Daily Dish 5.5
Thursday had some big matchups and we saw the favorites win, but, not without some closer scores than expected.
Minnetonka 12 v Wayzata 5: Minnetonka is a force to be reckoned with and Wayzata, despite a couple big wins early is having a hard time with the higher end teams. Luckily for the Trojans, the only lose two seniors, so, this team could be primed for a run in 2024. Minnetonka has athletes and talent everywhere. When they put it together, they are as good as any team. The only downside I see right now is they lose focus in games where they play out of character - if they clean this up, they should be a contender for section 2.
Jefferson 7 v Prior Lake 9: Prior Lake finally gets on the board in the win column but not without a hard fought battle from the Jags. Jefferson always plays PL strong and last night was no different. Jefferson did a mixture of things defensively to slow PL down and catch them off guard. They pressured in transition, they pressed out on defense, only then to flip into zone defense as well. Prior Lake turned the ball over a lot so props to the Jags for the defensive gameplan, however, Jags had way too many turnovers as well and couldn’t capitalize on their defensive strategies working in their favor. PL needed this one and unfortunately another “close loss” for the Jefferson. We may see these two teams play again in sections, I will be curious on if both teams can clean up the turnovers.
Moorhead 10 v St. Cloud 5: St. Cloud kept this closer than I anticipated. I did not see the game but reports are saying that Moorhead looked back down to earth despite their big week last week. I also think St. Cloud is slowly building something nice. While they aren't a top team quite yet, but, there is an up-trend that hopefully continues as the game grows in the area.
STA 6 v BSM 9: This was an awesome game and tip of the cap to STA for giving Benilde all they could handle. STA jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter but BSM answered to make it 3-3 at half. This game was just a grinder and BSM pulled away at the end, but, STA really came out firing and I think told us a lot about what type of team they have. BSM continues to show that even if you play them hard for a portion of the game, they can find a way to come out on top. Nobody has given them a full 48 minutes yet and the Red Knights stay undefeated.
