova Classical Academy - 31.43 (148)
130. Community of Peace Academy - 31.2 (152)
131. Brandon/Evansville - 31.09 (20)
132. Cleveland - 30.85 (129)
133. McGregor - 30.16 (140)
134. Climax/Fisher - 30.04 (60)
135. Sacred Heart - 29.73 (117)
136. Norman County West - 29.54 (114)
137. Adrian - 29.14 (89)
138. Alden-Conger - 28.64 (147)
139. Carlton - 28.5 (25)
140. Academy for Sciences & Ag - 28.16 (153)
141. Sebeka - 25.49 (80)
142. Calvin Christian - 24.29 (155)
143. Mesabi Academy - 24.13 (67)
144. Hope Academy - 23.79 (156)
145. Learning for Leadership - 23.46 (88)
146. LeRoy-Ostrander - 22.05 (144)
147. St. Cloud Christian - 21.83 (159)
148. Silver Bay - 21.66 (51)
149. Renville County West - 20.92 (63)
150. Royalton - 20.92 (24)
151. Hancock - 19.31 (7)
152. Edgerton - 17.59 (104)
153. Fulda - 17.38 (79)
154. Northeast Range - 17.27 (23)
155. Red Rock Central - 15.06 (76)
156. Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig - 0 (160)
157. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg - 0 (36)
158. Ogilvie - 0 (61)
159. Lake of the Woods - 0 (98)
160. New Century Academy - 0 (150)

Pirates win another entertaining high scoring battle

Prologue
Aaargh Matey!  Its a happy valentines day as I'm off to a former late season tradition of Blaine at Park Center.  Blaine with some youngsters that I wanted to see 1st hand and I haven't seen Park Center in a while.  First game between these 2 was a high scoring 93-85 Blaine win.  What would we get tonight?  We wouldn't see Park Center's Arione Farror who was in street clothes.  We get no real good music, but with tomorrow's USA vs Russia hockey matchup, we only need 1 song. 

Song of the Day
Olympic Theme

Total Beverage Consumption Counter: 1248 ounces  (106 games, 86 days)

• 12 oz 7 Up 
• 20 oz Barq's Root Beer
• 20 oz Mug Root Beer 
• 68 oz Sprite 
• 84 oz Dr Pepper
• 160 oz Red Powerade
• 192 oz Red Gatorade
• 184 oz Coke 
• 508 oz Pepsi

Game Time
Jason Travis with a dunk right off the opening tip set play, then he banks home 1 three and knocks down another.  Soph Kyle Cappard with his second drive to the bucket and its 16-6 Blaine at the 12:58 mark.  Then a big Park Center spurt as Isaiah McKay heats up.  His second bomb of the half cuts the lead to 4.  Isaac Matthews back to back buckets.  Amani Hooker 2 free throws to tie the game at 20.  Hooker with 2 more and a triple and Park Center is up 7.  McKay with a BLOB layup and scores 2 more on a turnover.  That concludes a 30-8 Park Center run in 7 minutes.  It also puts McKay over 1000 points for his career so the game is stopped to give him the game ball.  Travis sits all but the 1st bucket of that run but down 12 he can't sit any longer.  That helps stop the bleeding as Park Center leads 45-36 at half.

Travis backdoor and a Cappard drive to start the half and the lead is down to 5.  Cappard playing point with a big lineup for Blaine.  Park Center sees Matthews take it to the rim for 2, McKay with a steal for 2 free throws, Matthews again and McKay with a cut and gets lost for an easy 2.  63-48 Park Center with 12 minutes left after the 8-0 run.  Travis runs for a layup, McKay with a step back 3, Travis for 3 and McKay for 3, Matthews inside and the lead is 71-53 with 9:35 left.

But there are still plenty of points left in this game.  Travis from somewhere in Andover, Chris Novak with a 3 point play, Travis 4 more and Cappard converts a turnover.  12-4 run makes it 75-65 Park Center with 7:20 left.  McKay 2 free throws and an assist to Matthews.  Novak a pair of buckets but Park Center slicing up the Blaine press.  Hooker with a drive with 3:50 left keeps the lead at 83-71.  Novak with a putback for a 3 point play.  Hooker with a second chance at a 3 point play and then he tips in a missed free throw with 1:42 left for a 91-80 lead.  Blaine 1 last gasp.  Matt Barthels with 2 free throws, Novak with 2 freebies after a turnover, Andy Leo with a block that leads to a Travis 3.  Another Pirate turnover and Travis sticks that back with 40 seconds left and the lead is down to 2.  Blaine strangely chooses not to foul and McKay takes it to the rack for 2 with 17 seconds left.  Blaine turns it over and McKay makes 1 free throw late.  Park Center hangs on 94-89.

Post Game
Blaine falls to 9-15 overall, 6-12 in the NW Suburban.  They've lost 6 in a row.  Great game from Jason Travis with 33 points and 5 bombs from the 6'5" wing.  22 of those points in the 2nd half.  Really enjoyed his game.  Soph Kyle Cappard with 15, Chris Novak with all 15 of his points in the 2nd half.  Blaine has a ton of length but they need somebody to run the show.  Park Center's pressure able to take advantage of that.  Blaine still hoping for a home seed in round 1 of the ugly 7AAAA playoffs but an 87-58 loss to Forest Lake in November may cost them that.

Park Center now 13-10 overall and 8-10 in the NW Suburban.  The Pirates still fighting for home court with Centennial in the 5AAAA playoffs.  Both teams with critical wins over Osseo in the last week.  Isaiah McKay with 5 3s of his own and he also goes off for 33 points.  Sweet shooting from the senior.  Amani Hooker finishes with 28.  Isaac Matthews with 17 of his 24 in the 2nd half.  Rest of Park Center players combine for 9.  The benches combine for a grand total of 7 points in this one.  Coach Bo Powell with a very interesting move in the last 5 minutes putting Matthews out top as a ball handler trying to kill some clock.

Bulldogs clinch MCAA 2nd seed

Prologue
Another venture out to see the small schools as I take in Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity at Bethany in their final MCAA South game of the season.  We get a half court shot contest winner at halftime to add to the entertainment.  No Spencer Radtke for Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity.  I add 20 oz of Red Powerade to the beverage counter but cheat on food with an early dinner on the way.

Song of the Day
Hey Bulldog! - The Beatles

Total Beverage Consumption Counter: 1224 ounces  (105 games, 85 days)

• 12 oz 7 Up 
• 20 oz Barq's Root Beer
• 20 oz Mug Root Beer 
• 68 oz Sprite 
• 84 oz Dr Pepper
• 160 oz Red Powerade
• 192 oz Red Gatorade
• 184 oz Coke 
• 484 oz Pepsi

Game Time
Bethany comes out with a 3-2 zone on defense and a deliberate offense.  While that makes the real time part of the game go quickly, the pace on the scoreboard isn't there.   Lester Prairie's other big piece besides Spencer Radtke, Nick Machemehl, puts back a miss and its 6-4 LP/HT at the 11:40 mark.  ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.   Josh Volness then heating up to try and bust that Bethany zone.  He buries a pair of 3s.  Bethany's top player Sam Hagen buries his 2nd bomb.  12 all at the 5:23 mark.  Then a 12-3 Bulldogs run with a pair of Jordan Radtke buckets, Hagen counters for 3 off of some San Antonio Spurs Hammer action and then Volness with 2 more bombs on his way to 8 in a row to end that run.  All of it with Machemehl sitting the last 7 minutes of the half with 2 fouls.  Hagen keeping up with his 4th bomb but Volness beats the buzzer with his 5th triple of the half.  27-18 Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity up at the half.

Seth Cupersmith back to back jumpers to cut into the lead and Bethany forces a turnover.  33-26 Lester Prairie as Bethany takes the mini-MoKiller timeout with 11:04 left.  Brandon Duffy picks up his 4th foul for LP/HT with 8:54 left and that means somebody else has to guard Hagen.  But Bethany wouldn't get any closer.  Radtke on the offensive glass for 2 free throws.  Machemehl with a pullup and then a layup to push the lead back to 13.  Hagen fouled on a 3 and makes 2 of the 3 to end his scoring line for the night and a Cupersmith jumper get the lead back to 8 but never any danger.  Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity wins 49-35.

Post Game
Bethany falls to 10-13 with the loss.  They finish last in the MCAA South at 2-11.  They'll play PACT at 11 AM Saturday in the 1st game of the MCAA showcase at SW Christian.  Sam Hagen 16 points to lead the Eagles.  But he was off in the 2nd half shooting 1-10 after making 4 3s in the 1st half.  Seth Cupersmith chips in with 14.  2 other players add the other 5.  With Hagen graduating, next year looking pretty bleak.

Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity locks up the second seed in the MCAA South with the win.  They'll play Heritage at 5 PM Saturday at SW Christian in the MCAA Showcase.  Josh Volness with 5 big 3s in the 1st half.  He finishes with 21 points.  Jordan Radtke productive inside as the biggest player on the floor.  He finishes with 12 points.  Off night for Nick Machemehl with only 8 points on 4-16 shooting on my sheet.  The Bulldogs could follow-up that Heritage game with back to back games in a week against Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart.  BLHS is the 7 seed and with a 1st round win would visit LPHT on 2/25 in the 2 vs 7 game in section 2A north.

Centaurs win big conference seeding game

Prologue
Final game of the Tri-Metro regular season schedule before their tournament is St. Croix Lutheran at Brooklyn Center.  The Centaurs move to 3 with a win and fall to 7 with a loss thanks to tiebreakers.  St. Croix Lutheran also fighting for a seed.  3rd game in 3 days for the Crusaders.  A pair of bad officials do one of the worst jobs I'll see all season.  We start to get great music just before tip and after 5 seconds it gets chopped off.  BOO!

Song of the Day
Cuts Like a Knife - Bryan Adams

Total Beverage Consumption Counter: 1204 ounces  (104 games, 84 days)

• 12 oz 7 Up 
• 20 oz Barq's Root Beer
• 20 oz Mug Root Beer 
• 68 oz Sprite 
• 84 oz Dr Pepper
• 140 oz Red Powerade
• 192 oz Red Gatorade
• 184 oz Coke 
• 484 oz Pepsi

Game Time
St Croix Lutheran going with a very young roster.  Soph Aage Rovney was 1 of 5 sophs to play for the Crusaders tonight.  He buries a pair of 3s off inside out feeds from post Trenton Krueger and we're tied at 10 at the 11:30 mark.  But they would go ice cold after that.  Only 2 more field goals during the half.  Add in sloppy play with turnovers and it does amount to a Brooklyn Center spurt.  Tedkye Clark comes off the bench because of Senior night.  He scores a couple of early buckets in the run and then closes it with back to back buckets.  The run is 16-2 before a late Rovney bucket.  26-14 Brooklyn Center at the half.  St. Croix Lutheran 6-31 from the floor with 12 turnovers.

The 2nd half just gets worse for the Crusaders.  Clark runs for a layup to start the half and puts back a miss with 12:45 left.  32-17 Brooklyn Center at that point.  Rovney with a 3 and a pull up to break the drought.  3 field goals for the Crusaders in a 17 minute stretch.  Somehow with the cold shooting and 18 turnovers they're within 34-22 with 11:25 left.  Krueger picks up his 4th foul with 10:08 left in another turnover scrum and has to sit.  The Centaurs take a turnover for a bucket and Clark goes coast to coast twice.  Once for a bucket and then for 1-2 free throws.  42-22 Centaurs with 8:36 left.  But the big lead bugaboo returns.  They lost to Concordia after leading by 14 with 4 minutes left.  St. Croix Lutheran promptly goes on a 9-2 run, a major outburst on this night, and cuts the lead to 44-31 with 6:57 left.

Krueger returns to the lineup to make a final push.  Clark restores order with back to back baskets.  Krueger with bonus free throws and a block for a Rovney pullup.  Then Krueger puts back a free throw miss.  Lead is down to 48-37 with 4:40 to play.  Turnovers traded and the Crusaders miss a pair of free throws.  Brooklyn Center holds for the last 2:30 and there's not enough time for a comeback.  Brooklyn Center wins 52-41.

Post Game
St. Croix Lutheran with no answer for the 2-1-2 press and athleticism of Brooklyn Center.  30 turnovers on the night just won't do it.  3 games in 3 nights definitely showed but lots of ball toughness issues here too.  Sophs Aage Rovney and Trenton Krueger with 19 and 12 points respectively to lead the Crusaders.  Ade Lamu help to 1 point and no field goals.   They did get some good inside out action with Krueger and Rovney early but little after that.  They Crusaders had won 5 in a row coming in after losing 5 in a row.  Their record is now 13-10 and they end up 5-5 in the Tri-Metro.  They get the 7 seed in the league tourney as they lose the head-head tie breaker with Concordia.  That gives them a very winnable pair of games.

Brooklyn Center gets 27 points from Tedyke Clark and 11 from Sammy Watkins.  The Centaurs pushed the ball on offense and moved it reasonably well.  Its a style that teams in the league don't see so it can be difficult.  Expect seeding for them in 5AA South to be very interesting.  HLWW will get the top seed but after that Watertown-Mayer and Breck will make good cases to be ahead of them despite a higher QRF for the Centaurs.  Brooklyn Center now 12-7 and they finish 6-4 in the Tri-Metro.  That's a tie for 3rd with Blake and Minnehaha.  They get the 3 seed in the league tourney since they beat both during the regular season.  Blake gets the meaningless 4 seed due to their head-head win over Minnehaha.


Tri-Metro Tourney Brackets
Opening round on Fri
Round 2 on Tuesday
Round 3 and championship next Friday

All games are played at the site of the team who did not host the regular season meeting.  That's why the top 2 seeds open on the road.

Friday games
#1 De La Salle at #8 St. Paul Academy (DLS 85-47 on Tuesday)
#5 Minnehaha at #4 Blake  (Blake 62-52)
#6 Concordia at #3 Brooklyn Center (Concordia won 78-76)
#2 Breck at #7 St. Croix Lutheran (SCL won 71-67 at Breck on Monday)

Friendship Round Robin Division
Friday 
#12 Mounds Park Academy at #9 Providence
#10 St. Anthony at #11 St. Agnes

Tuesday
#11 St. Agnes at #9 Providence
#10 St. Anthony at #12 Mounds Park Academy

Friday
#10 St. Anthony at #9 Providence
#12 Mounds Park Academy at #11 St. Agnes

Royals grind out tough road win

Prologue
A high-quality matchup as #2AAAA Hopkins visits #3AAAA Osseo in a non-conference showdown.  I miss out on the sausage pizza but a couple slices of cheese does the waistline well with the usual 20 oz of Red Gatorade.  While the media pinheads were out in full force, what a dismal showing by both sides of fans.  Though I will give the Osseo students a little credit for the "Brother's Shadow" chants at Kamali Chambers.  John Lithgow working the game and gets his share of bad calls in and boos from the crowd.  Ian Theisen still out for Osseo.  No Stephon Sharp for Hopkins.

Song of the Day
Soldier of Love - Sade

Total Beverage Consumption Counter: 1192 ounces  (103 games, 82 days)

• 12 oz 7 Up 
• 20 oz Barq's Root Beer
• 20 oz Mug Root Beer 
• 68 oz Sprite 
• 84 oz Dr Pepper
• 140 oz Red Powerade
• 180 oz Red Gatorade
• 184 oz Coke 
• 484 oz Pepsi

Game Time
John Warren with a pair of blocks on Wheeler Baker plus he knocks down 3 bombs of his own.  17-15 Hopkins at the 10:35 mark.  Baker with 9 of his own at that point via a 3 and a pair of drives.  Hopkins pulls out their 2-3 zone again and Osseo promptly grabs a couple of offensive rebounds against it.  Baker with 5 in a row as Osseo opens a 26-23 lead inside of 6 minutes left in the half.  But he won't score again in the half.  Jake Wright drives for 2 and knocks down a transition 3 to put Hopkins back on top.  Amir Coffey buries a 3 for the last points of the half.  35-34 Hopkins at the break.

Jordan Dembley out of the post against Chambers to Giovanni Pastrano for a layup, then a Dembley putback.  Then Baker to Connor Kittleson for another bunny.  45-42 Osseo with 13 minutes left.  Amir Coffey drives for a 3 point play and converts a turnover for 2 more to put Hopkins back on top.  Noble Fahnbulleh giving Hopkins good minutes out of the post.  He takes a turnover for 2 free throws and a Chambers 3 point play concludes a 12-4 Hopkins run.  54-49 Hopkins as Osseo takes time with 9:03 left.

Baker in the post for 2 and a 3 point play and the lead is down to 3.  Then a pair of short jumpers from Baker cuts the lead to 61-60 with 6:15 left.  Hopkins takes timeout with 5:57 left and responds with a 7-0 run.  Jake Wright just had a tough 2 and off the dribble handoff banks home a straight away 3. Warren puts back a miss and Fahnbulleh scores and is fouled.  68-60 Hopkins with 4:49 left.  Baker scores to cut the lead to 4 with 3:33 left.  Hopkins able to kill some time after they grab the offensive board of a missed free throw with 2:29 left.  Baker counters a pair of free throws from Chambers to cut the Hopkins lead to 71-68 with 1:16 left.  Hopkins holds and Chambers gets whacked in the lane, no call.  Osseo comes back the other way and gives it back before getting set.  Osseo has to foul and its Dembley fouling out with 40.5 left.  Coffey misses both and Osseo still has life.  They take time to setup a play with 27.1 seconds left.  Hopkins goes strong after Baker and Osseo turns it over.  Edwards takes that for a dagger bucket.  Osseo turns it over again for the final Hopkins point.  Baker banks in a long 3 at the buzzer for the final margin.  Hopkins wins 74-71.

Post Game
Osseo has now dropped 3 straight games after winning 11 in a row.   Wheeler Baker doesn't shoot it great (14-31 give or take on my sheet) but still ends up with 36 points, 20 of those in the 2nd half.  He also added a handful of rebounds.  Jordan Dembley chips in with 16 points.  3 plays in the last 2:30 where Osseo turns it over or doesn't get a rebound.  Osseo almost certainly locked into the 2 seed now in 5AAAA.  They'll likely get Wayzata in the 1st round before a possible rivalry matchup with Maple Grove in the semis.  I thought Osseo would go to even more of Dembley vs Chambers in the post to take advantage of the size.

Hopkins continues to roll with their 16th straight win.  They're now 21-1.  They host Minnetonka in a big rivalry game on Friday night.  5 of the 6 members of the rotation reach double figures.  Amir Coffey and John Warren with 17 each.  Jake Wright with 15, Kamali Chambers 11.  Noble Fahnbulleh with 12 off the bench in quality minutes playing the middle in place of Stephon Sharp. Not as much of the 2-3 zone tonight but it was shown.  It'll be interesting to see how much we see of it the rest of the season.  The defense still isn't the Hopkins defense we're used to seeing on a yearly basis.

Panthers squeak by east side foe

Its off to the east side of St. Paul for a matchup between the hosts Community of Peace and Mounds Park Academy.  My first time at Community of Peace.   Tons of peaceful words on the walls and a tiny set of bleachers on 1 side.  But both sides got into for this close one, including the benches leading the cheers.  While these aren't the 2 most talented teams, a spirited battle with passionate fans in a tiny gym is always a nice little gem to have on the schedule.

Mark Miller with a pair of buckets in a 10-0 Mounds Park run.  That gives the Panthers a 12-4 lead at the 12:30 mark.  Soph Marquez Perry 6 straight Tigers points to pull CPA within 20-13 at the 5 minute mark.  Frosh Edward Milton picks up from there with a putback and a 3.  MPA frosh Brendan Connolly with an effective half as well.  Mounds Park takes a 27-24 lead to the half.

The teams trade buckets to start the half before a 7-0 run thanks to soph Cole Montour scoring the 1st 4 and then a Connolly bomb.  36-26 MPA just over 2 minutes into the second half.  CPA would hang around thanks to the play of senior J'Son Freeman.  He scores 7 straight CPA points slashing to the rim and getting to the foul line.  Perry buries a 3 to tie and then scores again for the lead.  Freeman ends the run with a free throw.  45-42 CPA with 5:46 left after a 13-1 run.  Mounds Park Academy counters with a big triple and Miller ends the 8-0 run with an offensive board for a free throw.  50-45 MPA with 2:53 left.

Perry misses a front end but Freeman grabs that and makes 2 free throws.  MPA misses with 2 minutes left.  Perry fouled and misses another front end but Freeman cleans up it again.  50-49 MPA with 1:46 left.  MPA turns it over on their possession and Freeman grabs his own miss and makes 2 free throws for the lead with 1:16 left.  MPA scores with a minute left and they're up 1.  After a CPA timeout, Perry drives for 2 and CPA is back on top.  Miller sticks back a miss with 25 seconds left to put MPA up.  Perry speeds back the other way and is called for the charge with 17.4 left.  MPA gets away with a walk on the possession but Miller misses the front end with 11.3 left.  CPA gets 1 last chance.  They attack the basket but the shot is no good with 2 seconds left and time runs out.  Mounds Park Academy hangs on for a 54-53 win.

Great work by the fans on both sides with the defense chants whenever their team had to get a stop during the frenetic last 2 minutes of play.  J'Shon Freeman carried the 2nd half offense and soph Marquez Perry went for right around 20.  Freeman with all but 2 of his points in the 2nd half.  Frosh Brendan Connolly is a nice shooting lefty for Mounds Park.  The Panthers play a super young lineup (1 senior with all sophs and 1 frosh).  Senior Mark Miller leads the Panthers with a well-rounded outing 13 pts, 7 rebs, 8 ast and 5 steals on the Mounds Park stat sheet.  Smart move by coach Hartman late to go 4 low and let him create their offense.

February 9, 2014 CzarPI

This is the 5th CzarPI of the 2013-14 season (see CzarPI Explained here). It includes games through Saturday, February 8th, 2014. The value in () after the CzarPI value is the team's strength of schedule ranking within their class

Class AAAA

1. Hopkins - 63.72 (3)
2. Apple Valley - 62.66 (9)
3. Champlin Park - 59.61 (26)
4. Shakopee - 59.43 (5)
5. Eden Prairie - 58.65 (2)
6. Lakeville North - 58.5 (11)
7. St. Cloud Tech - 57.6 (42)
8. Osseo - 57.36 (18)
9. Cretin-Derham Hall - 57.34 (40)
10. Robbinsdale Armstrong - 55.97 (16)
11. Chanhassen - 55.91 (30)
12. Buffalo - 55.23 (38)
13. Minnetonka - 54.62 (6)
14. Rosemount - 54.07 (14)
15. East Ridge - 53.97 (57)
16. Mounds View - 53.63 (51)
17. St. Francis - 53.49 (56)
18. Elk River - 53.37 (48)
19. Bloomington Kennedy - 53.25 (4)
20. Chaska - 53.14 (36)
21. Rochester John Marshall - 52.93 (60)
22. Maple Grove - 52.87 (20)
23. Woodbury - 52.68 (22)
24. Tartan - 52.57 (62)
25. Prior Lake - 52.23 (7)
26. Bloomington Jefferson - 52 (31)
27. Farmington - 51.79 (46)
28. Edina - 50.56 (17)
29. St. Michael-Albertville - 50.32 (21)
30. Park Center - 50.29 (27)
31. Lakeville South - 49.95 (1)
32. Brainerd - 49.55 (54)
33. Moorhead - 49.15 (23)
34. Henry Sibley - 48.73 (45)
35. Roseville - 47.67 (33)
36. Andover - 47.67 (13)
37. Centennial - 47.15 (29)
38. Eagan - 46.98 (15)
39. Burnsville - 46.56 (8)
40. Cambridge-Isanti - 46.28 (64)
41. Minneapolis South - 46.06 (50)
42. White Bear Lake - 45.93 (24)
43. Stillwater Area - 45.26 (19)
44. Wayzata - 44.64 (25)
45. Rochester Century - 44.43 (52)
46. Mahtomedi - 44.36 (53)
47. Minneapolis Southwest - 43.99 (59)
48. Northfield - 43.86 (34)
49. Owatonna - 42.93 (41)
50. Robbinsdale Cooper - 42.46 (12)
51. Rogers - 42.04 (61)
52. Blaine - 41.69 (55)
53. Rochester Mayo - 41 (39)
54. Eastview - 39.63 (10)
55. North St. Paul - 36.27 (63)
56. Forest Lake - 36.21 (44)
57. Hastings - 32.87 (43)
58. Bemidji - 32.37 (28)
59. Duluth East - 31.1 (47)
60. Anoka - 28.28 (32)
61. Park of Cottage Grove - 25.8 (49)
62. Coon Rapids - 19.7 (37)
63. St. Louis Park - 18.76 (35)
64. Irondale - 18.07 (58)

Class AAA

1. Holy Family Catholic - 58.93 (19)
2. Austin - 58.14 (14)
3. Marshall - 57.77 (17)
4. DeLaSalle - 56.79 (9)
5. St. Paul Johnson - 56.09 (54)
6. Thief River Falls - 55.51 (53)
7. Albany - 54.72 (44)
8. Orono - 54.28 (8)
9. Waconia - 53.8 (7)
10. Totino-Grace - 53.46 (52)
11. Cloquet - 53.23 (60)
12. Red Wing - 53.18 (12)
13. Big Lake - 53.05 (24)
14. Detroit Lakes - 52.29 (36)
15. Kasson-Mantorville - 51.9 (38)
16. Hermantown - 51.71 (16)
17. St. Thomas Academy - 51.65 (49)
18. Willmar - 51.6 (46)
19. Grand Rapids - 51.48 (23)
20. Sartell-St. Stephen - 51.24 (4)
21. Minneapolis Washburn - 51.03 (26)
22. Delano - 50.34 (55)
23. St. Paul Central - 50.2 (58)
24. Mankato West - 49.89 (35)
25. St. Cloud Apollo - 49.54 (31)
26. Hill-Murray - 49.32 (45)
27. Columbia Heights - 49.25 (62)
28. Alexandria - 48.95 (43)
29. Stewartville - 48.83 (40)
30. Winona - 48.57 (37)
31. Benilde-St. Margaret's - 47.83 (47)
32. Fergus Falls - 47.75 (21)
33. Simley - 47.53 (61)
34. Fridley - 47.27 (64)
35. Hibbing - 46.96 (28)
36. New Prague - 46.94 (1)
37. Zimmerman - 46.28 (33)
38. Monticello - 45.88 (39)
39. Spring Lake Park - 45.87 (15)
40. Holy Angels - 45.73 (2)
41. Mankato East - 45.59 (27)
42. St. Paul Como Park - 44.25 (25)
43. Chisago Lakes Area - 44.08 (30)
44. Blake - 43.19 (32)
45. Becker - 43.06 (51)
46. Hutchinson - 42.63 (3)
47. Worthington - 42.31 (11)
48. Little Falls - 41.9 (59)
49. Minneapolis Henry - 41.22 (20)
50. Mound-Westonka - 40.23 (5)
51. North Branch - 39.77 (34)
52. Princeton - 38.96 (29)
53. St. Paul Highland Park - 38.93 (56)
54. Albert Lea - 38.54 (22)
55. Dassel-Cokato - 34.5 (48)
56. St. Anthony Village - 33.81 (50)
57. New Ulm - 33.65 (10)
58. Duluth Denfeld - 33.3 (41)
59. St. Paul Harding - 31.15 (57)
60. South St. Paul - 25.95 (63)
61. Faribault - 25.19 (42)
62. Richfield - 20.11 (13)
63. Rocori - 0 (6)
64. Sauk Rapids-Rice - 0 (18)

Class AA

1. Waseca - 58.99 (20)
2. Caledonia - 58.16 (52)
3. Fairmont - 56.75 (34)
4. Crosby-Ironton - 56.67 (39)
5. Mayer Lutheran - 55.94 (40)
6. St. Cloud Cathedral - 55.42 (28)
7. Perham - 54.8 (12)
8. Barnum - 54.67 (104)
9. Hayfield - 54.49 (74)
10. Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted - 54.2 (48)
11. Pelican Rapids - 54.15 (31)
12. Belle Plaine - 54.14 (9)
13. Barnesville - 53.77 (66)
14. Esko - 53.68 (103)
15. Annandale - 53.67 (14)
16. New Life Academy - 53.35 (113)
17. St. James Area - 53.32 (60)
18. Plainview-Elgin-Millville - 53.21 (76)
19. Redwood Valley - 53 (75)
20. Byron - 52.84 (56)
21. Braham - 52.75 (100)
22. East Grand Forks - 52.65 (53)
23. Virginia - 52.16 (99)
24. New Richland-H-E-G - 51.98 (78)
25. Cannon Falls - 51.79 (41)
26. Jordan - 51.58 (5)
27. Chatfield - 51.49 (32)
28. Crookston - 51.47 (81)
29. Sauk Centre - 51.45 (64)
30. Minnehaha Academy - 50.93 (17)
31. New London-Spicer - 50.43 (21)
32. Jackson County Central - 50.39 (25)
33. Moose Lake-Willow River - 50.38 (57)
34. Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial - 50.29 (97)
35. St. Paul Academy - 50.26 (111)
36. Rochester Lourdes - 50.21 (42)
37. Montevideo - 50.04 (50)
38. St. Charles - 49.92 (82)
39. Waterville-Elysian-Morristown - 49.88 (73)
40. Eden Valley-Watkins - 49.87 (67)
41. Melrose - 49.4 (91)
42. Minneota/Lincoln HI - 49.36 (119)
43. Concordia Academy-Roseville - 48.99 (88)
44. Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop - 48.75 (117)
45. Hawley - 48.59 (6)
46. Providence Academy - 48.5 (71)
47. LeSueur-Henderson - 48.15 (94)
48. Watertown-Mayer - 48.11 (54)
49. St. Croix Lutheran - 48.02 (51)
50. Park Rapids Area - 47.78 (93)
51. Glencoe-Silver Lake - 47.71 (62)
52. International Falls - 47.5 (55)
53. Brooklyn Center - 47.03 (107)
54. Maple River - 46.98 (18)
55. Tri-City United - 46.94 (15)
56. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle - 46.52 (38)
57. Norwood-Young America - 46.43 (45)
58. St. Peter - 46.42 (1)
59. Martin County West - 46.39 (72)
60. La Crescent - 46.35 (7)
61. Lake City - 46.22 (98)
62. BOLD - 46 (96)
63. Maple Lake - 45.79 (84)
64. Minnewaska Area - 45.76 (44)
65. Breck - 45.68 (49)
66. Rockford - 45.54 (23)
67. Mora - 45.39 (69)
68. Staples-Motley - 45.27 (36)
69. Milaca - 45.14 (116)
70. Tracy-Milroy-Balaton - 45.09 (59)
71. Proctor - 44.72 (37)
72. Hinckley-Finlayson - 44.7 (110)
73. Paynesville Area - 44.7 (61)
74. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton - 44.55 (4)
75. Blue Earth Area - 44.49 (2)
76. Pine City - 44.38 (105)
77. Pipestone Area - 44.37 (3)
78. St. John's Prep - 44.26 (95)
79. St. Paul Prep - 44.11 (129)
80. Dover-Eyota - 43.78 (35)
81. Eveleth-Gilbert - 43.45 (92)
82. Winona Cotter - 43.44 (85)
83. Litchfield - 43.32 (8)
84. Pine Island - 43 (77)
85. International School of MN - 42.89 (127)
86. Two Harbors - 42.74 (114)
87. Sibley East - 42.47 (27)
88. Breckenridge - 42.47 (11)
89. Aitkin - 42.22 (112)
90. Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta - 41.85 (22)
91. Minneapolis Edison - 41.77 (101)
92. Benson - 41.3 (118)
93. Prairie Seeds Academy - 41.27 (123)
94. St. Croix Prep - 41.18 (122)
95. Trinity School - 40.4 (80)
96. Minneapolis Roosevelt - 40.28 (29)
97. Windom Area - 40.26 (19)
98. Rush City - 40.19 (109)
99. Pillager - 40.09 (106)
100. Pequot Lakes - 40.06 (83)
101. Frazee - 39.41 (24)
102. Spectrum - 39.32 (124)
103. Roseau - 39.19 (87)
104. Foley - 38.57 (16)
105. Great River - 38.16 (128)
106. Zumbrota-Mazeppa - 37.79 (65)
107. Duluth Marshall - 37.31 (89)
108. St. Paul Washington - 36.76 (125)
109. Mesabi East - 36 (26)
110. Mounds Park Academy - 35.45 (126)
111. Osakis - 34.43 (47)
112. Pierz - 34.33 (58)
113. Lewiston-Altura - 34.24 (10)
114. St. Paul Humboldt - 33.36 (86)
115. Holdingford - 32.5 (33)
116. Bagley - 32.35 (68)
117. Lac qui Parle Valley - 31.41 (108)
118. Wadena-Deer Creek - 31.24 (70)
119. St. Agnes - 30.33 (102)
120. Deer River - 29.31 (46)
121. Luverne - 29.2 (13)
122. Triton - 29.19 (90)
123. Yellow Medicine East - 28.86 (79)
124. Badger/Greenbush-Middle River - 27.97 (115)
125. FAIR School - 24.92 (120)
126. Medford - 24.32 (30)
127. Greenway - 23.55 (121)
128. Warroad - 23.08 (43)
129. Hmong Academy - 22.13 (130)
130. Kenyon-Wanamingo - 0 (63)

Class A

1. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa - 58.7 (16)
2. Battle Lake - 56.95 (92)
3. Rushford-Peterson - 56.4 (49)
4. Dawson-Boyd - 56.27 (109)
5. Upsala - 56.09 (34)
6. Maranatha Christian - 55.77 (51)
7. Wheaton/Herman-Norcross - 55.67 (31)
8. Ely - 54.77 (121)
9. Southwest MN Christian - 53.83 (115)
10. United South Central - 53.69 (38)
11. Red Lake - 53.58 (2)
12. Walker-Hackensack-Akeley - 52.95 (90)
13. Browerville - 52.84 (13)
14. Fertile-Beltrami - 52.82 (71)
15. Northern Freeze - 52.73 (80)
16. Heritage Christian - 52.6 (24)
17. Mountain Lake Area - 52.42 (130)
18. Fond du Lac Ojibwe - 52.31 (111)
19. Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City - 51.83 (55)
20. Canby - 51.54 (102)
21. St. Clair - 51.52 (95)
22. Bigfork - 51.45 (104)
23. Fosston - 51.06 (116)
24. South Ridge - 50.96 (118)
25. Hillcrest Lutheran Academy - 50.96 (79)
26. Cass Lake-Bena - 50.67 (86)
27. Park Christian - 50.66 (97)
28. Chisholm - 50.36 (29)
29. Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity - 50.35 (12)
30. Spring Grove - 50.33 (140)
31. Floodwood - 49.79 (67)
32. West Central Area - 49.36 (76)
33. Sleepy Eye Saint Mary's - 49.11 (114)
34. Ada-Borup - 48.8 (28)
35. Southwest Christian - 48.28 (22)
36. Warren-Alvarado-Oslo - 48.09 (63)
37. Central MN Christian - 47.74 (83)
38. Minneapolis North - 47.73 (18)
39. Ellsworth - 47.48 (117)
40. Verndale - 47.3 (144)
41. Mountain Iron-Buhl - 46.97 (68)
42. Russell-Tyler-Ruthton - 46.94 (75)
43. Bethlehem Academy - 46.94 (39)
44. Cedar Mountain/Comfrey - 46.68 (84)
45. Menahga - 46.61 (139)
46. Stephen-Argyle - 46.59 (119)
47. Goodhue - 46.32 (78)
48. Mankato Loyola - 46.31 (48)
49. Blackduck - 46.14 (60)
50. Blooming Prairie - 45.95 (54)
51. Lanesboro - 45.92 (145)
52. Henning - 45.91 (66)
53. North Woods - 45.76 (8)
54. Northome/Kelliher - 45.7 (127)
55. Ashby - 45.61 (19)
56. Kimball Area - 45.55 (93)
57. Ortonville - 45.48 (46)
58. Swanville - 45.47 (70)
59. West Lutheran - 45.06 (40)
60. Kittson County Central - 44.9 (47)
61. Springfield - 44.57 (27)
62. Christian Life School - 44.45 (154)
63. Win-E-Mac - 43.93 (36)
64. Wabasso - 43.63 (133)
65. Southwest United - 43.63 (96)
66. Minnesota Valley Lutheran - 42.78 (25)
67. Minnesota Transitions Charter - 42.72 (136)
68. Legacy Christian - 42.58 (42)
69. Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart - 42.55 (103)
70. Waubun - 42.37 (110)
71. Mahnomen - 42.29 (61)
72. Nevis - 42.26 (94)
73. Mabel-Canton - 41.79 (122)
74. Bethany Academy - 41.41 (113)
75. Wrenshall - 41.3 (56)
76. Lake Park-Audubon - 41.05 (105)
77. Goodridge/Grygla - 40.95 (123)
78. Cherry - 40.54 (20)
79. Sleepy Eye - 40.52 (107)
80. Cristo Rey Jesuit - 40.48 (135)
81. Liberty Classical Academy - 40.48 (157)
82. MACCRAY - 40.37 (9)
83. Fillmore Central - 40.24 (11)
84. Granada-Huntley-East Chain - 39.85 (23)
85. Truman/Martin Luther - 39.8 (82)
86. Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley - 39.76 (7)
87. Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton - 39.74 (41)
88. New Ulm Cathedral - 39.51 (108)
89. NCE/U-H - 38.71 (53)
90. East Central - 38.53 (126)
91. Onamia - 38.39 (112)
92. Isle - 38.21 (129)
93. Schaeffer Academy - 38.16 (137)
94. Grand Meadow - 38.15 (132)
95. Kingsland - 38.12 (10)
96. Hope Lutheran - 38.02 (138)
97. CHOF - 38.02 (146)
98. New York Mills - 37.95 (65)
99. Littlefork-Big Falls - 37.6 (64)
100. Nicollet - 37.28 (128)
101. Hills-Beaver Creek - 37.18 (72)
102. Murray County Central - 36.55 (58)
103. Houston - 36.22 (89)
104. Red Lake County - 36.2 (77)
105. Glenville-Emmons - 35.47 (150)
106. Randolph - 35.46 (33)
107. Hill City - 35.42 (98)
108. Madelia - 35.35 (59)
109. PACT Charter - 35.11 (99)
110. Wabasha-Kellogg - 35.01 (15)
111. Westbrook-Walnut Grove - 34.96 (134)
112. MN Academy for the Deaf - 34.8 (158)
113. Underwood - 34.55 (1)
114. Lakeview Christian - 34.47 (5)
115. Lyle/Austin Pacelli - 34.46 (147)
116. Parkers Prairie - 34.36 (17)
117. North Lakes Academy - 33.51 (153)
118. Lakeview - 33.49 (44)
119. Nashwauk-Keewatin - 33.08 (143)
120. Nova Classical Academy - 32.31 (148)
121. Cook County - 32.23 (100)
122. Bertha-Hewitt - 32.22 (85)
123. Laporte - 31.7 (30)
124. Northland - 31.59 (120)
125. Southland - 30.93 (6)
126. Cromwell - 30.85 (45)
127. Rothsay - 30.85 (14)
128. Brandon/Evansville - 30.63 (50)
129. Community of Peace Academy - 29.89 (151)
130. Climax/Fisher - 29.53 (74)
131. McGregor - 29.2 (141)
132. Clearbrook-Gonvick - 28.72 (21)
133. Cleveland - 28.39 (124)
134. Carlton - 28 (26)
135. Pine River-Backus - 26.81 (3)
136. Sebeka - 26.73 (88)
137. Adrian - 26.03 (81)
138. Calvin Christian - 25.84 (156)
139. Sacred Heart - 25.55 (73)
140. Hope Academy - 24.57 (155)
141. Learning for Leadership - 24.49 (62)
142. Norman County West - 24.35 (125)
143. Alden-Conger - 23.99 (142)
144. Academy for Sciences & Ag - 23.62 (152)
145. St. Cloud Christian - 23.56 (159)
146. Mesabi Academy - 22.57 (87)
147. Renville County West - 22.22 (91)
148. Royalton - 22.22 (37)
149. Hancock - 20 (4)
150. Edgerton - 18.81 (106)
151. Fulda - 18.5 (101)
152. Red Rock Central - 16.36 (52)
153. Northeast Range - 15.83 (32)
154. Silver Bay - 15.83 (43)
155. Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig - 0 (160)
156. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg - 0 (35)
157. Ogilvie - 0 (57)
158. Lake of the Woods - 0 (69)
159. LeRoy-Ostrander - 0 (131)
160. New Century Academy - 0 (149)