4A and 3A Rankings: Mahtomedi has its first loss, Northfield and Willmar still unbeaten

And then there were two. That's how many undefeated teams are left in Class AAA following a week in which high-flying Mahtomedi suffered defeat for the first time, a 59-56 loss courtesy of the up-and-down Wildcats of Chisago Lakes. That leaves Northfield (7-0) and Willmar (6-0) as the remaining squads still flirting with perfection. Northfield knocked off #20 Mankato West and Albert Lea prior to the holiday break; Willmar had the week off which is a surefire way to keep a clean slate! Although it was decided by a single basket, the Chisago-Mahtomedi result certainly came out of left field. Chisago was in the top 25 earlier in the season before dropping out and then returning. Wisconsin recruit Carmen Backes came up with a big game, scoring 23 to spark the Wildcats to the upset. Lehigh commit Emma Grothaus led the Zephyrs with 18 points while MIT-bound Annika Sougstad had 15. Chisago, with a win over Edina and losses to Norwood-Young America and Hermantown on its docket, is now 4-2 and vaults up to the 13th spot for its troubles. Mahtomedi held on to the #3 ranking thanks to a 32-30 win 48 hours later at 4A White Bear Lake, its arch rival from across the pond. Considering the Zephyrs were averaging 65 points per game entering the contest, it's not difficult to extrapolate what happened here as the Bears' punishing defense set the tone as usual. Mahtomedi scored just 13 points in the first half, but 19 in the second was enough to take home neighborly bragging rights. The other significant change is the flip-flop of Hutchinson and Marshall for the second week in a row. Last week I was persuaded to move Marshall several rungs up the ladder while pushing Hutch farther down the list. Oops. Hindsight wins again. The two teams met last week in a Tigers vs Tigers matchup, and Hutchinson earned a convincing 54-43 victory in spite of another great performance from Marshall freshman Jordyn Hilgemann, who put up 19 points to match her season average. As a result, Marshall drops from 9th to 15th while Hutchinson moves up from 16 to 14. In finance they call it a market correction; we'll just call it basketball. Things remain status quo at the top as Robbinsdale Cooper had a pair of impressive wins over Simley and Minnehaha Academy while Holy Angels defeated St. Paul Como Park and Hutchinson to remain #2. Northfield has moved up one notch to 5th, Red Wing moves up five spots to 7th while 8-1 Hermantown advances into the top 10. Welcome aboard <ul> <li>New Ulm Beat Martin County West on Friday to improve its record to 6-2. The only blemishes are a three-point loss to Blue Earth and a four-point defeat to #21 Mankato West. New Ulm enters the rankings this week at #22.</li> <li>Totino-Grace slips into the poll at #25. Although their 4-5 mark is not that impressive, the Eagles' strength of schedule certainly is. Totino's losses are to ranked 3A teams DeLaSalle, Benilde-St. Margaret's, and Hill-Murray, and ranked 4A opponents Anoka and Centennial. We'll give them an A for effort and a spot at the tail end of the list.</li> </ul> Adios amigos <ul> <li>Como Park also earns kudos for tough scheduling, and the Cougars nearly pulled off a huge upset against Holy Angels. Unfortunately, Como is now 2-5, which simply isn't good enough to make the top 25.</li> <li>Big Lake is above the .500 mark at 4-3 but their wins are mediocre at best.</li> </ul> Same old, same old in 4A Hopkins, Wayzata and Eastview have been 1, 2, 3 in 4A for awhile now and that is unlikely to change in the near future. One thing is certain: either Hopkins or Eastview will suffer its first loss of the season this week. That's because the two teams meet on Friday in their annual set-to at the St. Olaf College holiday tournament in Northfield. That game is always one of the highlights of the season and Marc will be there to report all of the pertinent details. This week Hopkins defeated St. Michael-Albertville and Park Center, Eastview beat Minnetonka, and Wayzata recorded wins against Roseville and Rogers. Despite a 15-point loss to Hopkins, STMA holds on to the #4 spot with a 64-61 win over #6 Moorhead. Cretin-Derham Hall remained perfect against Minnesota opponents, dispatching White Bear Lake to move into 5th. Champlin Park defeated Centennial, dropping the Cougars to 7th. Lakeville North, Park Center and Maple Grove round out the top 10. Farmington remained perfect at 7-0 with its first win of note over Edina, moving to 12th as a result. Roseville moves up to 15th thanks to a win over then-11th Anoka; Champlin Park and Park Cottage Grove each moved up two spots, as well, while 9-1 Minneapolis South rose three to 17th. Lakeville South (5-3) knocks off Shakopee to enter the poll at #25 and Brainerd (6-3) now owns #24. Shakopee falls out thanks to its loss to Lakeville South, while Minnetonka (4-5) is still in the revolving door at the bottom.