Section 1 Remains Dominant In State Rankings
The latest Minnesota Basketball News rankings came out this past Friday, and Section 1 once against dominated the rankings.
Taking a deeper look into the rankings that were released last Friday, January 31st where Section 1 was well-represented in the standings once again. We will start with the latest Girls Class A and AA Top 20.
Class AA
1. Sauk Centre (6) 16-1
2. Fergus Falls (8) 16-1
3. Rochester Lourdes (1) 16-2
4. New London-Spicer (3) 17-1
5. Proctor (7) 17-1
6. Providence (5) 16-4
7. Pelican Rapids (8) 18-0
8. Waseca (2) 15-3
9. Goodhue (1) 18-2
10. Pine City (6) 16-1
11. Duluth Marshall (7) 14-3
12. Minnehaha Academy (4) 12-5
13. Albany (6) 15-2
14. Lake City (1) 17-4
15. Belle Plaine (2) 16-2
16. Winona Cotter (1) 17-3
17. Mesabi East (7) 15-3
18. Stewartville (1) 13-7
19. Royalton (6) 14-3
20. Roseau (8) 15-3
Yes, that is five teams in the Top 20 for Section 1. It has been such a fun section to follow with some really good teams. Goodhue and Rochester Lourdes look like the team to beat this year, at the moment but don't forget about Winona Cotter, Lake City or Stewartville, they have all played really well this year and could make a run into the section finals.
Class A
1. Minneota (3) 18-1
2. Cromwell-Wright (7) 16-2
3. Mountain Iron-Buhl (7) 13-4
4. Waterville-Elysian-Morristown (2) 18-1
5. Henning (6) 17-1
6. Blooming Prairie (1) 14-2
7. Mayer Lutheran (4) 15-3
8. Walker-Hackensack-Akeley (5) 14-2
9. Cherry (7) 14-3
10. Hills-Beaver Creek (3) 15-1
11. Heritage Christian (4) 12-5
12. Southwest MN Christian (3) 15-3
13. Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s (2) 16-2
14. Springfield (2) 15-3
15. Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart (2) 14-3
16. Ada-Borup (6) 11-3
17. Warren-Alvarado-Oslo (8) 14-3
18. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (5) 10-8
19. West Central (6) 14-4
20. EGF Sacred Heart (8) 15-5
Only one team from Section 1 ranked in the Top 20 in Class A in a talented Blooming Prairie team, but Fillmore Central, Southland, Houston, Kingsland, and Grand Meadow continue to play some really good basketball down the stretch and can defend. Those are keys as we head into the final weeks of the regular season and should make for some really competitive basketball come late February and early March.
Boys Class AA
1. Caledonia (1) 17-0
2. Waseca (2) 14-4
3. Lake City (1) 15-1
4. Minneapolis North (5) 10-5
5. St. Croix Prep (4) 17-0
6. Perham (8) 12-0
7. East Grand Forks (8) 14-0
8. Minnesota Valley Lutheran (2) 17-1
9. Eden Valley-Watkins (6) 13-1
10. Osakis (6) 15-1
11. LaCrescent-Hokah (1) 13-3
12. Stewartville (1) 14-4
13. Fergus Falls (8) 12-4
14. Litchfield (5) 13-5
15. Rockford (5) 13-3
16. Virginia (7) 13-3
17. Pine City (6) 16-1
18. Esko (7) 11-4
19. Moose Lake/Willow River (7) 14-3
20. Albany 11-5
Two teams in the Top 3, four teams in the Top 12. Not to forget there are seven other teams that are above .500 behind these four teams in the Top 20. Yes, this Section is absolutely stacked with talent with teams like PEM, Goodhue, Rochester Lourdes, Lewiston-Altura, Cannon Falls, Pine Island and St. Charles looking to make some noise down the stretch. This will be a very entertaining section to follow as these teams can win on any given night.
Class A
1. BOLD (2) 18-0
2. Henning (6) 16-1
3. Ada-Borup (8) 13-1
4. Southwest MN Christian (3) 16-0
5. Waterville-Elysian-Morristown (2) 16-1
6. New Ulm Cathedral (2) 17-1
7. Springfield (2) 15-2
8. West Central Area (6) 14-2
9. Fertile-Beltrami (8) 15-1
10. Blooming Prairie (1) 12-1
11. Hayfield (1) 13-3
12. Mountain Lake-Comfrey (2) 13-2
13. Cromwell-Wright (5) 12-2
14. Nevis (5) 15-2
15. Cass Lake-Bena (8) 12-6
16. Parkers Prairie (6) 14-3
17. North Woods (7) 13-3
18. Nashwauk-Keewatin (7) 13-3
19. Norman Co. East/Ulen-Hitterdal (6) 13-4
20. Martin County West (2) 14-2
Two more teams crack the Top 20 from Section 1 as we round out the rankings for this week. Grand Meadow, Randolph, Schaeffer Academy, Houston, and Lyle/Austin Pacelli are all over .500 and have beaten each other all season long. This will be a really fun section down the stretch as each team has talented players and looks to be coming down to some talented teams that could make their final push in March.
The only thing decided as of today is that these sections are very competitive and should make for some tremendous basketball down the stretch!