OK, so make a liar out of me. The Becker girls beat Hopkins 63-54 at Hopkins last night. Hopkins, #4 in AAAA, led throughout until Becker tied the game at 51. Then Caitlin Rowland fouled Becker’s Rey Robinson, her fifth, and Hopkins failed to get Rowland’s replacement on the court quickly enough, resulting in a technical foul. Robinson made 3 of 4 FT and Becker cruised from there. Gopher recruit Briana Mastey scored 28 points for Becker. Despite its 2-2 record, then, Becker probably deserves to remain #1 in AAA.

Also last night: Forest Lake won at Cretin, which I’d be willing to bet they’ve never done before. And #5 Eastview won at #6 Park in OT. Gopher recruit Jackie Voigt was held to 8 points for Park.

Among the boys: #2 AAAA Hopkins beat #1 AAA Benilde 77-66.

Tonight the boys Tip-Off Classic continues in Marshall. Minnetonka #1 in AAAA takes on DeLaSalle #2 in AAA, while #10 AAAA Rochester Mayo takes on #2 A Ellsworth.

Marc

On 12/14/07 7:22 PM, "marc hugunin" <marc@...> wrote:

Hi everybody. Welcome to a new basketball season. The best basketball in terms of consistent effort and hustle and passion is the high schools. So here are highlights of the early rankings, and basically what’s going to happen this year ;-)

Boys

AAAA

Minnetonka and Hopkins are #1-2. Cretin is #6, but I’d put them at #3. And then I’d say there’s a big gap between those 3 and the rest. Minnetonka and Hopkins are both in section 6AAAA, and the state tournament is seeded #1-4 with 1st round opponents then selected at random. So look for ‘Tonka or Hopkins vs. Cretin in the final.

AAA

Look for disgruntlement to skyrocket as Benilde, DeLaSalle and defending champ St. Thomas are #1-2-3, and appear to have a big talent edge over everybody else. Benilde and DLS are in the same section, so look for one of them vs. St. Thomas in the final. And with Cretin in the AAAA final, there will be calls for a separate tournament for private schools. And what a tournament that would be! This year, possibly better than the MSHSL tournament.

AA

Here Crosby-Ironton and Montevideo look like the powerhouses, though defending state champ Holy Family is #3 and can’t be counted out. Rockford is #6 but I would have them at #4, and then I’d say there’s a fall-off after that. Holy Family and Rockford should meet in their section final again and that winner could face C-I in the semi. Montevideo would appear to have an easier route to the final.

A

Last year’s finalists Cass Lake and Ellsworth are #1-2 and then there’s a big gap to #3 Faribault Bethlehem Academy, whom I mention only because they’re my alma mater. With this year’s brackets Cass Lake and Ellsworth could—and therefore should—meet in a repeat of last year’s memorable final.

Girls

AAAA

Centennial, St. Paul Central, Mpls. South and Hopkins are #1 through #4, and after that there’s a pretty good fall-off in talent though #5 Eastview, #6 Park and #7 Kennedy at least have some pretty good talent but not the depth of the Big Four. With seeding of #1 through #4 in the state tournament, those 4 could make for a pretty intense pair of Friday semi’s. Centennial has already beaten Central, as you may know. Central was #14 in the initial USA Today national ranking, Centennial now has replaced them at #13.

AAA

Becker plays at Hopkins tonight after losing to Mpls. South by 13 at home and at Central by 6. That could be the toughest non-conference schedule in the history of Minnesota HS basketball, either gender. Unless Hopkins bombs Becker, Becker should remain #1 despite a 1-3 record. (Oops, sorry, I suppose I shouldn’t presume that Becker won’t beat Hopkins, though they won’t.) DeLaSalle is #2, and I’m anticipating a replay of last year’s final between Becker and DLS. Actually, it won’t be a replay, strictly speaking, because I think that this year DLS will win.

AA

Then #2 Crookston beat then #1 Albany 88-68 after falling behind 18-2! Crookston moved up to #1 and Winona Cotter to #2, but then Cotter lost to unrated Kingsland (7-0). So how come Cotter is still #4 and Kingsland is #9? And how come Jordan is #10? Because of one loss to a AAAA team, after last year’s 3rd place in the state tournament? In the end the best 4 teams will be (in alpha order) Albany, Crookston, Jordan, and Kingsland or Cotter. Defending champ Pipestone is already #9 after starting the year unranked, but they’re not a state title contender.

This would be the most wide open state tournament. Cotter or Kingsland will lose to Jordan in the 1st round, but then Jordan will lose to Crookston in the semi. That is the one game to see in the state tournament if you can only see one game. Kamille Wahlin of Crookston is going to Iowa, while Jordan’s Brittney Chambers is rated as the #1 volleyball player in the nation in her age group. Albany should cruise through the lower bracket. The final is a toss-up despite Crookston’s easy win 2 weeks ago.

A

Ada is #1 after finished 3rd at state 2 years running. Frankly, I don’t see that they’re as good this year as they’ve been, but I also don’t know what class A team is better. Oh, somebody is, I just don’t know who. Maybe #2 New Life or #3 Barnum or #6 Hancock or #9 Kittson County Central. Ada and Hancock, last year’s runner-up, are both in the same section after re-sectioning, and one of them could lose to Barnum in the first round. Meanwhile, New Life or Kittson might emerge from the upper bracket. In the final, I’ll call it Barnum over Kittson, but in Class A it’s usually pretty wide open and some unrated team often wins it. Maybe my alma mater still has a chance despite an 0-3 start. Seriously, they haven’t lost to an unrated class A team yet—only to rated teams or AA teams.

Individual Players to Watch

The boys talent seems to be down this year. Juniors Royce White of DLS and Rodney Williams of Cooper will be recruited harder than any of this year’s seniors, though Cody Schilling of Ellsworth is a classy player. But it’s not clear he’s a high D1 college player, nor that any senior is, though Jordan Taylor of Benilde got perhaps the best gig. He’ll be a Badger but, frankly, he has a lot to learn about movement—both the ball’s and his without it—before he’ll be a decent D1 player. But the quickness and some of the other skills are there. Think Al Nolen.

Among the girls, it’s quite the opposite. The Gophers have recruited Briana Mastey of Becker, Jackie Voigt of Park, and Kiara Buford of Central. Iowa has got Wahlin of Crookston and Hannah Draxten of Fergus Falls. Marquette has Georgie Jones of Central. Jenny Glbertson of Cotter is going to K State. Courtney Boylan of Chaska is going to Michigan. The big story continues to be Tayler Hill of South, and it’s looking more and more like she is not going to be a future Gopher. She appears to be waiting for an offer from one of the national powers though it also appears that might not be forthcoming. The Gophers have already recruited guard Shakila Boler of Kennedy, a year younger than Hill. The two are said to get along approximately as well as Russ Archambault and Khalid El-Amin, so Borton has perhaps decided not to wait around for Hill to make up her mind. Hill’s brother is at Ohio State, so that may very well be where she ends up. The Gophers have also recruited juniors Katie Loberg (6-4) from Princeton and Amber Dvorak (6-7) from Hinckley.

Next: D2 and D3.