Farmington at Shakopee
7:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 31

The race for the Missota Conference crown is on, with four teams within a game and a half of each other entering late January. Shakopee paces the league with a perfect 5-0 record, while Chaska, Chanhassen and Friday night’s visitor from Farmington are all in hot pursuit. An interesting side note to this game: it will be the second straight game between the two contenders. They also meet Tuesday night at Farmington. Will anything be decided or will it amount to a draw? Shakopee has good size on the interior in 6-foot-7 posts Jake Maiers (8.6 ppg) and Tyler Weiss (14.7 ppg), while sophomore forward Steffon Mitchell (12.6 ppg) is an athletic match-up nightmare. Farmington is led by hard-nosed, All-State point guard Zach Speikers (20.5 ppg), who can both score and distribute with the best in the state. Shooting guard Mac Basset (10.2 ppg) can also fill it up from outside, while senior center Eli Rockett (13.4 ppg) has come on strong.