Weekly 360 Windmill - Dec 7 2015

Its the Weekly 360 Windmill.  Time to look back on the week that was and look ahead to the 2nd complete week of games in the 2015-16 season.

Week 3 Review

• St. Paul Central with a couple of very nice wins over #7AA SPA and #9AAA Orono.  They did that without their 2nd best guy Jack Beckman.  Did not see that coming after I saw Delano beat them soundly before Thanksgiving.  
• Condolences to Johnson coach Vern Simmons on the loss of his wife due to cancer.  Johnson lost to Woodbury and Milwaukee Washington and had their non-conference game vs CDH postponed last week.
• Chaska with a major statement going into Lakeville North and knocking off the Panthers 71-68 on Thursday.
• What is going on with Eden Prairie?  Buzzer beater loss to Burnsville a week ago and then a late loss to Eastview, both of those at home.  Very surprising for a team that many thought was top 5 caliber.  Normally you'd say get EP early because of football, but remember this was the 1st time in forever that they didn't have a football game in November.  
• Tartan with a shocking 70-68 loss to Richfield last Friday.  I would not want to be South St. Paul on Tuesday.  
• Mounds View 4-0 against a soft schedule.  They started league play with a win on Friday.
• Forest Lake with a win vs Stillwater on Friday that surprised me.   
• Heritage's 70-54 home win over Maranatha broke a 49 game regular season MCAA game winning for the Mustangs.  Last Maranatha regular season league loss was 68-67 to West Lutheran on Jan 10, 2012.  The last time that they had lost a true road game in any MCAA play?  December 19, 2008 at Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity.

Week 4 Look Ahead

• Speaking of Forest Lake and Mounds View, they'll meet at Forest Lake on Friday.  Teams fighting to figure out who belongs where in the Suburban East standings.
• St. Croix Lutheran continues their insane stretch of games with a trip to #1A North on Tuesday, at #7AA St. Paul Academy on Thursday and vs #3AA Braham in the 2nd game in the main gym at the Breakdown Tip-Off Classic.
• #2A Central Minnesota Christian is in town for the weekend.  They'll take on 2 of the best in the MCAA.  Friday night they are at SW Christian and Saturday afternoon at previously ranked Heritage.
• Tuesday conference games that catch my eye
• SW Christian at Trinity for an early advantage in the MCAA South
• Blaine at Osseo in a NW Suburban cross-division matchup
• Woodbury at Cretin-Derham Hall.  Woodbury has won 4 in row including their last 2 over section opponents that I picked them to finish behind.  Sleeper gamer here as Woodbury has a lot coming back from last year.
• Thursday has a big 6AAA showdown with Benilde-St. Margaret's visiting #9AAA Orono.  BSM picked up an important section win over Waconia on Saturday.  Another win over a top level section opponent would be huge.
• Thursday conference games that catch my eye
• #3AAA Henry is at Washburn with both teams at 2-0 in league play.  They are trying to keep pace with North in the Minneapolis City.
• Osseo at Park Center.  This rivalry game is a different kind of test for this Osseo team looking to jump back to their elite ways.
• Friday's very early opening night in the Lake Conference kicks off with a bang as #2AAAA Hopkins visits #8AAAA Wayzata.  Vinnie Shahid guarding Johnny Beeninga and how does Wayzata guard Amir Coffey are 2 things to look for.
• I'll be at Johnson for their 1st showcase of the month.  In the early game at 6:45 PM, Atascoctia (TX) and Purdue commit Carsen Edwards (#134 nationally per Rivals.com) take on #1AAA De La Salle.  That is followed by Milwaukee King and Michigan commit Jordan Poole vs #10 AAA Johnson in the late game. King is ranked #3 preseason in Wisconsin's largest class and they are off to a 3-0 start with Poole putting up over 23 a night.  Poole is the 2nd ranked junior in Wisconsin and #104 nationally per Rivals.com.
• Saturday is the Breakdown Tip-Off Classic.  Loaded as always.  I'll post my preview Wednesday night.