Champlin, Como, Roseville, Winona move up in Class AAA and AAAA
With our new policy of updating the team rankings every 2 weeks, well, it means there’s lots to talk about when we finally get around to the update. Please note that we are the only ranking in Minnesota that goes…
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Continue ReadingWith our new policy of updating the team rankings every 2 weeks, well, it means there’s lots to talk about when we finally get around to the update. Please note that we are the only ranking in Minnesota that goes 20 deep. For both of these reasons, 30 different AAAA and AAA teams re classified as “movers” if not necessarily “shakers”—i.e. some moved up, some moved down.
In AAAA, Roseville and Champlin Park are the biggest movers, while in AAA, it would be Winona and St. Paul Como. How did they do it? Well, for starters, they went 15-0 among them over the past 2 weeks.
• Roseville tied for the Suburban East lead at 4-1 while extending its winning streak to 6 games. The most recent conference victims were East Ridge 51-42 as point guard Kaia Porter outscored the Raptors point guard Noelle Tomes 18-10. Then freshman forward Jayda Johnston broke loose for a game-high 15 points against Forest Lake in a 59-41 win.
• Champlin scrambled the NW Suburban with a 66-41 thrashing of Andover as Erica Hicks and Allison Gerads combined for 49 points, while Andover’s big 2 of Jolie Daninger and Amanda Dagostino combined for just 26.
• Winona stayed in a tie for the Big 9 lead at 7-1 while also thrashing Byron 67-39. Seniors Eden Nibbelink and Danneka Voegeli lead the Winhawks win a combined 27 ppg.
• St. Paul Como ran its win streak to 5 and took charge of the St. Paul City at 3-0. Sophomore post Elaina Jones came up big against St. Paul Central, out-scoring freshman phenom Aliza Karlen 20-11.
Also in Class AAAA
Elk River replaced Eastview at #2 after #6 St. Michael-Albertville surprised the Lightning 69-57, then lost at Elk River 65-62. Minnetonka moved from #18 to #14 with 3 wins, though none of them vs. a ranked opponent. Still, progress was made.
Also dropping are Centennial, with losses to Park Center and Elk River; Wayzata, which lost to Hopkins; Edina, which lost to Orono; Prior Lake, who lost to Lakeville North and Eastview; and Andover, who lost to Centennial as well as to Champlin.
Robbinsdale Cooper returned to the rankings along with Champlin, while Forest Lake and Rosemount dropped out.
We have counted 10 games this coming week between top 20-rated Class AAAA teams. Several of them are included in our preview of this week’s action. Others include non-conference matchups such as Edina at Cretin, Wayzata at St. Michael-Albertville and Park Center at Wayzata.
Also in Class AAA
Orono, Mahtomedi, Kasson-Mantorville and Waseca all move up more than 2 or 3 places, several with signature-type wins—Orono over Hutchinson and Edina, Kasson-Mantorville over New Prague and Byron, and Waseca over New Ulm.
Meanwhile, Sartell-St. Stephen, Faribault and Red Wing moved into the top 20.
Northfield, Kennedy and New Ulm dropped more than just a slot or two, and Chisago Lakes, Byron, Thief River Falls and Fridley all dropped out of the top 20. The most damaging losses in this group were New Ulm’s loss to Waseca, Byron’s to Lake City, and Thief River Falls losing to Bemidji.
The big games coming up in Class AAA this week include Big Lake vs. Mahtomedi, Waseca vs. Kasson-Mantorville and Hutchinson vs. Winona, all at St. Kate’s, all on MLK Monday. Also, Hermantown at Grand Rapids on Tuesday night.
Our Class AAAA and Class AAA rankings are located under the High School pull-down menu.