Another Minnesota Girl's State Tournament is almost upon us as play begins tomorrow (Tuesday 3-17) at Target Center. And I'll be there to give game recaps and bits and pieces from interviews as well. Here is how I'm seeing things in a nutshell:
Class A - Am liking the top two seeds - Maranatha Christian and Ada-Borup to meet up Saturday at high noon from the Barn. I have not seen either team play this year but both have had historically strong programs and both have won state championships before. Minneota, IMHO, could be a darkhorse in this field.
Class AA - A bit more unpredictable here....Sauk Centre got the nod as the #1 seed and Dover-Eyota is the #2 seed. The only team I have seen in this field this year was Minnehaha Academy and I was very impressed with this squad. The Redhawks; coached by Josh Thurow is a solid squad led by junior point guard Sarah Kaminski who came off an ACL injury earlier this season. 6'1" senior post Lilly Thomey anchors the post. With the #4 seed, Minnehaha Academy is positioned to do some damage and may have the best shot of upsetting the apple cart in this field.
Class AAA - Naturally, being very close to the Park Center program, I'm inclined (perhaps a bit biased :) ) to go with the Pirates here to win their second straight state title. But the path to that ultimate goal is fraught with peril and danger. There are a bevy of very, very good teams in this field; including #1 seed Orono which I got to see play back in January. The Spartans are solid at seemingly every spot. The post is anchored by 6'3" junior Meghan Mandel who can simply dominate down low and I was very impressed with senior guard Kiera Nelson who can really score. Still, I like Park Center's odds of at least returning to the title game; likely against said Orono team, based on their experience and the fact that they've gone toe-to-toe with some of the best teams in the state already. That can play a huge part in a setting such as this. The freshmen from last year who heroically saved the night for the Pirates are a year older and more experienced as well. Perhaps even more important, senior guard Hannah Schaub; who had to watch last year's state title run from the sidelines while recovering from an ACL injury, is skillfully running the point guard spot and I think she has a lot to prove and is hungry for her last go-around. Marshall, last year's runner-up, is back as well at the #4 seed led by senior guard Sarah Buysse and the Tigers have a shot at doing some damage as well if last year's experience turns out to be a positive, rather than an inhibiting experience for them.
Class AAAA - All signs point to an Eastview - Hopkins clash here. The Royals; as the #1 seed and the Lightning as the #2 seed just seem better than everyone else in this field. That's not to say that their respective paths to Saturday night's grand finale at the Barn will be an easy one necessarily but they should still be heavy favorites to advance to that stage. Hopkins is just simply incredibly athletic as all get out and seniors TT Starks and Viria Livingston along with junior Ashley Bates are fun to watch when they have the throttle in notch 8 (railroad language again). And Head Coach Brian Cosgriff knows a few things about winning state titles as well. Still, there's something about this Eastview team that I really, really like. Maybe it's the fact that Head Coach Melissa Guebert's squad finally broke through last year and won their first-ever state title after enduring years of being the annual bridesmaid in this field. Or maybe it's because senior Madison Guebert is so experienced and so calm and cool under pressure. Maybe it's because of the strong supporting cast Eastview has as well. They just seem to do the right thing at the right time. The other team in this field to keep an eye on just might be #4 seed White Bear Lake. This squad has a nice blend of youth and experience and are very-well balanced scoring-wise. If they get past their opening quarterfinal game against Shakopee, they could get a head of steam and you just never know.
So there you have it. Am looking forward to this five-day marathon of hoops and it should be fun!
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