3A & 4A Rankings Update: DeLaSalle succumbs to illness and injury

<p>Injuries are a fact of life in high school basketball, and every team is affected by them at one time or another. Some injuries, however, are more impactful than others. Just ask the folks from DeLaSalle who discovered that reality last week when they lost leading scorer Nora Francois to a serious knee injury. The freshman, who is a top 5 player in the 2021 class, will be out for several months but her absence (along with an illness to point guard Ayanna Gardner) was profound last week as the Islanders lost a pair of games to two other elite private school programs – Holy Angels and Cretin-Derham Hall. Although junior forward Elaina Jones stepped up to shoulder the scoring load in Francois&#039; absence, it wasn&#039;t enough. DeLaSalle drops two places to #7 in this week&#039;s 3A rankings.</p> <p>The Islanders&#039; misfortune bumped Northfield (#4), Hermantown (#5) and Willmar (#6) up one spot apiece. Despite losing to Hill-Murray by four in a game full of controversy – if you haven&#039;t seen the cheap shot inflicted on the Zephyrs&#039; Emma Grothaus, consider yourself lucky – Mahtomedi retains the number one position in 3A, just ahead of Holy Angels and Cooper. The Hawks remain hot, having defeated both Chanhassen and a suddenly surging Chaska team to extend their winning streak to 11.</p> <p>Here are the rest of the highlights in both big-school classes from the past week.</p> <p><strong>Hermantown wins a dozen, Hutchinson loses to Delano in 3A</strong></p> <ul> <li>Hutchinson holds on to #8 despite being upset by 3-19 Delano in a head shaker. Elizabeth Wortz was out with a concussion, and the Tigers shot just 28 percent in a turnover-filled encounter.</li> <li>Hermantown beat Duluth Marshall to extend its winning streak to 12 games. The 21-2 Hawks went undefeated in January and are ranked 5th in 3A.</li> <li>Waseca put two nice wins together last week, defeating St. Peter and rolling over #19 Worthington. In that game, sophomore Gus Boyer made 5 threes, scored 22 points, and held Worthington&#039;s Nyamer Diew to just 8 points. The Bluejays are 20-3 and rank 9th.</li> <li>Hill-Murray moves from 20th to 16th with wins over Tartan and Chanhassen, plus the upset of Mahtomedi. The Pioneers are now 14-8.</li> <li>Red Wing lost to Austin by 13 but rebounded to beat a strong Stewartville squad. The Wingers are at #11 with a record of 17-4.</li> <li>Nobody departed and nobody arrived in 3A this time around, although both Zimmerman and Como Park are knocking at the door.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Hopkins vs Wayzata rematch is coming up this week in 4A</strong></p> <ul> <li>There is no change at the top of 4A as both #1 Eastview (21-0) and #2 Wayzata (23-0) just kept on winning. Wayzata will be put to the test this Friday in the big rematch with Hopkins at the Lindbergh Center. The #3 Royals celebrated the return of Paige Bueckers in their only game last week with a 39-point win over Edina. Bueckers scored 20.</li> <li>St. Michael-Albertville just keeps on keeping on with wins last week over North Branch, Chisago Lakes and Elk River. Led by sophomore point guard Kenzie Kramer, the 20-3 Knights have won nine in a row and remain at #4.</li> <li>Centennial (19-3) ran its winning streak to a dozen with wins over Osseo and Anoka. The Cougars are now #6 after swapping spots with Cretin-Derham Hall, which lost to a surprising Mounds View team.</li> <li>Senior-laden Park Cottage Grove is now 17-5 and sit just outside the top 10, one spot behind 15-6 Roseville. That could change this week because the two teams meet Tuesday in what promises to be a dogfight.</li> <li>Buffalo beat Princeton, and pummeled St. Francis by 19, to move from 23rd to 19th in the rankings. Led by junior Jordan Zrust, the Bisons have won 10 of their last 12.</li> <li>St. Louis Park, now 13-9, has lost three in a row. To make matters worse, SLP lost standout freshman guard Jojo Sheffield to a serious knee injury that will keep her out of summer ball, as well.</li> </ul>