A Look Ahead to Week #11

My goodness, can it really be week #11 of this girls basketball season? We’re almost teenagers. We’ve grown so fast. Where did the time go. And, so, this week, there’s not quite the glut of top 20 vs. top 20 games that we’ve had the past few weeks, but there’s still plenty to fill out this dance card. The rankings shown are from last week. Brett’s new rankings in A and AA, and mine in AAA and AAAA are not quite ready yet as I write this. But, you get the idea. Monday January 30 #7AA Norwood Young America at unranked Eden Valley-Watkins 7:15 p.m. OK, this does not feature 2 ranked teams, but Eden Valley-Watkins is 15-2 and has a serious chance of ending undefeated NYA’s 17-game winning streak. I am sure we had EVW rated in our top 20 earlier this year. Maybe they dropped out after their 2nd loss, to Class A Mayer Lutheran on December 23. But then came a surprise win over Watertown-Mayer followed immediately with a win over a solid Kimball team—2 wins that have now snow-balled into 9 straight. Meanwhile NYA has beaten Class AAA New Ulm and Class AAAA Mpls. South and Cretin-DH in its 17-0 start. Our pick: Eden Valley-Watkins 55 Norwood Young America 54. #5A Cromwell at #17AA Two Harbors 7:15 p.m. Something’s gotta give here in a matchup of 2 teams that are both undefeated in the Polar League. But Cromwell is 14-2 overall and has lost only to 2 #1s, Mountain Iron-Buhl and Roseau. Two Harbors, after starting 11-0, has lost 3 of 5 including shockers to Eveleth-Gilbert and Proctor. Ayla Lemke scored 33 for Two Harbors in the loss. She is averaging 24-9-4-3-2. Cromwell had 5 players averaging in double figures earlier this year, though their stats haven’t been kept up on the Hub. Our pick: Cromwell 59 Two Harbors 54. Tuesday January 31 #13AAAA Minnetonka at #1AAAA Hopkins 7 p.m. After starting 1-4, Tonka had won 9 in a row before losing to Wayzata last week 68-59. Megan Walker, Kayla Mershon and Katey Brattland are all averaging in double figures. Meanwhile, Hopkins in 19-0 with almost a 30-point average point margin. Paige Bueckers, Ranea Suggs and Dlayla Chakolis average in double figures for Hopkins. Our pick: Hopkins 69 Minnetonka 52. #3A Goodhue at #5AAA Kasson-Mantorville 7:15 p.m. Kristin Scott has been on a tear for the KoMets of late, scoring her 2,000th point and 41 the other night. The KoMets are 9-0 in the Hiawatha Valley Conference Gold while Goodhue is 8-1 in the Blue. Another loss could keep the defending state champions out of the conference final. Our pick: KM 63 Goodhue 59. #8A Cedar Mountain-Comfrey at #9A Mankato Loyola 7:30 p.m. Loyola is 15-2, CMC 13-3 going into this non-conference battle. Lindsey Theuninck is our current player of the week after a 51-point outburst last week. CMC was 12-1 with a loss only to Class AAA New Ulm before losing to GFW and Springfield last week. Our pick: Mankato Loyola 69 CMC 58. #16AA St. Peter at #11A Mayer Lutheran 7:30 p.m. Both teams are surprises, St. Peter with just 2 losses, both of them to New Ulm, and Mayer Lutheran with 5 losses, 2 of them to Class A opponents and 2 of them also coming in a row going into Tuesday’s matchup. Our pick: St. Peter 65 Mayer Lutheran 52. Thursday February 2 #5AA New London-Spicer at #11AA Annandale, 7 p.m. Annandale is another surprise with 6 losses, including 3-5 in their last 8 games. The front line of Allie Spaulding, Kamryn D’Heilly and Hannah Purcell is awesome, with more than 40 ppg among them. But New London-Spicer is 13-3 with losses only to Sauk Center and Watertown-Mayer. Our pick: NLS 56 Annandale 50. Friday February 3 #11AAA Hutchinson at #2AAA Orono, 7 p.m. And, yes, more surprises. Hutch was pretty much everybody’s pre-season #1AAA, including ours, but it seems they miss last year’s inside players, who have graduated, more than expected. The perimeter remains strong but senior guard Tori Wortz is off last year’s scoring average from 17 to 15, and the Tigers are just 11-5. Orono, meanwhile, has rushed in to fill the void at 16-3 with losses only to Class AAAA opponents. Tori Andrew is the state’s top 3-point shooter, and Maddie Loder and Natalie Smaron are having breakout years. They’re scoring 21, 18 and 11 ppg (but don’t look now, nobody else is above 3 ppg). And, this remains a preview of the likely Section 6AAA final. Our pick: Orono 72 Hutch 67. #16AAA New Ulm at #14AAA Waseca, 7:30 p.m. And, speaking of Class AAA section finals, this is a preview of the likely Section 2AAA final. Waseca has already beaten New Ulm at New Ulm, but Waseca lost 2 nights later at St. Peter, so they’re tied atop the Big South Conference East. Maleah Reinhart is having a banner year at New Ulm, and Joey Batt a breakout type of year. Still, Waseca is a slight fave. Our pick: Waseca 53 New Ulm 52. #1A Mountain Iron-Buhl at #1AA Roseau, time to be determined Mountain Iron-Buhl and Roseau should each enter this game at 19-0. They’re 18-0 now with a game on Monday that each should be able to win. Each is anchored by a superstar—MIB by senior guard Chelsea Mason who is averaging 21-5-5-6. Roseau has 5-9 wing Kiley Borowicz at 26-8-5-6. I don’t think they’ll guard each other, of course. Mary Burke, a feisty 5-10 forward-center for MIB, will probably guard Borowicz, and she won’t stop her from scoring. Meanwhile, Victoria Johnson, 6-2 Roseau post, won’t stop Burke from scoring and rebounding. I expect that Kacie Borowicz will guard Mason and vice versa, and I do think Mason will get the best of that matchup. Then there’s the supporting cast, and I also think the Rangers’ Allie Negen and Macy Savela will get the best of Ivy Braaten, Mya Hough and Katie Borowicz. Mash it all together and it will take a huge game from Kiley Borowicz for Roseau to win. But, hey, she’s at home, and that is always the great equalizer. Our pick: Roseau 75 MIB 73. Wish I could be there. This is going to be a great, great ball game. Saturday February 4 #2A Maranatha at #10A Lyle-Pacelli, 2 p.m. The Mustangs are #2 in spite of that 11-6 record but only 2 of the losses are to Class A teams, Mountain Iron-Buhl and Red Lake. Lyle Pacelli is 14-3, and also has 2 losses to Class A opponents. Pacelli has outstanding talent, but Maranatha’s is deeper. Still, the home court is always a great equalizer. Our pick: Lyle Pacelli 70 Maranatha 69.