There will be no boys tournament in 2020 for the 1st time in 108 years. We've had World War I, World War II, the killer flu of 1919, 9-11, all kinds of stuff but never have they ever canceled the tournament until now.
So we had I think 16 section finals completed last Wednesday and Thursday, but we had 16 more section finals cancelled last Friday night, so 48 teams had not lost in their sections. Our fantasy tournament will have to figure out who would have won that 2nd set of 16 section titles, what the seeds would have been, and who would have won if they were only going ahead with it.
Class AAAA
The Sections
Section 1 #1 Lakeville South and #2 Rochester Mayo made it to the finals. South is #9 statewide and Mayo #23 so South was the fave. Reid Patterson leads the way for South while the improvement of sophomore Andrew Mast is a bonus. The Madsen boys, Gabe and Mason, lead the way with 45 points between them, while junior guard Michael Sharp is most-improved. The game would have been played in Rochester so I'll take Mayo 67-66.
Section 2 Here 28-0 #1 Eden Prairie was getting ready to play Shakopee when things went to heck, and they got that game at home. I like EP 76-67.
Section 3 #1 and #2, Eastview and Lakeville North, would have played in 3AAAA. Eastview has Steven Crowl and a solid supporting cast. You had to like Eastview maybe 75-69.
Section 4 Cretin beat East Ridge 51-48 on a last-second 3 to advance to the state tournament.
Section 5 Park Center was #1 and Spring Lake Park #2, and both made it to the finals. Park Center was always the fave in 5AAAA while Spring Lake Park is one of the biggest surprises in AAAA this year. Park Center beat SLP 69-62 and 70-59 so three on a match? No, I'll stay with Park Center
69-60.
Section 6 Hopkins beat Cooper 71-60.
Section 7 Cambridge-Isanti beat Duluth East 81-73.
Section 8 Maple Grove edged Buffalo 54-52.
The Seeds
1. Eden Prairie 28-0
2. Eastview 24-4
3. Cretin 25-4
4. Park Center 23-5
5. Hopkins 24-5
X. Lakeville South 21-7
X. Cambridge 24-4
X. Maple Grove 23-5
The Matchups
#1 Eden Prairie vs. Cambridge
#4 Park Center vs. Hopkins
#2 Eastview vs. Lakeville South
#3 Cretin vs. Maple Grove
First Round
Last year Cambridge was unseeded and drew #1 Hopkins. This year the Cambridge girls were unseeded and drew #1 Hopkins. Now the Cambridge boys are unseeded and draw #1 again. Eden Prairie 81 Cambridge 65.
Park Center beat Hopkins 85-70 on Day One, then lost their mo in January, but then won 13 of 14 on the way in. It's hard to picture the Pirates being the Royals by 15 again at this time of the year. Hopkins started out losing to Park Center and Shakopee but lost only to Eden Prairie and DeLaSalle after that. Last year the Royals won it all with 4 losses, so who knows what might have happened. I like Hopkins 70 Park Center 69.
Eastview started 20-2 and finished 4-2. South started 10-0 and finished 11-7. South won by 1 at Eastview in January, and lost to the Lightning by 7 at home in March. Eastview finished in a 3-way tie for 1st in the South Suburban at 15-3 while South faded to 11-7. You gotta like Eastview 72-65.
You gotta like Cretin in game #4, I'll say 76-63.
Sem-Finals
Park Center and Maple Grove advanced in the consolation bracket.
EP beat Hopkins 82-68 and 81-75. 3 on a match? I'd be nervous if I were EP. I'd like to have lost one somewhere along the way. It's tough enough at #1 without being unbeaten besides. Still, it would be a big upset if Hopkins won this one. I'll take EP 71-66.
Cretin vs. Eastview is a bona fide tossup. Cretin is athletic and young. Eastview is a great offensive team, not as good on the defensive side of the ball. Eastview has a big size advantage with 6-11 Steve Crowl. J'Vonne Hadley at 6-7 is Cretin's biggest starter and he is an elite player, too. Cretin guard Tre Holloman may give his team a similar edge on the perimeter though Eastview guards Ryan Thissen and Jaylen James are solid, too. Cretin's Amari Carter is a solid shooter, too. So this would have been a great game. I like Cretin 71-68.
Finals
5th Place Park Center 66 Maple Grove 65
3rd Place Eastview 80 Hopkins 77
Championship Eden Prairie 75 Cretin 74
All-Tournament 5
Drake Dobbs, Eden Prairie, senior, guard
Steven Crowl, Eastview, senior, forward
Kerwin Walton, Hopkins, senior, guard
Dain Dainja, Park Center, senior, post
John Henry, Eden Prairie, senior, forward
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