New Prague at Waconia
7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 27

This Wright County Conference East Division matchup between New Prague and Waconia features one team that is on the rise and another that is dropping.

New Prague climbed into the No. 10 spot in the Class 3A rankings thanks to a six-game winning streak that included a 57-54 victory over No. 7-3A Orono in a league game on Jan. 13.

Waconia is 3-8 in its last 11 games and on a three-game skid that dropped the Wildcats from the Class 3A rankings.

While Waconia may be slumping, it is not out of the running for division title. The Wildcats (8-9, 2-2) are just two games behind division leader New Prague (11-6, 4-0) and a victory over the Trojans would keep Waconia in the race. 

Both teams spread the scoring around. New Prague has five players who average over 8.3 points per game for coach Aaron Jasperson’s squad. Senior forward James Fuerniss (13.9 ppg), senior guard Malik Jallah (10.5 ppg) and junior forward Austin Greenwalt (10.4 ppg) are the Trojans' scoring leaders.

Waconia coach Pat Hayes gets scoring production out of eight players in his rotation. The Wildcats are led by senior forward Roch Whittaker (12.6 ppg) and junior guard Joey Korteum (12.4 ppg).