As we approach the end of February (just 10 days left), the hours of daylight continue to stretch and more frequent warmer weather is on the horizon.
The NBA All-Star Game had some different twists and had its share of slam dunks and long-range three-pointers. As usual, not much defense — until the last few minutes.
The Minnesota Timberwolves made a whole bunch of trades in the past few weeks and seem to be doing a bit better with their revamped roster. I will admit, I do not follow the Wolves very much and know very little about the impact their trades will have as the long season continues.
The Minnesota Gopher men endured a tough loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes at the ‘Barn’ on Sunday, coming up on the short end of a low-scoring 58-55 final — after leading by eight points with just a few minutes left. Making the NCAA Tournament is not going to be easy for the Maroon and Gold who have been quite “up-and-down” all winter long.
On the high school scene, Southwest Minnesota Christian held off Mountain Lake Area / Comfrey (at Mountain Lake) last Thursday (February 13), winning by a final score of 73-61 — much closer than the undefeated Eagles’ earlier win of 89-62 (at Edgerton on January 16).
Southwest is a perfect 22-0 this winter and is averaging an amazing 84 points per game, while allowing just 55.6. With a remarkable tradition, the Eagles have claimed five Class A state basketball championships (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2013). Several loyal Southwest Christian fans have indicated that this may be their best team yet?
On the girls’ side, Hills-Beaver Creek, as expected, drew the top-seed for the upcoming South Sub-Section (of Section 3A) Tournament, which begins with four quarterfinal games at Worthington Saturday (February 22). H-BC ran the table (a perfect 16-0) in the Red Rock Conference and finished its regular season with a 20-2 overall mark, losing only to Flandreau (South Dakota) and Central Lyon (Iowa) by fairly decisive scores. The Patriots are undefeated in Minnesota.
Flandreau posted a 56-33 triumph over H-BC at Madison (S.D.) on January 11 and the Lions prevailed 64-48 at Rock Rapids on February 6.
The Patriot girls are ranked 13th in all of Class A by the complicated QRF formula. They are averaging 64.8 ppg and allowing just 41.1.
Defending Class A state champion Minneota (25-1) is ranked fourth by the QRF, behind Crowell-Wright (21-2), Henning (22-2) and Mayer Lutheran (20-5). There are no undefeated Class A girls’ teams.
Southwest Minnesota Christian is the only undefeated boys’ team left in Class A. Yet, the Eagles are only ranked seventh by the QRF formula?
BOLD (22-1) still holds the top spot, followed in the Top 10 by Ada-Borup (19-1), Waterville-Elysian-Morristown (22-1), Henning (20-1), West Central Area (20-2), Springfield (20-3), SW Christian (22-0), Christ’s Household of Faith (17-4), New Ulm Cathedral (21-2) and Blooming Prairie (19-3).
Adrian / Ellsworth (12-11) is ranked 84th by the QRF (third in Section 3A South), while Heron Lake-Okabena / Fulda (10-14) is ranked 91st (fourth in the sub-section) and Murray County Central (6-16) is 128th (seventh out of nine in the sub-section).
There are 158 Class A boys’ teams listed in the QRF rankings.
The QRF has fewer teams (146) Class A girls’ teams ranked.
Adrian / Ellsworth (12-10) is ranked 74th (third in the sub-section), while MCC (6-15) is listed 113th (fifth in the sub-section) and HL-O / Fulda (4-21) is 131st (sixth out of eight in the sub-section).
The QRF rankings are interesting to look at, but are not all that reliable. Just like ratings done by media personnel, I would not take a whole lot of “stock” in those rankings — that’s why the games are played on the court, not on ‘paper.’
There will likely, as usual, be some “upsets” when the actual tournaments get underway in the coming weeks.
