Photo by SportsEngine
We task our reporters with identifying several intriguing games throughout the state to assemble our Top Games of the Week. The matchups are presented in no particular order, and when there are additional games we want to highlight, we’ll include them with brief notes.
The 2022 Class 2A, Section 8 championship came down to Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton and Perham, and it appears those same teams will again have a say in this season's section champion.
Perham (16-4, 7-1) beat the Rebels 54-40 in the 2022 section final and started this season as a favorite to repeat that feat. But Owen Leach, a 6-foot-6 senior forward headed to the University of Minnesota-Duluth in the fall, and Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (16-5, 10-0) have a different point of view.
Leach scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Rebels beat Perham 57-56 in overtime on Jan. 12. So the Yellowjackets, who split the regular-season series with Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton last season, will be looking to even the score before the postseason begins.
Perham, ranked ninth in Class 2A by Minnesota Basketball News before the start of last week, could use the victory for a number of reasons, but foremost among them would be to put an end to a three-game losing streak. The Yellowjackets came up short against No. 7-2A Albany, Class 4A Bemidji and No. 3-1A Cherry in a span of seven days and face Heart O'Lakes Conference rival Pelican Rapids on Tuesday.
The Rebels, too, are in need of a spark of victory. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton has lost two of its past three games, falling to Class 4A neighbor Moorhead last Friday.
Leach's performance against Perham in January was no fluke; he averaged 29 points and 11 rebounds as a junior, when he was named the Heart O'Lakes Conference MVP. The Rebels lost a number of key players to graduation last spring but players such as Drew Sheeley and Grant Anderson have picked up some of the slack.
Perham's state tournament team from last spring is back largely intact, led by seniors Micah Thompson (17.6 points per game), Soren Anderson (16.6 ppg), Jacob Daniels (10 ppg) and Alex Ohm (10 ppg). The Yellowjackets are chasing a fourth section title over the past five seasons.
In 2018-19, Cherry was an afterthought in Minnesota high school boys basketball. The Tigers played 22 games and won none.
But that was before a 5-foot-8 eighth grader was called up to the varsity squad. Young Isaac Asuma averaged nearly 20 points a game and the Tigers won more games than they lost, finishing the 2019-20 season at 15-11.
Since then, Cherry (16-3) has become a Class 1A powerhouse, winning 55 of 71 games and reaching the third-place game of last spring's state tournament.
Asuma has grown into a strong 6-foot-3 junior who contributes more than 20 points and 10 rebounds a game. And Cherry has added more Asuma family members to the roster and has been ranked as high as first in Class 1A this season.
There are not too many games these days in which No. 3-1A Cherry might be considered an underdog. Friday's game at No. 1-1A Cass Lake-Bena might be one of those rare games.
The Panthers (20-1, 9-1) beat Ada-Borup last Friday to extend its current winning streak to nine games. A 65-58 loss to Nevis on Jan. 19 is the only blemish on Cass Lake-Bena's record. Incidentally, the only common opponent this season for Cherry and Cass Lake-Bena, unranked Nevis has beaten both teams.
Cherry has become much more than just Isaac Asuma. There's freshman Noah Asuma, who averaged 13 points and six rebounds as an eighth-grader, and eighth-grader Isaiah Asuma, who averaged eight points and three rebounds as a seventh-grader. There's also 6-foot-2 junior swingman Andrew Staples.
And then there are the transfers. Carson Brown, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, came from Hibbing, where he averaged 10-plus points as a freshman. And 6-foot-2 sophomore Noah Sundquist came from Chisholm, where he averaged 18 points and five rebounds as a freshman.
It all adds up to a deep roster capable of making a state championship run. But teams such as the Kaydin Lee- and Dominic Staples-Fairbanks-led Cass Lake-Bena Panthers remain in the Tigers' path.
Friday's game will be a measuring stick of just how far the Tigers have come and how far they have to go.
At the beginning of the season, the Metro West Conference appeared to be a two-horse race with Benilde-St. Margaret's and Orono, two highly regarded Class 3A teams.
While both teams are in the hunt and No. 2-3A Benilde-St. Margaret's (17-3, 7-1) is starting to solidify its grip on the conference, it has been anything but a smooth run for the Red Knights.
Chanhassen is a Class 4A team with a 10-10 record. But the Storm is 5-3 in league play and tied with Orono in third place behind 6-2 Waconia. And Friday's game at Chanhassen is anything but a guaranteed victory. The Red Knights needed everything they had to escape with a 69-68 victory on their home floor on Jan. 24.
Four Chanhassen players — Maxwell Woods (17), Braden Barger (16), Riley Johnson (14) and Evan Murray (11) — scored in double figures in the first meeting between the teams. Woods averages more than 21 points, Johnson 15 and Barger 13.
The Storm's issue has been consistency. Over the past week, Chanhassen has lost conference games to Orono and Bloomington Jefferson but beat a Lakeville South team that has popped in and out of the Class 4A rankings.
Benilde's issue is experience. Or, rather, lack of it. Jayden Daisy, who averages 12.2 points, is a junior leading a core group of sophomores and freshmen. Leading scorer Jalen Wilson (18 ppg), Jaleel Donley (13 ppg) and Abu Keita (12 ppg) are all sophomores.
A victory is important to the Red Knights' conference championship hopes. Benilde-St. Margaret's plays top contenders Waconia on Feb. 21 and at Orono on Feb. 24.
Minnetonka vs. Hopkins, 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 15. No. 8-4A Hopkins (14-7, 4-4) is a young and inexperienced team that has struggled in a tough conference. The Royals have lost six of nine games since rising to No. 2 in the Class 4A rankings and now the young group is struggling to apply lessons learned in that rough stretch. Still, Hopkins is a talented team that can give No. 6-4A Minnetonka (16-4, 5-2) a tough game.
Maple River vs. Sauk Centre, 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 18. No. 5-2A Maple River (21-2, 8-0) has won nine in a row since losing to No. 4-2A Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial. Sauk Centre (14-5, 9-2) is on the rebound after falling to No. 7-2A Albany last week.
The MN Basketball Hub poll is for entertainment purposes only.