Follow the Bouncing Ball

<p>There were a bunch of big games in A and AA last week, and about half of them produced surprises of one level or another. The biggest shocker was not so much that then-#16A <strong>Minneota</strong> beat then-#8A <strong>Southwest Minnesota Christian</strong>. The biggest shocker was the final score of 80-48! As Sister Amador used to say, “Is that a misprint, people?” No, it is not a misprint. Minneota had runs of 16-5 and 17-3, and that was just in the 1st half, which ended with the Vikings ahead 47-26. In the 2nd half, Minneota led by as much as 30 at 65-35. The Minnesota Mascot, Home of Boxelder Bug Days deadpanned that junior Lizzie Gillingham “picked a good time to score a season-high 25 points” for Minneota.</p> <p>Minneota moves up to #10A, and might have moved up further had they not turned around and lost to #7AA <strong>Tracy-Milroy-Balaton</strong> two nights later 70-66 in OT. Southwest Christian dropped to #11A.</p> <p>The next biggest games in Class A both involved then-#14A <strong>Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s</strong>, and both involved losses to Springfield and to then-#9A <strong>Wabasso</strong>. SESM drops all the way to #24A, while Wabasso moves up to #8A.</p> <p>Also in Class A, Hills-Beaver Creek ran its winning streak to 14 games and Walker-Hackensack-Akeley to 12 games, and both moved into the rankings at #23A and #25A.</p> <p><strong>A vs. AA</strong></p> <p>Several other big games saw teams from Class A and AA opposing one another, the most obvious of these being <strong>Maranatha</strong>’s home win over #1A <strong>Mountain Iron-Buhl</strong> 80-70. Maranatha had unusually balanced scoring with 5 players in double figures led by Jaclyn Jarnot with 20 and Kylie Post with 15. Mary Burke led MIB as usual with 31 points. The Mustangs pulled away from a 43-all tie at the half to get the win.</p> <p>MIB remains at #1A despite the loss, while Maranatha moves up this week from #3AA to #2AA, now trailing only undefeated <strong>Sauk Centre</strong> in the rankings.</p> <p>Elsewhere, then-#23AA <strong>Zumbrota-Mazeppa</strong> upset then-#3A <strong>Hayfield,</strong> but lost to #6A <strong>Goodhue</strong>. But, Goodhue also then lost to <strong>Byron</strong>, 46-44. We’ll have a lot more to say about the southeast below. Suffice it to say for now that Goodhue moved up to #5A while Hayfield, still battling a rash of injuries, dropped to #7A.</p> <p>Finally, in A vs. AA, then #20A <strong>Pelican Rapids </strong>lost to both Crookston and Thief River Falls and, despite the fact that Crookston and Thief are both AA, dropped out of the top 25 in Class A.</p> <p><strong>And in AA…</strong></p> <p>Just try to follow the bouncing ball in the southeast. The biggest game saw a (then) resurgent and then-#24AA <strong>Rochester Lourdes</strong> surprise then-#8AA <strong>Stewartville </strong>83-74. But, Lourdes turned right around and lost to <strong>Byron</strong>, with Yokie Lee back from an injury. Again, was that a misprint, people? 91-62?? Lee scored 32 points with 16 boards and 10 blocks to lead the rout.</p> <p>So, how wide open is Section 1AA if unranked Byron (11-10, 6-7 in the Hiawatha Valley) can manhandle Lourdes like that? It’s <strong><em>that </em></strong>wide-open, that’s how wide open it is. So Stew drops to #11AA, Lourdes actually moves up to #21AA, and Byron remains unranked. That’s just my way of saying, I give up.</p> <p>Earlier, in our Game of the Week, #21AA <strong>St. Cloud Cathedral</strong> surprised host and then-#2AA <strong>Rush City</strong> 61-58 in OT as Megan Voit scored 25 for the winners. St. Cloud turned right around and lost to them-#20AA <strong>Annandale</strong>. So, Rush drops to #5AA and St. Cloud to #22AA, while Annandale moves up to #15AA despite a loss to then #14AA <strong>New London-Spicer</strong>, who moves up to #13AA. Got that?</p> <p>Also in AA, then-#10AA <strong>Roseau</strong> continued to get its act together, stifling then-#13 <strong>Barnesville </strong>80-61. Roseau moves up one spot, Barnesville down one spot.</p> <p> </p>