Last Week Of Girls Basketball Season Has Teams Jockeying For Position

Feb 21

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

As the 2010-2011 girls basketball regular season is winding down to this final week, several teams are looking to improve their own standings as section tournament play begins Monday the 28th in some sections.

Looking at Section 5A, the section broke into two halves, in the eastern half of section 5A are the Barnum Bombers holding on to what should be the top spot in the eastern half. The Bombers have two tough tests this week as they play the number one ranked Braham Bombers Tuesday night in Braham, then on Friday Barnum will host Cook County in another tough Polar League contest.

The rest of Section 5A appears to have Isle as the second ranked team in the eastern half. Isle played Barnum tough earlier in the season, falling by only six points. Cromwell currently looking at a possible seven seed has games this week against two section teams, the Eagles of East Central and Onamia. Two wins could move the Cardinals to a possible five seed; two losses could results in an opening round game on Monday the 28th.

The western half of the conference appears to have Upsala as the top ranked team with the Cardinals entering the week with an undefeated 21-0 record. Pine River-Backus, Sebeka, and Bertha-Hewitt make up the top four teams in the western half of section 5A. Several schools are looking to move into the top four this week, including Eagle Valley and Pillager.

In Section 7A, the south section of the conference currently sees Cook County with the top seed followed by Floodwood and Cherry. The Carlton Bulldogs are situated currently in fifth place, and have one game this week against section and conference opponent Floodwood. Wrenshall is ranked ninth and could move into eighth with a win over Fond du Lac on Thursday. AlBrook is currently ranked fourth in the section.

Wrenshall and Fond du Lac appear to be on course to meet again in the opening round of sectional play. The North half of Section 7A currently has the Orr Braves ranked number one, followed by Mountain Iron-Buhl. Cook is ranked third and Ely is sitting in fourth in the rankings. Tower Soudan is looking to crack the top four this week.

With a Braham Bombers win last Thursday over Esko, the Bombers again will have the top seed in the south half of the section. Braham has knocked off Esko three straight times and it appears they could meet again if both teams make runs in the sectional tournament. Mora and Rush City make up the rest of the top four teams in the south half of 7AA. Sectional play begins on Wednesday March 2nd at home sites.

The Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels are sixth in the seedings and are trying to hold on to the standings as such with Pine City right behind them ranked seventh. The Rebels close the season with Rush City and Hinckley-Finlayson. The Dragons have three games left this week and could move ahead of the Rebels by week’s end. The north half of section 7AA sees Deer River as the top seed, followed by International Falls, Eveleth-Gilbert, and Two Harbors rounding out the top four spots.

In section 7AAA, the states smallest section with only five teams; it has the Thunderhawks of Grand Rapids and Hermantown vying for the top spot. The top spot should be decided when Grand Rapids and Hermantown meet on Tuesday night in Hermantown. Hibbing currently is sitting in third place in the section standings followed by Bemidji and Cloquet.

The Lumberjacks close out the season Tuesday night with a game at home against the Duluth East Greyhounds. Bemidji holds their fate in the standing this week as they host Detroit Lakes on Tuesday night and Grand Rapids on Thursday at Grand Rapids High School. Section play begins March 1st in section 7AAA.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com