Minnesota basketball rankings, week 12: Hopkins tumbles, Tartan, Woodbury jump

With most teams having played at least 20 games, there aren’t a lot of surprise teams left out there to crash the Minnesota Basketball News poll. Teams like Marshall, Fairmont and Southwest Minnesota Christian have already crashed the party, going from unranked at the start of the year to #3 in their respective class. Other teams have fallen from a high preseason ranking to outside the top 10. At this point, there seems to be more jostling for position among the teams already ranked instead of new teams making it into the poll; in fact, out of all four classes, just one new team (St. Paul Johnson) jumped into this week’s top 10.

Class 4A saw a lot of changes in the order of the top 10, as just #1 Apple Valley stayed in the same spot as they were last week. Lots of that movement came at the expense of the Hopkins Royals, whose run of dominance atop the Lake Conference is in jeopardy after back-to-back conference losses to Minnetonka and Edina. Ranked #2 last week, the Royals tumbled to #7 in this week’s poll. Jumping up three spots each were Tartan and Woodbury, two east metro teams who, along with #10 Roseville, promise to make for a very competitive Section 4AAAA. Tartan and Woodbury are ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, this week.

Class 3A’s featured a dynamic duo all year long, as DeLaSalle and Austin have held spots #1 and #2 for most of the season. The Marshall Tigers are threatening to turn that dynamic duo into a terrific trio- they’ve reached #3 in the 3A poll thanks to victories over South Dakota’s #1 and #5 ranked teams in the state’s largest division. They’ve currently got a 20-2 record this season, but will likely need to contend with #7 Waconia in the Section 2AAA playoffs in order to make the state tournament.

Class 2A saw the Hawley Nuggets edge up to #2 with their second convincing victory over fellow top-10 team Pelican Rapids, a win that assured them of no worse than a share of the Heart O’ Lakes Conference. They’ll likely see the Vikings or fellow conference member Perham for a third time deep in the Section 8AA tournament. In the southern part of the state, #3 Fairmont and #4 St. Peter are setting up for a classic encounter in the final South Central Conference game of the season. Fairmont defeated the Saints by 5 on their home floor earlier in the season; the rematch is coming up on Feb. 28 in St. Peter.

The top seven teams stayed in their same spots in the Class 1A poll, with Maranatha Christian still leading the way. They’ve played a very strong schedule this season, defeating large schools Robbinsdale Cooper and Minneapolis Washburn while dropping a game to Duluth East by 3, their only loss of the season. They’ve played Heritage Lutheran and West Lutheran, two other schools ranked in 1A, in conference play, and defeated them by an average of 28 points. Heritage, currently ranked #7, gets another crack at Maranatha this Friday night.

The Feb. 13 Minnesota Basketball News poll, along with this week’s results and upcoming games:

Class 4A

1. Apple Valley (20-1; Last week- #1)
This week: d. Burnsville 88-70; at Bloomington Jefferson, 7pm Friday

2. Osseo (19-2; Last week- #3)
This week: d. Robbinsdale Armstrong 68-57; vs. Maple Grove, 7pm Friday

3. Park Center (19-2; Last week- #4)
This week: d. Anoka 78-26; at Elk River, 7pm Friday

4. Tartan (18-3; Last week- #7)
This week: d. Henry Sibley 67-64; vs. St. Thomas Academy, 7:30pm Friday

5. Woodbury (18-3; Last week- #8)
This week: d. White Bear Lake 95-57; at Forest Lake, 7:15pm Thursday

6. Minnetonka (17-4; Last week- #5)
This week: l. to Centennial 76-66; at #8 Eden Prairie, 7pm Friday

7. Hopkins (17-4; Last week- #2)
This week: l. to Edina 66-63 (OT); vs. Wayzata, 7pm Friday

8. Eden Prairie (15-6; Last week- #6)
This week: l. to Wayzata 67-43; vs. #6 Minnetonka, 7pm Friday

9. Lakeville North (17-4; Last week- #10)
This week: d. Bloomington Jefferson 66-51; at Rosemount, 7pm Friday

10. Roseville (17-4; Last week- #9)
This week: d. Park of Cottage Grove 76-35; vs. Stillwater, 7:15pm Friday

Class 3A

1. DeLaSalle (17-1; Last week- #1)
This week: d. #6 Blake 79-54; vs. Concordia Academy-Roseville, 7pm Thursday; vs. Cretin-Derham Hall, 4pm Saturday

2. Austin (21-0; Last week- #2)
This week: d. Faribault 78-31; at Rochester Century, 7:30pm Friday

3. Marshall (20-2; Last week- #4)
This week: d. Watertown (SD) 67-62; vs. Worthington, 7:30pm Friday

4. Holy Angels (15-6; Last week- #3)
This week: d. Red Wing 68-60; vs. Farmington, 7:30pm Friday

5. Delano (19-2; Last week- #7)
This week: d. #8 Waconia 58-57; vs. Annandale, 7:30pm Friday

6. Blake (14-6; Last week- #6)
This week: l. to #1 DeLaSalle 79-54; at St. Anthony Village, 7pm Thursday; vs. Richfield, 2pn Saturday

7. Waconia (17-5; Last week- #8)
This week: l. to #7 Delano 58-57; at Holy Family Catholic, 5pm Saturday

8. St. Paul Johnson (11-7; Last week- not ranked)
This week: d. St. Paul Humboldt 95-57; vs. St. Paul Central, 7pm Thursday

9. Hermantown (17-3; Last week- #9)
This week: d. #5 Grand Rapids 62-47; vs. Moose Lake-Willow River, 7:15pm Thursday; vs. Ashland (WI), 7:15pm Friday

10. Grand Rapids (15-4; Last week- #5)
This week: l. to #9 Hermantown 62-47; vs. Superior (WI), 7:30pm Thursday

Class 2A

1. Melrose (20-1; Last week- #1)
This week: at Morris/Chokio-Alberta, 6pm Thursday; vs. Minnewaska, 6pm FRiday

2. Hawley (18-1; Last week- #3)
This week: d. #10 Pelican Rapids 87-64; vs. Frazee, 7:30pm Friday

3. Fairmont (18-3; Last week- #5)
This week: d. Redwood Valley 68-59; at Waseca, 7:30pm Thursday

4. St. Peter (18-2; Last week- #6)
This week: d. Blue Earth 64-61; d. New Ulm 88-38; at St. James, 7:30pm Friday

5. Maple River (18-4; Last week- #4)
This week: d. Mankato Loyola 73-62; vs. Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial, 7:30pm Thursday; at Martin County West, 6pm Saturday

6. Minnehaha Academy (16-5; Last week- #8)
This week: d. St. Agnes 103-55

7. Byron (19-3; Last week- #2)
This week: d. #9 Rochester Lourdes 49-46; at Goodhue, 7:15pm Friday

8. St. Cloud Cathedral (16-5; Last week- #7)
This week: d. Becker 83-58; l. to Mora 71-69; vs. Little Falls, 7:30pm Friday; vs. Rocori, 7:30pm Saturday

9. Rochester Lourdes (16-6; Last week- #9)
This week: l. to #2 Byron 49-46; vs. Zumbrota-Mazeppa, 7:15pm Friday

10. Pelican Rapids (14-6; Last week- #10)
This week: l. to #3 Hawley 87-64; vs. Breckenridge, 7:30pm Friday; vs. Pequot Lakes, 2:30pm Saturday

Class 1A

1. Maranatha Christian (20-1; Last week- #1)
This week: d. PACT Charter 78-42; at #7 Heritage Christian, 7:30pm Friday

2. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (19-1; Last week- #2)
This week: at Kimball, 7:30pm Thursday

3. Southwest Minnesota Christian (19-1; Last week- #3)
This week: d. Murray County Central 93-49; vs. Mountain Lake, 7:30pm Friday

4. Upsala (18-0; Last week- #4)
This week: d. Osakis 76-44; vs. Bertha-Hewitt, 3:45pm Saturday

5. Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (21-1; Last week- #5)
This week: at Lincoln HI, 7:30pm Friday

6. Browerville (15-2; Last week- #6)
This week: d. Swanville 61-50; vs. St. John’s Prep, 6pm Thursday

7. Heritage Christian (19-3; Last week- #7)
This week: l. to Minneapolis Roosevelt 66-60; vs. #1 Maranatha Christian, 7:30pm Friday

8. Rushford-Peterson (19-3; Last week- #10)
This week: d. Fillmore Central 77-51; vs. Lanesboro, 7:30pm Friday

9. Dawson-Boyd (16-4; Last week- #9)
This week: vs. Lakeview, 7:30pm Friday