Class A’s turn for upsets, rankings scramble

We’ve had nothing but trouble in Class AA this year, but this past week it was Class A that provided the most of the thrills ad spills and, thus, the most and the biggest changes to our Top 25 rankings. Here are some of the biggest games from last week as they relate to the rankings.

• Then #1A Goodhue lost not once but twice, both times at Hayfield. They lost to the host Vikings on Tuesday night 51-45 as Carrie Rutledge outscored Sydney Lodermeier 21-9 in the battle of the point guards. Then, on Saturday they traveled to Hayfield again, this time for the Hayfield Showcase where they drew a pretty good AA Tracy-Milroy-Balaton team. TMB surprised Goodhue by almost but not quite the same score 50-45. Goodhue drops to #4A with the 2 losses.

• After defeating Goodhue, Hayfield turned around and lost in its Showcase to then #2A Mountain Iron-Buhl 64-56. MIB moves up to #1A though junior point guard Macy Savela is playing with a bad shoulder. She has been in and out of the lineup, trying to play through what is reportedly a painful injury. But the Rangers always seem to have another piece ready to go, and Madisen Overbye has done a nice job filling in.

• Then #6A Bigfork lost to Roseau 72-52, and drops to #7A.

• Then #8A Wheaton lost to then #9A Lac Qui Parle Valley 66-60 as Emma Schmidt scored 29 for Wheaton but LQPV had 4 players in double figures. Wheaton then lost to unranked Parkers Prairie 48-36. LQPV then also lost to TMB 59-58. Wheaton drops to #14A, LQPV remains at #9A and Parkers Prairie leapfrogs into the top 25 at #18A.

• Among the next 15 rated teams, then #11A Floodwood , #12A Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s, #15A Heritage Christian, #16A Grand Meadow and #21A Badger-Greenbush-Middle River all lost.

• Also new to the top 25 is Cedar Mountain-Comfrey (8-3) at #24A.

Class AA

For once, Class AA had fewer surprises than Class A but there were still a few highly rated teams that got beat.

• #4AA Holy Family lost to Class AAA Waconia 68-66 in 2 OT despite 21 points from Shea Thompson. This may not be an upset but the Fire moved down to #5AA.

• Then #7AA Eden Valley-Watkins lost to #9AA Norwood Young America 55-34 as Bren Fox scored 14 for the winner. NYA moved up 3 spots, EVW down 1.

• Then #8AA Watertown-Mayer lost to unranked Annandale 54-41 as Hannah Purcell outscored Monika Czinano 18-13. Annandale also defeated then #11AA New London-Spicer 48-33. So Annandale moved all the way up to #9AA, Watertown dropped to #10AA, and New London dropped to #13AA. Annandale is far and away our biggest mover in either A or AA for the week.

• Among the next 15 teams, then #15AA Rochester Lourdes, #19AA Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop and #23AA Jordan also lost. Lourdes lost to unranked Caledonia, who now moves into the top 25 at #21AA. Lourdes drops to #22AA. GFW and Jordan both lost to unranked Sibley East, and both dropped out of the top 25. Even with its 2 big wins, Sibley East is just 7-6 after starting out 0-5.

This Week

Here are some upcoming games matching ranked teams in Class A and/or Class AA.

Monday, Monday

St. Cloud Cathedral (11-1, #15AA) at Sauk Centre (#1AA, 12-0), 6 p.m.

Norwood Young America (13-2, #6AA) vs. Stewartville (12-1, #11AA) at St. Kate’s, 6 p.m.

Tuesday

Hayfield (12-3, #3A) at Stewartville, 7:15 p.m.

Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s (12-2, #11A) at Cedar Mountain-Comfrey (8-3, #24A), 7:30 p.m.

Thursday

East Grand Forks (12-3, #17AA) at Barnesville (8-2, #19AA), 7:30 p.m.

Roseau (9-4, #14AA) at Badger-Greenbush-Middle River (12-2, #22A), 7:30 p.m. Roseau looks to avenge a home loss to BGMR in December.

Hayfield at Rochester Lourdes (11-6, #22AA), 7:15 p.m.

Martin County West (9-2, #18AA) at Tracy-Milroy-Balaton (13-1, #11AA), 7:30 p.m.

Wabasso (9-3, #19A) at Sleepy Eye (12-3, #10A), 7:30 p.m.

Saturday

Lac Qui Parle Valley (14-2, #9A) at BOLD (11-3, #16A), 9 a.m. is what the Hub says

Eden Valley-Watkins (11-2, #8AA) at Watertown-Mayer (10-4, #10AA)

Pelican Rapids (6-3, #23AA) at Barnesville, 7:30 p.m.