Practice Begins Monday for 2020 Fall Sports Season

 Good news for high school athletes.  After a lengthy layoff due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the start of fall sports practice begins throughout Minnesota Monday, August 17.  

Practice will begin in football, soccer, volleyball, cross country, girls tennis and girls swimming.  

But things will be different this fall.  Due to the health risk of high contacts sports including football and volleyball, their respective seasons will be delayed until late March.  However, the rest of the fall sports can go on as scheduled but with reduced seasons. 

Looking at St. Louis Park's fall schedule on the Metro West Conference website, there seems to be a common thread with each of the fall sports.  No nonconference games are scheduled.  All games are against Metro West opponents.  

The first Oriole athletic team to open the season is girls tennis as St. Louis Park hosts city rival Benilde-St. Margaret's in a 5 PM match on Wednesday, August 26.  

On the 27th, both the boys and girls soccer teams begin their season in Bloomington against the Jefferson Jaguars with the girls game at 5 PM and the boys at 7:15 PM.  This is a change from previous years when soccer doubleheaders were slotted at 5 & 7 PM.  According to Brittani Schroeder, assistant activities director at St. Louis Park, the reason for the time change is that the stadium will be cleared following the first game in order to allow parents to see their sons or daughters play.  Get outside and cheer on these athletes but please exercise social distancing.  

Big Changes Coming in High School Sports

 Are you ready for spring football?  

That will be one of the changes the Minnesota State High School League approved at its August 4 Board Meeting when it decided to switch the football and volleyball seasons to early spring, starting in mid-March and moving the spring sports season into mid May and running into the summer.  

These changes were implemented due to the COVID 19 pandemic that shut down the spring sports season and made the fall season uncertain with the rising number of positive COVID 19 tests throughout the nation.  

But there will be good news for fall sports participants, coaches and fans.  The season will go one for soccer, cross country, girls tennis and and girls swimming but will be a bit shorter than usual.  The boys and girls soccer seasons will be reduced by 20%.  But will there be section and state tournament play?  

Looking at the St. Louis Park soccer schedules (where the author of this blog will begin his 25th season as the public address announcer), many of the nonconference games have been deleted.  How many will there be?  The MSHSL Board stated that teams should play only one or two games per week.

As the fall sports season has been settled, what about winter sports such as basketball and hockey?  Will fans be allowed to attend?  Will the seasons proceed as scheduled?  

Fall sports practice begins August 17.  

HSGN Celebrates Four Years of Blogging

Today, August 1 marks the fourth anniversary of the day HSGN joined the blogosphere, writing about high school sports and game shows. 

Unfortunately, due to the COVID 19 pandemic that shut down the whole spring sports season throughout Minnesota, there has been little to write about for HSGN. 

But there have been things worth mentioning on the high school sports scene.  First, Hopkins girls basketball coach Brian Cosgriff retired after 21 seasons.  The Royals were one game away from a second consecutive state title until the state tournament was cancelled due to the pandemic. 

Next, will there be a fall sports season in Minnesota?  The Minnesota State High School League meets August 4 to render a decision on how fall sports should proceed.  Should it be business as usual or a shortened season.  Or will the season be postponed or cancelled? 

Finally, HSGN would like to extend the best of luck to Brad Brubaker.  Brubaker, according to slpschools.org, retired from his teaching position after 32 years with the district.  He was the head girls track coach, assistant girls soccer coach where his daughter Lydia also played for the Orioles and is now an assistant.  His son, Nathan also played soccer for St. Louis Park.  Brubaker also served as the public address announcer for Oriole girls basketball games. 

On the game show front, it's been a mix of reruns and new episodes due to COVID 19 for ABC's Sunday and Thursday night lineups.  Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy are about to resume taping after weeks of reruns but it will be a different vibe because there will be no studio audience. 

So that's what's happening since the last post.  Happy Anniversary HSGN and hopefully there will be something worth posting soon that would be of interest. 

Metro West Conference to Expand to 10 Teams in 2021-22 Season

New conference rivals will be coming for the St. Louis Park Orioles and the Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights in the 2021-22 season as the Metro West Conference will expand from seven teams to 10. 

The Waconia Wildcats, Orono Spartans and New Prague Trojans will be moving from the Wright County Conference to the Metro West. 

St. Louis Park activities director Andy Ewald gave his reaction to the new Metro West schools in the June 18 St. Louis Park/Hopkins Sun-Sailor.  

"We are going into it with an open mind and be a good conference member.  We know the new schools are excited about joining the conference and if we have unintended consequences, that's on us to deal with them as they come up. "

He also commented on scheduling.  "It takes away our ability to schedule section opponents or other schools around us." 

As for Benilde-St. Margaret's, the school will reunite with Orono since they were in the late Metro Alliance Conference and New Prague when they were part of another defunct conference, the Missota.   The Red Knights have been rivals in section soccer for years and the rivalry will be revived in the 2021 soccer season.  Orono is currently in Section 6A and BSM in Section 6A. 

The addition of Waconia will also create a natural rivalry with both Carver County schools, Chaska and Chanhassen.  The three communities are located in the vicinity of Highways 5 and 212. 

The new 10 team Metro West Conference begins in 2021-22.  Get ready for some inteersting conference races in the years to come. 

Pandemic Ends High School Sports Season

If you are wondering why HSGN hasn't posted anything in more than a month, it's not because the author of this blog is lazy, there hasn't been anything to write about since the state basketball tournaments were cancelled due to the COVID 19 outbreak. 

Until now. 

Last Wednesday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced during the daily health briefing that schools throughout the state will be closed the remainder of the school year.  It also means that the high school spring sports season, including state tournaments in baseball, softball, lacrosse, track and field and boys tennis will not be held. 

This is a crushing blow to many senior athletes, who look toward ending their athletic careers before obtaining their diploma in June. Governor Walz's mandate signifies that venues at St. Louis Park and Benilde-St. Margaret's will be filled, to quote Simon and Garfunkel with The Sound of Silence. 

How will the shutdown impact the upcoming fall sports season?  Fall sports practice begins on August 17 with the boys soccer season opening for St. Louis Park on Thursday, August 27 against the perennial power Blake Bears at 7 PM in Hopkins.  The girls season opens on Saturday, August 29 with a 1 PM game against the Armstrong Falcons at Plymouth. 

The Oriole football team begins its maiden voyage under first year head coach Jason Foster Thursday, September 3 at 7 PM in Chaska. 

We can hope that fall sports will go on.  Stay safe, stay healthy and stay right here for further updates. 

2020 State Class A Girls Basketball Tournament Quarterfinal Preview

2020 STATE CLASS A GIRLS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE
                      (Games played Thursday, March 12 at Maturi Pavilion) 

11:00:  Red Lake vs. Minneota (Seed 1)
 1:00:   Heritage Christian Academy (Seed 5) vs. Waterville-Elysian-Morristown (Seed 4)
 3:00:   Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa vs. Cromwell-Wright (Seed 2)
 5:00;   Fillmore Central vs. Henning (Seed 3)

Examining the field:  If you plan on attending the Class A quarterfinals instead of the Class AAA semifinals at The Barn, you might want to pay $5 for a program because there are four teams making their Class A debut.  Not so in the opening game which pits the Red Lake Warriors against the top seeded and defending Class A champion Minneota Vikings.  The Warriors, seeded third in Section 8, beat the top seeded Fosston Grehounds to advance to the title game where they beat fourth seeded Badger-Greenbush-Middle River 64-54.  Red Lake got off to a slow start before heading to Minneapolis on a 17-1 run that included four games where they broke the 100 point mark.  The Vikings, under the veteran leadership of Chad Johnston lost only one game in the regular season to the Goodhue Wildcats.  It's the ninth trip to state for Minneota, led by The Hennen Sisters, Abby and Morgan.  Can they add another championship trophy to their case? 

In the second game, the fifth seeded Heritage Christian Academy Eagles make their third straight trip down I-94 to the state tournament.  Last season, the Eagles lost to Minneota in the semifinals and didn't leave the Twin Cities empty handed since they took home the third place trophy.  Their opponent is the first of the four newcomers in the Class A field, the fourth seeded Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers.  The Buccaneers enter state tournament play on an eight game winning streak after starting the season 15-0.  Could there be a rematch of last year's Class A semifinal between the Eagles and the Vikings or will the Buccaneers ship contend for the state title? 

Next up is another first time team.  The Belgrade-Brooten Jaguars got hot at the right time, winning four straight section games, including an 18 point upset win over top seeded Walker-Hackensack-Akeley.  Rhey face the second seeded Cromwell-Wright Cardinals, who lost to the Minneota Vikings and the Hermantown Hawks by a combined total of four points.  It's the third trip to state for Cromwell-Wright and the fifth for the growing metropolis of 234 inhabitants.  Is a potential state title game in the Cards for Cromwell-Wright. 

Concluding the Class A  quarterfinals is a couple of first time teams as the Fillmore Central Falcons face the third seeded Henning Hornets.  The Falcons, based in the Amish community of Harmony were the second seed in Section 1 and beat the Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms in the section final.  Last season, the Henning boys basketball team captured the hearts of state tournament fans by winning the Class A title for the first time since they played in the one class tournament in 1966.  This year, it's the girls turn to make the trip to Minneapolis and the Hornets are red hot, winning nine straight games.  Will it be another season to remember for Henning basketball fans? 

Those are the previews of the four classes.  Plenty of outstanding girls basketball over the tournament's four days. 

2020 Class AA State Girls Basketball Tournament Quarterfinal Preview

2020 CLASS AA STATE GIRLS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE

                       (Games played Wednesday, March 11)

AT WILLIAMS ARENA

6:00:  Concordia Academy vs. Rochester Lourdes (Seed 1)

8:00:  Waseca (Seed 5) vs. Pelican Rapids (Seed 4)

AT MATURI PAVILION

6:00:  Providence Academy vs. Sauk Centre (Seed 2)

8:00:  Duluth Marshall vs. New London-Spicer (Seed 3) 

Examining the field:  A new champion will be crowned in Class AA due to the Concordia Academy Beacons ending the Minnehaha Academy Redhawks six year run as Section 4 champions.  That's the good news for the Roseville school.  Now the bad news.  They go up against the top ranked and top seeded Rochester Lourdes Eagles.  One of the top girls basketball programs in the state, the Eagles advanced to their 19th state tournament and will battle for their ninth state title trophy, the first for current head coach Aaron Berg, who took over the coaching reigns after Myron Glass retired.  Can the Beacons lights shine bright against the top seeded Eagles or will the home of the Mayo Clinic add another state title?  

Closing the day's festivities at The Barn is the Waseca Bluejays, playing their first season in Class AA after the sections were reconfigured last spring by the Minnesota State High School League.  The Bluejays head to Minneapolis winning nine of their last ten games.  The opposition is the fourth seeded Pelican Rapids Vikings, heading down I-94 for the first time since 2013.  The Vikings are unbeaten at 29-0 and they are seeded fourth?  They were the second seed in Section 8 and beat the top seeded Fergus Falls Otters.  Can Pelican Rapids prove that they are one of the top teams in Minnesota and set up a possible showdown with Rochester Lourdes?  

Next door at Maturi Pavilion, the Providence Academy Lions are back in the state tournament for the first time since 2013.  The lions are on a five game winning streak and go up against the powerhouse from the home of Sinclair Lewis,  Sauk Centre.  Head coach Scott Bergman has led the Mainstreeters into their ninth and their fifth in sixth years.  They came out of perhaps the toughest section in the state, Section 6 as the number two seed behind a team they lost to in the regular season, the Albany Huskies.  Don't count out the Mainstreeters, they could be back for Saturday afternoon's Class AA final.  

Wrapping up Quarterfinal Wednesday is the Duluth Marshall Hilltoppers, returning to Minneapolis for the first time in 20 years.  Marshall is best known for their outstanding boys hockey program but this time is the girls basketball team's turn to take the state tournament spotlight.  The Hilltoppers have a tough hill to climb in the third seeded New London-Spicer Wildcats.  The Wildcats will play in their 18th state tournament, all under the veteran leadership of Mike Dreier.  Their only loss this season was to Sauk Centre on December 19 55-50.  Could there be a rematch in the semifinals?  

Next.  The Class A quarterfinal preview.