So, Sunny bought a house and I've spent the past 4 days filling out forms. But, state tournament previews must go on even I'm running a little late. Class AAA tips off tomorrow at 10 a.m. at the Maturi Pavilion and I will be there.
DeLaSalle got the #1 seed and of course they deserve it. 24-4 with a 23 point average winning margin, a 16 game win streak and a 31 point thrashing of Hill-Murray in the section final. Nurjei Weems in the post and Kiani Lockett at the point lead the way, but if either, or even if both have an off night, there are reinforcements. They're legit.
But, they're not invincible. They might be invincible the next couple of years, so if you're going to beat DeLaSalle, do it now. And if anybody can do that, it's gonna have to be Simley. Last fall I told Kevin Anderson that St. Paul Como was going to win Section 3 and he just looked at me like I was the biggest idiot in history. He was right and I was wrong. Now, Simley is the 2nd-lowest scoring team in the field at 62 ppg, but they've given up 4 points less than anybody and 11 less than DeLaSalle. So the Islanders outscored their opponents by 23. Simley outscored their opponents by 23. Nobody plays defense like Simley.
Not only that, but with Ravyn Miles back, even (still) running at 3/4 speed, that frees everybody else up to play where they belong, and Sydney Stensgard in particular has benefitted from being able to catch and shoot, and not handle the ball too much. So if anybody's going to beat De, it's probably going to have to be Simley.
Still, Simley is the #4 seed and Becker is #2. But Simley at 27-2 played a tougher schedule than Becker at 26-2. Of course Becker outscored its opponents by 28. So they've got lots of weapons. But, we saw what happened to them against DeLaSalle in the final last year, and I don't know why things would be a whole lot different this year.
Red Wing is #3 and I'm kind of underwhelmed there.
Simley and #5 Holy Angels would beat Red Wing. Simley vs. Holy Angels should be a semi-final game. As tough as Simley is inside, the Stars Caron and Kawiecki can hang with them. Simley has an edge at the guards but a small one with Miles and Stensgard but Holy Angels has more depth, which could be a factor. In fact, guard Grace Massaquoi is perhaps the biggest surprise player of the year, any class. Then there's Ysareia Chèvre vs. Frankie Vascellero on the wing. That is the matchup of the day. This should be a great game. (Unfortunately it goes against the other best game of the day, at the same time, that is, which is the Park Center-Stillwater matchup in AAAA.
The unseeds are Alexandria, Hermantown and Waconia. Among the 3 of them, it's no secret that you don't want to play Waconia, as unbeaten Marshall found out in Section 2. As it happens #1 De gets Hermantown, #2 Becker gets Alex, and #3 Red Wing gets Waconia. That's how it ought to be, and that third game is an upset waiting to happen.
So here are the picks.
DeLaSalle 64 Hermantown 51
Simley 59 Holy Angels 57
Becker 70 Alexandria 54
Waconia 60 Red Wing 59
Simley 57 DeLaSalle 56
Becker 70 Waconia 59
Simley 63 Becker 61
3rd: DeLaSalle 78 Waconia 69
5th: Holy Angels 65 Red Wing 64
All-Tournament 5
C- Weems
F- Chevre
W- Vascellero
PG- Lockett
SG- Stensgard
2nd 5
C- Tiwaah Danso, Simley
F- Savannah White, DLS
W- Audrey Swanson, Waconia
PG- Julia Bengtson, Becker
SG- Ella Grove, Alex
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