Rochester John Marshall at Austin
7:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 12

Matchups between Austin and Rochester John Marshall have resulted in many close games recently. The Packers twice earned two-point victories (58-56 and 62-60) over the Rockets last season.

Could there be another narrow finish in store when the teams meet for a Big 9 Conference matchup on Dec. 12? It's possible.

Austin, which has been the state Class 3A runner-up in each of the last two seasons, has a 2-2 record with its only losses coming in two close games (38-35 in overtime at Faribault on Dec. 2 and 58-56 at home to New Prague Dec. 4).

Rochester John Marshall is 5-0 behind the play of eighth-grader Michael Hurt, who has a 24.8 points-per-game average.

Scoring, however, may be hard to come by in this game as both teams are excellent on the defense. Rochester John Marshall allows 50.4 points per game; Austin holds opponents to 47.5 points per game.