Minnesota Boys Basketball
Windom Holiday Classic
Championship
Windom vs. Glencoe-Silver Lake-7:45pm
3^rd Place
Martin County West vs. Fulda-6:00pm

Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Tournament
Championship
Wabasso vs. Russell-Tyler-Ruthton-8:00pm
3^rd Place
Adrian vs. Red Rock Central-6:30pm

SMSU Tournament in Marshall
Montevideo vs. Mankato East-6:00pm
Marshall vs. Tracy-Milroy-Balaton-7:30pm
 

Minnesota Girls Basketball
Pipestone vs. Deuel (SD) in Brookings

Mankato Loyola Crusader Classic
At Fitzgerald Gym
Championship
Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial vs. Waterville-Elysian-Morristown-7:45pm
3^rd Place
Mankato Loyola vs. LeSueur-Henderson-6:00pm

At Loyola
5th place
Jackson County Central vs. Martin Luther-7:45pm
7th place
FAIR School vs. Mounds Park Academy-6:00pm

Wrestling
58 teams will begin competing today at the Rumble on the Red at the Fargodome in Fardo (ND).  Area teams competing include Jackson County Central, Windom/Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin, Adrian and Minneota

Boys Hockey
Worthington vs Mankato East at the All Seasons Arena in Mankato-3:00pm
Windom vs. Becker in Princeton-1:00pm

Girls Hockey:
Worthington vs Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Wadena-Deer Creek at Schwan’s Cup at National Sports Center in Blaine-4:00pm

Iowa Boys Basketball Rankings
As of 12/20/2011

First Place votes are in parentheses, followed by record and total points

Class 1A
1. Danville (13)  7-0 139
2. Storm Lake Saint Mary's (1)  5-0 112
3. Northeast Hamilton  8-0 101
4. Boyden-Hull  5-1 80
5. Treynor  7-0 65
6. Kingsley-Pierson  5-0 50
7. Lone Tree  7-0 47
8. Harris-Lake Park  6-0 44
9. North Iowa  6-1 26
10. North Linn  8-0 24
Others receiving votes: Keota 19, Nodaway Valley 15, Iowa Mennonite 9, Council Bluffs St. Albert 8, Exira 7, Le Mars Gehlen Catholic 5, Lisbon 5, Lawton-Bronson 4, Oakland Riverside 3, Pleasantville 3, Algona Garrigan 3, Lynnville-Sully 1

Class 2A
1. West Marshall (9)  7-0 134
2. West Fork (4)  6-0 113
3. Des Moines Christian  7-0 82
4. Mount Vernon (1)  6-1 76
5. Denver 8 -0 49
6. Sioux Center  6-1 35
7. Western Christian  4-2 33
(tie) Carroll Kuemper Catholic  6-2 33
9. Dyersville Beckman  6-1 30
10. North Cedar  5-1 29
Others receiving votes: Fort Dodge St. Edmond 26, Goose Lake Northeast 25, Ogden 21, Iowa City Regina 20, Roland-Story 18, West Branch 15, Davis County 8, Cascade 6, Forest City 6, Monticello 3, Unity Christian 3, Monroe PCM 2, Clarinda 2, Mediapolis 1

Class 3A
1. Waverly-Shell Rock (11)  6-0 137
2. MOC-Floyd Valley (2)  7-0 125
3. Iowa Falls-Alden (1)  6-0 100
4. Mount Pleasant  6-1 77
5. Sioux City Heelan  4-1 72
6. Davenport Assumption  4-2 70
7. Le Mars 6-0 67
8. Dallas Center-Grimes  6-0 38
9. Western Dubuque  4-1 17
10. ADM, Adel  6-1 14
Others receiving votes: Dubuque Wahlert 12, Atlantic 9, Harlan 7, Carroll 6, New Hampton 6, Williamsburg 4, Webster City 3, Ballard 3, Solon 2, Cresco Crestwood 1

Class 4A
1. Iowa City West (9)  6-0 135
2. Ankeny (5)  6-0 131
3. Dubuque Senior  5-0 99
4. West Des Moines Valley  6-1 93
5. Sioux City East  5-1 72
6. Waukee  5-1 57
7. Cedar Falls  3-1 54
8. Cedar Rapids Jefferson  6-0 47
9. Linn-Mar  3-2 42
10. Southeast Polk  5-1 25
Others receiving votes: Cedar Rapids Kennedy 9, North Scott 6

The Latest Minnesota Boys Basketball Rankings, provided by Minnesota Basketball News

As of December 28th, 2011

Class 1A
1. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (7-0)
2. Southwest Minnesota Christian (5-0)
3. Ellsworth (7-1)
4. Dawson-Boyd (5-0)
5. Lakeview Christian (6-0)
6. Browerville (7-0)
7. Ashby (6-0)
8. MACCRAY (5-2)
9. Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin (6-0) 
10. Spring Grove (5-1)

Class 2A
1. Perham (8-0)
2. Pelican Rapids (5-1)
3. Montevideo (5-1)
4. Braham (5-1)
5. Watertown-Mayer (5-1)
6. Maple River (8-0)
7. St. Peter (5-1)
8. Waterville-Elysian-Morristown (6-1)
9. Plainview-Elgin-Millville (7-1)
10. Redwood Valley (7-0)

Class 3A
1. Benilde-Saint Margaret's (6-1)
2. Minneapolis Washburn (6-0)
3. Grand Rapids (5-1)
4. Spring Lake Park (5-1)
5. Richfield (4-1)
6. Blake (5-0)
7. Mankato East (4-1)
8. DeLaSalle (4-1)
9. Willmar (4-1)
10. Thief River Falls (5-1)

Class 4A
1. Eastview (6-0)
2. Hopkins (6-1)
3. Osseo (7-0)
4. Lakeville North (6-0)
5. Eden Prairie (5-1)
6. Apple Valley (4-1)
7. Wayzata (7-0)
8. Tartan (4-1)
9. Minnetonka (6-1)
10. Roseville (4-1)

Here are the latest Minnesota Girls Basketball Rankings, provided by Minnesota Basketball News

As of December 28th, 2011

Class 1A
1. Maranatha (4-2)
2. Goodhue (9-1)
3. Parkers Prairie (8-0)
4. Spring Grove (9-2)
5. Mountain Iron-Buhl (9-0) 
6. Fulda (7-0)
7. Upsala (5-0)
8. Pine River-Backus (6-0)
9. North Woods (6-0)
10. Minneota (8-1) 

Class 2A
1. Providence Academy (6-3)
2. Braham (9-0)
3. Hawley (5-0)
4. Esko (8-0)
5. Staples-Motley (5-2) 
6. New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva (7-0)
7. Caledonia (8-1)
8. Pine Island (9-0)
9. St. Peter (6-1)
10. Jordan (7-1)

Class 3A
1. Fergus Falls (8-0)
2. DeLaSalle (6-2)
3. Richfield (7-2)
4. Hill-Murray (5-2) 
5. Benilde-St. Margaret's (6-2)
6. Chisago Lakes (6-2) 
7. Hutchinson (8-0)
8. Holy Family (6-2)
9. Simley (7-0) 
10. Mankato East (7-1)

Class 4A
1. Hopkins (9-0)
2. Edina (8-0)
3. Bloomington Kennedy (8-1)
4. Wayzata (7-1)
5. Eden Prairie (8-1)
6. Lakeville North (6-3)
7. Minnetonka (7-1)
8. Roseville (7-0)
9. Robbinsdale Cooper (6-2)
10. Chanhassen (6-2)

Here are the latest rankings for Iowa Girls Basketball Teams.  Rankings provided by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

Released December 22nd, 2011

2011-2012 FIFTH Iowa Girls High School Basketball Rankings 

Class 1A

		School		Record		LW
1		North Mahaska		9-0		1
2		Bedford		10-0		2
3		Ar-We-Va		6-0		3
4		North Butler		7-1		4
5		LeMars Gehlen Catholic		8-0		5
6		West Sioux		8-0		7
7		Lynnville-Sully		10-1		9
8		Central Lyon		8-1		12
9		Newell-Fonda		5-3		6
10		Villisca		8-1		10
11		Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton		8-1		13
12		North Tama		8-2		8
13		Adair-Casey		9-1		14
14		Burlington-Notre Dame		6-2		11
15		Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn		6-2		15

Dropped Out: None

Class 2A  

		School		Record		LW
1		OA-BCIG		10-0		1
2		Estherville-Lincoln Central		10-0		2
3		IKM-Manning		7-1		3
4		West Hancock		9-0		4
5		Fort Dodge St. Edmond		9-0		7
6		Mediapolis		9-0		8
7		Gilbert		9-0		9
8		Western Christian		8-0		10
9		Kuemper Catholic		6-3		5
10		Lawton-Bronson		5-3		11
11		Pella Christian		5-1		13
12		Panorama		8-1		14
13		North Linn		11-0		NR
14		Monticello		9-1		6
15		Van Buren		8-1		12

Dropped Out: Hinton (15)

Class 3A

		School		Record		LW
1		South Tama		10-0		1
2		Benton		9-0		3
3		Davenport Assumption		6-1		2
4		MOC-Floyd Valley		8-0		4
5		Glenwood		8-0		5
6		Sioux City Bishop Heelan		7-0		6
7		Dubuque Wahlert		7-2		7
8		Sergeant Bluff-Luton		6-1		8
9		Bondurant-Farrar		9-0		9
10		Union		8-1		10
11		Washington		7-1		11
12		Marion		7-1		12
13		Williamsburg		10-2		13
14		Waverly-Shell Rock		5-3		NR
15		New Hampton		6-1		NR

Dropped Out:  Spirit Lake (14), Ballard (15)

Class 4A

		School		Record		LW
1		Iowa City West		9-0		1
2		Southeast Polk		9-0		2
3		Ames		9-0		3
4		Ankeny		8-1		4
5		Cedar Rapids Xavier		9-2		8
6		Waukee		5-3		6
7		Mason City		9-1		7
8		Iowa City High		8-2		12
9		Cedar Rapids Washington		5-1		5
10		West Des Moines Valley		8-1		9
11		Cedar Rapids Prairie		6-3		NR
12		Linn-Mar		6-4		10
13		Lewis Central		6-1		14
14		Cedar Falls		7-3		15
15		Muscatine		7-2		11

Dropped Out:  Dowling Catholic (13)

Former Worthington Trojan Girls Basketball Standout Martha Alwal has been named the Southeastern Conference’s Women’s Basketball Freshman of the Week. 

Alwal, who now plays for the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs, earned a starting nod in her first collegiate game last Friday against Jacksonville State.  Alwal scored 4 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked 10 shots as the Lady Bulldogs won 78-41.  The 10 blocked shots set a new Mississippi State single-game school record.

Alwal followed that performance with another double-double on Monday in Mississippi State’s 71-65 win over Xavier.  Alwal scored 14 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked 3 shots.

Mississippi State is now 2-0 on the season and will be back in action Thursday versus Alcorn State

The Southwest Conference has released their 2011 All-Conference Volleyball Team

All-Conference:
Taylor Heidebrink, Worthington
Whitney Burmeister, Jackson County Central
Kaylee Benson, Jackson County Central
Michelle Van Epps, Jackson County Central
Abby Hayenga, Windom
Hali Tasler, Windom
Kenzie Beekman, Marshall
Morgan McKittrick, Marshall
Jessica Baker, Marshall
Sydney Griffin, Marshall
Liz Smith, Redwood Valley
Amanda Haupert, Pipestone

Honorable Mention:
Tara Svalland, Worthington
Mackenzie Gerber, Worthington
Kelsey Hanefeld, Windom
Samantha Felt, Redwood Valley
Cheyenne Hemme, Luverne
Hannah Bennett, Marshall

The methods for seeding competition at the section level for advancement to state tournaments have had one thing in common, they were consistently inconsistent.

That is changing effective this school year. All section team competition will now be seeded one of three ways:  1) point system
2) face-to-face meetings of the coaches
3) an electronic process via computer, fax or telephone.

The new seeding requirement follows a multi-year review by League staff and administrative region secretaries with the purpose of developing greater consistency from one region to the next. The League Board of Directors last year adopted a number of recommendations from staff that are effective with this school year, including the consistent seeding methods.

           
The use of a common point system is the method that is most misunderstood. The League collaborated with Minnesota-Scores.net to refine what Minnesota-Scores.net terms a Quality Results Formula or QRF, originally unveiled in 2002. The new QRF has been reviewed by both coaches and athletic administrators and tested against examples of actual 2010-11 section seeding results.

Probably the most controversial part of the former QRF was Margin of Victory/Defeat (“MOV/D”). As part of the agreement with Minnesota-Scores.net, MOV/D has been completely removed, leaving the formula with three parameters:

            1. Win or Lose the game

            2. Opponent’s Class

            3. Opponent’s Wins

The point system used at the section level in the past did not take into account the number of opponent wins, only the opponent’s class. As a result, all opponents in the same class were treated identically, no matter what their record was. Also, varied degrees of credit were given to opponents in each class. By utilizing the new QRF, sections will be applying the same criteria in every corner of the state and will be able to better quantify the quality of the opponent based on their win total.

Ties will first be broken by head-to-head competition. The next option is to use section winning percentage, and then overall winning percentage. If all of those options don’t break a tie, a coin-flip will be used.

The first QRF of the fall season will be released on Monday, Sept. 19, at 2:00pm and will be subsequently calculated weekly for football and daily for all other sports.

An example of the application and comparison of the new QRF versus the actual 2010 seeding of one 2010 football section can be found at http://minnesota-scores.blogspot.com/2011/09/qrf-explained-in-detail.html.

Every administrative region oversees multiple sections of each activity, and the choice of seeding method may vary from section to section and sport to sport.  With the face-to-face method, coaches meet at one location, share information and then vote on placement. The League has highly recommended (but not required) that each coach’s high and low rankings be discarded; that ties first be broken by head-to-head competition; and if necessary to break a tie, throw out the rankings given each other by the tied teams. As a last resort, it is recommended that a coin-flip be used to break a tie.

With the electronic method, coaches share information about their teams via conference call, e-mail or fax. The ranking is then done online, with each coach ranking every team except his/her own. Each coach’s high and low ranking is discarded, and the lowest total ranking becomes the high seed, and so on. The tie-breaking procedures mentioned above as recommendations are mandatory for the electronic seeding process.

The section consistency policy also includes a mandatory process of handling forfeits that occur both before and after the seeding process. Specific action is dependent on the exact circumstances of the forfeit. There is also a policy relating to fees allowed for renting venues for section tournaments.

Here are the Final Iowa High School Volleyball Rankings

Rankings provided by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union

Class 1A 

		School		Record		LW
1		Tripoli		33-3		1
2		LeMars Gehlen Catholic		27-1		2
3		Holy Trinity Catholic		38-2		3
4		Boyden-Hull		22-3		4
5		Stanton		28-1		5
6		Janesville		25-10		7
7		Marquette Catholic		28-4		8
8		Bedford		28-7		9
9		East Union		27-4		6
10		Woodward-Granger		13-4		11
11		Lisbon		24-8		14
12		River Valley		23-10		15
13		Algona Bishop Garrigan		16-9		NR
14		Ar-We-Va		19-8		NR
15		Guthrie Center		14-6		12

 Dropped Out: Adair-Casey (10), Preston (12)

 

Class 2A  

		School		Record		LW
1		Western Christian		38-0		1
2		Lake Mills		37-0		2
3		Dike-New Hartford		37-3		3
4		Grundy Center		37-1		4
5		Sumner-Fredericksburg		27-2		5
6		Mediapolis		34-1		6
7		Sheldon		26-3		7
8		Pella Christian		20-4		8
9		West Branch		34-4		12
10		West Liberty		22-10		10
11		Gilbert		22-5		13
12		Edgewood-Colesburg		25-2		9
13		Maple Valley-Anthon-Oto		23-6		14
14		Tri-Center		26-3		15
15		Roland-Story		20-5		11

Dropped Out: None

Class 3A

		School		Record		LW
1		Dubuque Wahlert		21-7		1
2		Solon		26-1		2
3		Waverly-Shell Rock		36-3		3
4		West Delaware		33-5		6
5		Sioux City Bishop Heelan		33-9		4
6		Charles City		25-6		7
7		Maquoketa		27-4		7
8		Bondurant-Farrar		28-6		5
9		Union		28-7		9
10		Harlan		27-6		11
11		Central DeWitt		20-14		10
12		Red Oak		19-5		12
13		Davenport Assumption		22-9		NR
14		Carroll		20-8		15
15		Algona		19-8		NR

 

Dropped Out:  Fairfield (13), MOC-Floyd Valley (14)

 

Class 4A  

		School		Record		LW
1		Iowa City West		27-6		1
2		Iowa City High		30-2		2
3		Ankeny		21-5		3
4		Dubuque Hempstead		22-6		10
5		Dowling Catholic		19-7		5
6		Southeast Polk		21-4		6
7		Cedar Rapids Kennedy		22-8		7
8		Waukee		22-5		8
9		Pleasant Valley		24-6		9
10		Urbandale		26-7		4
11		Cedar Falls		22-9		11
12		Lewis Central		22-7		12
13		Ames		21-11		15
14		Johnston		18-9		13
15		Clinton		18-9		NR

 

Dropped Out: Muscatine (14)

Iowa High School State Baseball Tournament in Des Moines

Class 1A-First Round
#1 Martensdale-St. Mary’s (41-0) vs #8 English Valleys, North English (9-15)-Noon

#4 Coon Rapids-Bayard (29-5) vs #5 Preston (22-11)-2:00pm

#3 Lansing Kee (37-7) vs #6 George-Little Rock (13-11)-6:00pm

#2 Mason City Newman Catholic (34-4) vs #7 Orient-Macksburg (13-15)-8:00pm