Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Boys High School Tournament Pairings and Predictions

Wow! The 2011 boys high school sectionals have produced upsets by the buckets full. And the tournament pairings are now final with Virginia winning section 7A on Saturday night.

Class AAAA

#1 Hopkins 28-1 vs. Owatonna 24-4. Hopkins 77 Owatonna 59. Too much firepower for Owatonna or anybody.

#4 Cretin-Derham Hall 22-7 vs. Duluth East 22-6. Duluth East 62 Cretin 61.

#2 Eden Prairie 25-4 vs. Lakeville South 21-8. Eden Prairie 74 Lakeville South 64.

#3 Osseo 27-2 vs. Maple Grove 18-10. Osseo 71 Maple Grove 59.

The Lake and Northwest Suburban conferences each have 2 entrants--Eden Prairie and Hopkins of the Lake, and Maple Grove and Osseo of the Northwest Suburban. The biggest upsets getting to the tournament are #4 seeds Lakeville South and Maple Grove. Lakeville South beat #1 seed Eastview and #3 Apple Valley in section 2, while Maple Grove beat #1 St. Michael-Albertville and #2 Buffalo.

Hopkins 80 Duluth East 65
Eden Prairie 68 Osseo 61

Hopkins 74 Eden Prairie 67

MVP: Joe Coleman, Sr, F-G, Hopkins

Class AAA

#1 St. Paul Johnson 25-3, defending state champ, #1-ranked vs. New Prague 23-6. Johnson 73 New Prague 56

#4 Columbia Heights 23-6, upset #2-ranked DeLaSalle in the section 3AAA final, and draws Marshall 21-8. Columbia Heights 71 Marshall 58.

#2 Waconia 21-7 vs. Grand Rapids 19-9. Waconia 65 Grand Rapids 61. Waconia is the dark horse after knocking off Washburn and Benilde

#3 Orono 25-4 vs. St. Cloud Apollo 25-4, Orono 64 Apollo 61.

St. Paul Johnson is the obvious favorite here but they're not a lock. Waconia is probably the biggest threat. Their overall season record doesn't even justify a seed, but they've got the momentum and very likely the confidence to do the job. Columbia Heights is also a threat.

Johnson 75 Columbia Heights 66
Waconia 63 Orono 62

Johnson 75 Waconia 69

MVP: Estan Tyler, Sr, G, Johnson

Class AA

Rochester Lourdes 22-7 vs. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 25-4. #2 seeded Lourdes upset #1 rated (statewide) Plainview EM 53-49 in 2 OT. #2W seeded Long Prairie knocked off #1W seeded and #3 rated Minnewaska. Long Prairie 64 Lourdes 61.

Redwood Valley 21-7 vs. Minnehaha 17-13. #3N seeded Redwood beat #1N and #1S seeds Montevideo 62-60 and Windom 60-58. Mnnehaha beat #1 seeded Concordia-Roseville 62-58. Minnehaha 67 Redwood Valley 62

Perham 28-1 vs. Virginia 26-4. Has Virginia always been the Blue Devils? I don't remember hearing that before. Perham 59 Virginia 53.

Waterville-EM 28-2 vs. Zimmerman 22-8. #7 rated Waterville was the #1 seed, as was unrated Zimmerman. Waterville 66 Zimmerman 56.

The top 4 rated teams did not survive sectional play, including #1 Plainview, #2 Braham, #3 Minnewaska and #4 Pequot Lakes. If Class AA were seeded, Perham and Waterville would have been #1 and #2 and would have been on opposite sides of the draw. As it is, 4 #1 sectional seeds are in the lower bracket, while no #1s are in the much weaker upper bracket.

In theory, whoever comes out of the lower bracket is the favorite. I like Perham.

Minnehaha 58 Long Prairie 54
Perham 57 Waterville 55

Perham 55 Minnehaha 47

MVP: Jordan Bruhn, Jr., G, Perham

Class A

Goodhue 24-7 vs. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 30-0. A couple of #1 seeds here. BBE 66-61

MCCRAY 26-3 vs. Maranatha 26-2. #2 seeded Maranatha defeated #1 seeded, #4 rated, defending state champion Minnesota Transitions 52-50. MCCRAY was a #1. Maranatha 62 MCCRAY 61.

Chisholm 27-3 vs. Fosston 21-6. Fosston upset seed #1E in Cass Lake-Bena 59-45 and #1W in Warren-Alvarado-Oslo 76-66. Chisholm was #1. Chisholm 66-54.

Springfield 23-3 vs. Upsala 25-3. #2W seed Upsala upset #1W and #2 rated Sebeka 69-67 and #1E McGregor 92-54. Springfield was a #1. Springfield 65 Upsala 63.

Springfield-Upsala looks like a great ballgame. And Goodhue could pull the upset over the state's last unbeaten.

BBE 65 MCCRAY 62
Chisholm 67 Springfield 64

BBE 66 Chisholm 64

MVP: KIrby Montbriand, Jr, G, BBE

All-Stars

C- Shelby Moats, Waconia
F- Zach Lofton, Columbia Heights
F-G- Joe Coleman, Hopkins
G- Estan Tyler, St. Paul Johnson
G- Siyani Chambers, Hopkins
6th- Jordan Bruhn, Perham


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