3A & 4A Rankings Update: DeLaSalle, Minnetonka making headlines

<p>Hopkins lost. Those two words qualify as significant news whenever they are written. Right now, however, the news isn&#039;t quite so big given the absence of the Royals&#039; do-all point guard Paige Bueckers, who is still nursing an ankle injury. DeLaSalle won. Those two words are generally not news, since the Islanders haven&#039;t lost for nearly two months. When the two words are used in the same sentence, however, to describe a game played on the same day on the same court at the same time – well that&#039;s definitely notable. In this week&#039;s 3A &amp; 4A rankings update, that is the biggest news of all.</p> <p>The upset occurred last Tuesday at Hopkins when 3A DeLaSalle recorded the 67-61 win over the 4A Royals. The Islanders scored 10 times from beyond the three-point line, using the same formula that Eastview employed to beat Hopkins during the Christmas break. Dacoda Speidel made five of the 10 threebies as Hopkins once again struggled to defend the outside shot. The irony of this upset, however, is that it had minimal impact on the rankings. At 19-3, Hopkins still holds the #3 spot in 4A behind Eastview and Wayzata, just ahead of St. Michael-Albertville and Champlin Park. DeLaSalle, with an official record of 12-4 (they&#039;re actually 14-2 with two forfeits), moves up one spot to #4 in 3A. The Islanders trail Mahtomedi, Holy Angels and Cooper in that order.</p> <p><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Waseca and Northfield suffer rare losses in 3A</strong></span></p> <ul> <li>20-2 Hermantown knocked off Hibbing to extend its winning streak to 11 games. The Hawks move up two spots to #5.</li> <li>Northfield lost in Big 9 play to 4A rival Owatonna by 13, a mild surprise but hardly a shell-shocker. The defeat dropped the Raiders to 16-3 and moved them down two places to #6.</li> <li>Waseca also lost a game, this one to New Ulm by four. That dropped Waseca&#039;s record to 18-3. We have been pretty high on the Bluejays all year, but the QRF is showing them no respect at all. Regardless, Waseca moves down three places to #9 in the only poll that really matters – ours!</li> <li>This week&#039;s risers include 16-2 Willmar to #7, 16-3 Alexandria to #12, and 15-5 New Ulm to #13.</li> <li>This week&#039;s fallers include up-and-down Chisago Lakes, which lost to St. Francis and Cloquet, thus declining four places to #16. Benilde-St. Margaret&#039;s lost two to fall to #23. Hibbing did the same and is now at #25.</li> <li>Say goodbye to Simley, Princeton and Totino-Grace who have all been in a tailspin of late.</li> <li>Say hello to 12-6 Worthington at #18, winners of seven games in a row. With three victories last week, Cloquet (13-7) enters the poll for the first time at #22, and 11-8 Sartell-St. Stephen also makes its debut at #25.</li> </ul> <p><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Minnetonka returns to 4A rankings by winning 5 of 6 without Walker</strong></span></p> <ul> <li>Please give a warm welcome back to Minnetonka. The Skippers winning five of six games in the absence of point guard Megan Walker is definitely newsworthy. Minnetonka edged Grand Rapids by one on Thursday to raise its record to 11-8. Victories include Champlin Park, Park Center and Edina. Six of the eight losses were to top 10 teams.</li> <li>In the top 10, Roseville stubbed its toe in back-to-back games last week, losing to both Stillwater and Woodbury in Suburban East play. The Raiders&#039; record fell to 14-5 while their ranking went down three spots to #10. That enabled Centennial, Maple Grove and Lakeville North to move up to 7th and 8th and 9th respectively.</li> <li>Park Cottage Grove knocked off Hasting and Stillwater to raise its season mark to 16-4. The impressive Wolfpack have won six of their last seven and are #12.</li> <li>Owatonna beat Northfield by 13, and climbed four more rungs up the ladder to #15. The other big riser in 4A was Eden Prairie, which entered the poll for the first time one week ago. The Eagles have now won seven of their last nine and climbed all the way up to #18.</li> <li>Say goodbye to Brainerd, Woodbury and Bloomington Kennedy, who have all lost their way of late.</li> <li>14-5 St. Francis also returns at #24 thanks to six wins in a row. Entering the rankings for the first time is 12-8 Stillwater at #25. The Ponies, led by one of the premiere players in the state – point guard Sara Scalia – have finally got it together having won seven of nine. Scalia is averaging 26 points per game while freshman guard Alexis Pratt is scoring nearly 19.</li> </ul>