MN HS Basketball 2024-25 Season thread

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short ornery norwegian

short ornery norwegian

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High School hoops season is underway, so I thought I would get a thread going.

Chime in with reports and reviews of games you've seen and players of interest.

in my corner of the world (SW MN), I don't have a read yet on who the good teams are going to be. Last year, New Ulm, Redwood Valley and Jackson County Central were all solid. But New Ulm and Redwood each graduated their top scorers, and JCC goes into the season without Roman Voss, who broke his ankle in the football playoffs and - I assume - will miss the season. so I'll have to see which teams emerge.

saw some talk on Twitter about a 6'8" kid playing for Sleepy Eye who looks interesting. (that's Sleepy Eye Public - not St. Mary's).

One thing I am seeing early in Boys and Girls games - unfortunately - is that the gap between the good teams and the not-good teams seems to be just as wide if not wider. I was at a boys game on Saturday - the halftime score was 69-35. Yes, that was the halftime score. it finished up 103-57. a girls game in the area on Saturday finished up at 77-26. also saw a girls' score of 71-24. also hearing talk from coaches about some teams really battling low participation numbers.

anyway, I'll hope for more good games and fewer blowouts as the season progresses.
 

Open enrollment has always been a bugger in separating the haves and the have nots.
 

FinnGopher said:
Open enrollment has always been a bugger in separating the haves and the have nots.
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in my neck of the woods, with a lot of Class A and AA schools, it's more a matter of kids just not going out - or kids playing fewer sports. with all sports pushing the year-round model, kids feel like they're being forced to choose. at a bigger school, they have the numbers to support most programs, but at the A and AA level, if two or three decent kids don't go out, that really impacts team depth.

and then you have the problem of - team has a bad season - kids don't want to be part of a losing program because "it's no fun." so they don't go out - which hurts the depth and makes it harder to win - leading to another bad season - and the death spiral of bad programs continues.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
in my neck of the woods, with a lot of Class A and AA schools, it's more a matter of kids just not going out - or kids playing fewer sports. with all sports pushing the year-round model, kids feel like they're being forced to choose. at a bigger school, they have the numbers to support most programs, but at the A and AA level, if two or three decent kids don't go out, that really impacts team depth.

and then you have the problem of - team has a bad season - kids don't want to be part of a losing program because "it's no fun." so they don't go out - which hurts the depth and makes it harder to win - leading to another bad season - and the death spiral of bad programs continues.
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Well, a person has to choose their priorities. Very few kids are going to play a sport past high school. Should a young person put their energy in academics or athletics? For my children, athletics always took second, or less, to academics. They all went on to excel in academics and secure jobs because they valued education. Athletics, for them, were always just for comraderie and not for championships. Winning was not a big deal, but developing friendships and physical fitness was important.

If kids aren't playing sports, I hope they are still staying active and are prioritizing their academics.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
High School hoops season is underway, so I thought I would get a thread going.

Chime in with reports and reviews of games you've seen and players of interest.

in my corner of the world (SW MN), I don't have a read yet on who the good teams are going to be. Last year, New Ulm, Redwood Valley and Jackson County Central were all solid. But New Ulm and Redwood each graduated their top scorers, and JCC goes into the season without Roman Voss, who broke his ankle in the football playoffs and - I assume - will miss the season. so I'll have to see which teams emerge.

saw some talk on Twitter about a 6'8" kid playing for Sleepy Eye who looks interesting. (that's Sleepy Eye Public - not St. Mary's).

One thing I am seeing early in Boys and Girls games - unfortunately - is that the gap between the good teams and the not-good teams seems to be just as wide if not wider. I was at a boys game on Saturday - the halftime score was 69-35. Yes, that was the halftime score. it finished up 103-57. a girls game in the area on Saturday finished up at 77-26. also saw a girls' score of 71-24. also hearing talk from coaches about some teams really battling low participation numbers.

anyway, I'll hope for more good games and fewer blowouts as the season progresses.
Click to expand...
Kids quitting sports is the start of a trend IMO. Kids and parents are starting to figure out the money that is being wasted in hopes of college $$, when they could pay for college just saving the $$.

I feel that the kids coming out of high school are pretty money cautious.

However South Carolina women just beat #15 Iowa State and Purdue by 40+ so the haves and the have nots is not just a HS thing.

I saw a tweet about the 6'8" from a metro coach that he is a big uncommitted senior that colleges should be looking at.
 


MaxyJR1 said:
I saw a tweet about the 6'8" from a metro coach that he is a big uncommitted senior that colleges should be looking at.
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saw on Twitter - 27 rebounds in his last game - broke the school record. going to try and catch a game on Hudl to see what he looks like.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
saw on Twitter - 27 rebounds in his last game - broke the school record. going to try and catch a game on Hudl to see what he looks like.
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"Watched some early high school hoops online this weekend. Biggest senior sleeper in Minnesota? Might be Landon Wendinger from Sleepy Eye. 6-8 big man is mobile, springy and skilled with the basketball. Very impressed."
 


if anyone wants to watch some mayhem, the Windom Boys basketball team has opened its season by scoring 103 and 104 points in its first two games. game 1 was against an out-manned opponent and the subs played a lot of the 2nd half (final score 103-57). game 2 was against a team with better talent, so the main 8 or 9-man rotation played most of the game (final score 104-80.)

the style is pressure defense, run and shoot 3's. most of the game it gives the impression that things could fly out of control at any moment - and occasionally it does......in game 2, Windom was warned for Taunting and the opponents were warned for Flopping. it got a bit wacky.
 




will be fun to watch Albany Boys on the 2A front. took care of Melrose by 30 and Albany was missing 2 of their starters. Hondl & Austin are quite the 2 headed monster there. Section 6AA is always competitive and you have Annandale & probably Foley this year to keep them honest. But Albany seems to be on their way to another state tournament berth.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
if anyone wants to watch some mayhem, the Windom Boys basketball team has opened its season by scoring 103 and 104 points in its first two games. game 1 was against an out-manned opponent and the subs played a lot of the 2nd half (final score 103-57). game 2 was against a team with better talent, so the main 8 or 9-man rotation played most of the game (final score 104-80.)

the style is pressure defense, run and shoot 3's. most of the game it gives the impression that things could fly out of control at any moment - and occasionally it does......in game 2, Windom was warned for Taunting and the opponents were warned for Flopping. it got a bit wacky.
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The way of the land... Pressure, Run and Launch 3's. They all do it.

Officials have a new tool this year with the flopping rule. Will be interesting to see how it goes.
 




a quick note on the 2025 Boys State Basketball Tournament. according to the MSHSL - due to a scheduling conflict at Target Center, the semi-finals and Championship games for all four classes will be played at Williams Arena.

in other news from the MSHSL executive board meeting:

*an amendment was approved that officially moves 9th grade into the MSHSL starting with the 25-26 school year. (currently, "High School" is defined as grades 10-12...)

*change to the State Softball Tournament - the 4 Championship games will be played at Cowles Stadium on the U of MN Campus. all other games will still be played at Caswell Park in North Mankato. (got news for you - if you thought parking was a pain at Caswell, wait till you try and park on the U campus....)

*the 1st ever Boys Volleyball state tournament will be played at the University of St. Thomas next June. (94 teams have registered for the 1st official season...)

*discussion continues on Girls Flag Football as a potential new sponsored activity. the MN Vikings are helping to promote Flag Football.
 

OK, time for an update -- MN HS Boys Basketball ratings

Class A:
1. Cherry
2. Dawson-Boyd
3. Nevis
4. Henning
5. Deer River
6. Park Christian
7. Rushford-Peterson
8. Cedar Mountain
9. Red Lake County
10. Ada-Borup West

Class 2A:
1. Albany
2. Caledonia
3. Waseca
4. Breck
5. Lake City
6. Jackson County Central
7. Montevideo
8. Blake
9. Warroad
10. Rockford

Class 3A:
1. Benilde-St. Margaret's
2. Orono
3. Mankato East
4. Alexandria
5. DeLaSalle
6. Totino-Grace
7. Byron
8. Faribault
9. Stewartville
10. Richfield

Class 4A:
1. Cretin-Derham hall
2. Hopkins
3. Wayzata
4. Tartan
5. St. Michael-Albertville
6. Sauk Rapids-Rice
7. Prior Lake
8. Champlin Park
9. Anoka
10. Shakopee
 

and MN HS Girls Basketball ratings

Class A:
1. Goodhue
2. Mayer Lutheran
3. Hillcrest Lutheran
4. Sleepy Eye-St. Mary's
5. Mountain Iron-Buhl
6. Kittson County Central
7. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa
8. Hancock
9. Walker-Hackensack-Akeley
10. Underwood

Class 2A:
1. Providence Academy
2. Crosby-Ironton
3. New London-Spicer
4. Minnehaha Academy
5. Sauk Centre
6. Caledonia
7. Proctor
8. Minnewaska Area
9. Duluth Marshall
10. Jordan

Class 3A:
1. Marshall
2. Alexandria
3. Monticello
4. Orono
5. DeLa Salle
6. Benilde-St. Margaret's
7. Mahtomedi
8. Totino-Grace
9. Red Wing
10. Hill-Murray

Class 4A:
1. Eden Prairie
2. Hopkins
3. Maple Grove
4. Eastview
5. St. Michael-Albertville
6. Prior Lake
7. Wayzata
8. Minnetonka
9. Brainerd
10. Lakeville North
 

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