Dec. 18--Catching Up with the High Schools

We had a full slate of high school games last Tuesday including maybe 15 that matched ranked teams. The biggest games proved to be the following.

1. Holy Angels girls 90 St. Paul Como Park 88. Here were 2 over-achievers, teams with a history of success but that had both lost a tremendous amount of talent since last year. Yet here they are, 13-3 between them with some high quality wins, and rated #5 and #6 in Class AAA. Holy Angels led most of the way but never by more than 5 points, and Como took an 82-80 lead as sophomore Demya Riley made a pair of high-pressure FT. Isabelle Henry came back to send the game into OT.

Then with the score tied at 88, Henry got a steal at mid-court and took it home for the game-winning bucket with just 4 ticks left on the clock.

Frankie Vascello led the Stars with 36 points, while Henry added 12. Ronnie Porter, Jada James and Kaylynn Asbury, all freshmen, led the Cougars with 20 each.

2. Eden Prairie boys 55 East Ridge 50. Here were 2 top 5 teams but just 6-3 between them due to rock hard schedules. It didn't get any easier Tuesday for either one. The 2 heavyweights slugged it out with the defenses dominating the 2 offenses most of the way. But in the end the Eagles were able to expand a 28-24 halftime lead by another point behind Drake Hobbs, Austin Andrews and Ariel Bland, who scored 49 points among them. Only Courtney Brown with 19 was in double figures for the Raptors.

3. Ada-Borup girls 42 Park Christian 40. Park gave notice that it would be a contender for a state tournament berth in Section 6A with a 2-point road loss to perennial power and #8-rated Ada. It was the 1st loss for #17 Park. Karley Motsbacher of Park scored 20, while Mariah McKeever scored 17 for Ada.

4. Lakeville North boys 55 Eastview 53. Here are 2 more perennial powers and arch-rivals, just 7-5 between them because of their fiendishly demanding schedules. Ryan Thissen of Eastview led all scorers with 20 but it wasn't enough to offset North's balanced scoring as Tyler Wahl and Tate Staloch combined for 25.

5. Holy Family girls 59 Annandale 52. In a preview of a possible Section 5AA matchup, #5 Holy Family held off #10 Annandale. DePaul-bound Hannah Purcell scored 14 for Annandale, while Leigh Steiner scored 13 for Holy Family.

Player of the Day--Dawson Garcia, Prior Lake, 40 pts vs. Shakopee (74-63 win) and Frankie Vascellero

Team of the Day--Eden Prairie boys

Coach of the Day--David Flom, Eden Prairie, and John Oxton, Lakeville North