Top Teams and Coaches for Week #7

<strong>Top Teams</strong> There were relatively few surprises this week and so relatively few teams that made you sit up and go, “Wow!” We’ll pick one from each class. In Class AAAA, we’ll pick Centennial, who easily handled a pair of rated opponents. On Wednesday, they hammered #21 White Bear Lake 64-28 as Taylor McAulay and Sara Stapleton each scored 14. On Friday, it was arch-rival Park Center 87-65 as McAulay broke loose for 28 points. The Cougars moved up from #9AAAA to #7AAAA in our rankings. In AAA, it’s gotta be New Ulm and guard Joey Batt, who had a pretty “fair” week, knocking off Fairmont and Faribault. Neither is ranked though Fairmont is a solid 7-4 and Faribault was rated earlier in the year but now has dropped to 5-7. In any event, the Eagles easily handled Fairmont 67-48 as Batt continued her stellar play with 27 points, 5 assists and 4 steals. Against Faribault, it was 54-48 as Batt again scored 27 with 5 boards and 5 more steals. Still, New Ulm only moved from #21AAA to #20AAA in our rankings. In AA, we like Jordan. The Jaguars knocked off #24AA Glencoe-Silver Lake easily 62-44 as Paige Johnson scored 18 points. They then defeated Richfield 76-62 as Sidney Bendzick scored 17. Finally they won at the Salvation Army Gym over CHOF 48-43 as Kat Brown-Erdal led the way with 13. Finally in Class A, we’ll take Hayfield. The Vikings defeated #22AA Zumbrota-Mazeppa 60-52 and New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva 58-40, both games on the road. You might be aware that last night (Tuesday) they knocked off #1A Goodhue 51-45 to continue the hot streak. Our Top Team is <strong>Hayfield</strong>. It might be cheating to take last night’s upset of Goodhue into consideration for last week’s award, but so be it. The Vikings are now 11-2 and they are likely to move up next week above their current #7A. <strong>Top Breakout Team</strong> It becomes harder as the year goes by to find a true Breakout Team but we’ll venture to mention 3. Martin County West defeated St. Clair to get up to 8-2 and move into our Class AA rankings at #20AA. St. Croix Lutheran defeated New Life as Audrey Gadison scored 17 points, to improve to 6-4 and enter our rankings at #20AAA. Finally, in Class AAAA, Lakeville South shocked Farmington 52-49 as Rachel Ronning scored 18 and Anna Harvey 13. The Cougars move up to #25AAAA at 7-6. Our Breakout Team is <strong>Martin County West.</strong> <strong>Top Coaches</strong> Our coaching candidates as usual come from among our top teams. This week’s candidates are: Greg Dietel, Jordan Fred Kindschy, Hayfield Rodger Taylor, Martin County West Dave Mielke, St. Croix Lutheran Angie Ohnstad, Lakeville South And our Top Coach for the week is <strong>Fred Kindschy, Hayfield.</strong>