Prep Blog: Top Weekend Match-Ups
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – It's a big time for high school sports all across the state as we close January.
Regular seasons are coming to the back stretch in basketball, hockey and wrestling, which means the postseason is just around the corner. Conference races are taking shape, and every game seems to mean more as teams push for their league titles and home playoff games. This also tends to be the time of the season where many top ranked teams are facing each other.
Away from the playing field, we're a week away from National Signing Day. It's the biggest day in the lives of prep athletes who aspire to play their favorite sport on scholarship at the next level. Whether it's a full-ride scholarship or a Division II school, athletes will be putting pen to paper next week to make their college choice official.
We have another great weekend on tap with several top teams hitting their playing fields for great match-ups with plenty on the line. Here are our top games of the weekend.
Friday Boys Basketball: Wayzata (7-11) at Eden Prairie (13-4)
There's a great match-up in the west metro Friday night between two teams headed in opposite directions as Eden Prairie hosts Wayzata in Lake Conference action. The Trojans are in dire need of a win, having lost four straight and six of their past seven. Their last three losses have all been by double digits. The Eagles have won nine of their past 11 and got a big 84-71 win over rival Edina earlier this week.
Wayzata is led by Johnny Beeninga's 14.4 points per game, while Eden Prairie is led by Grantham Gillard (20.8 points per game) and Andre Wallace (18.7 points per game).
Friday Boys Basketball: Glencoe-Silver Lake (9-6) at Holy Family Catholic (17-2)
Holy Family Catholic, ranked No. 3 in Class 3A, is looking to get back on track Friday night after suffering its first Wright County Conference loss Thursday as it hosts Glencoe-Silver Lake. The Fire has a balanced scoring attack with five players who score in double figures, led by Joe Hanel (13.8 points per game) and Justin Dahl (13.4 points per game). Holy Family has won eight straight since losing to Shakopee in the Lakeville North Tournament over Christmas. The Panthers are led by Keaton Anderson's 18.9 points per game as they've own four of their past six.
Friday Girls Basketball: Lakeville North (11-6) at Eastview (17-0)
Two of the top teams in Class 4A meet Friday night in the south metro as No. 1-ranked Eastview hosts No. 9-ranked Lakeville North in the South Suburban Conference. The Lightning, led by Madison Guebert's 19.4 points per game, is a perfect 17-0 on the season and 9-0 in South Suburban play. The league title is theirs to lose at this point. The Panthers feature a balanced scoring attack, led by Temi Carda's 11.4 points per game. They've won five of their past seven but are looking to rebound from a 89-69 loss to Bloomington Kennedy earlier this week.
Saturday Boys Hockey: Holy Angels (8-10-2) at Edina (15-4-1)
A pair of perennial boys hockey powers meet Saturday afternoon as No. 2-ranked Edina hosts Holy Angels in non-conference action. The Hornets are unbeaten in their past four games after a tough loss to Hill-Murray and are led by Miguel Fidler's 14 goals and 35 points. Edina features five players with at least 20 points through 19 games. Holy Angels is below .500 in an unusually down year and is looking to bounce back from a 9-0 loss at Farmington Thursday night. They're led by Andrew Willner's 11 goals and 25 points on the season.
Tune into WCCO-TV's High School Sports Rally at about 10:20 p.m. Friday as Mike Max and David McCoy will have all the action covered.
