Northfield and Austin Square Off in Section 1 AAA Title Game

The Northfield Raiders will be playing for a state tournament berth this Friday night at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester. Their opponent will be No. 2-ranked Austin.

I know head coach Andy Berkvam and his staff will come up with a good game plan in an attempt to knock off the highly touted Packers.

Berkvam told KDHL after their Saturday victory it will take execution and limiting turnovers to win, just like any other game.

The Packers just get after it on defense with their trapping style and they are so long and athletic at time it has to feel like your playing against seven guys on the floor.

Austin dominated Byron 66-48 and never let the game be in doubt. The Bears missed layup after layup early, so they had their chances and were obviously getting very good shots. Austin led at the half 34-18.

The Packers ratcheted up their defense and got some steals and the end result often times is a dunk on the other end.

Austin shares the ball so well and constantly keeps the basketball moving. It is fun to watch.

Northfield downed Winona 53-49 and allowed just seven field goals in the second half.

Six-foot-4 senior Hunter Koep and 6-foot-6 sophomore Mason Zick each had 16 points for the Raiders.

The only bad thing for Northfield was their free throw shooting (7 of 14), after going 4 for 4 in the first half it's what helped Winona stay in the game.

The Winhawks weren't cashing in at the line either (12 of 21), and were equally bad in each half - 6 of 11 in the first half and 7 of 11 in the second.

Northfield is now 17-11 and Winona finishes their season 14-14.

The Austin Packers' only blemishes on their record are two losses to Rochester John Marshall.

The Section 1AAA championship is 6PM Friday and will be followed at 8PM by the Section 1AAAA title game.

Lakeville North defeated crosstown rival Lakeville South 75-50 and No. 13 state-ranked New Prague fell to No. 20-rated Rochester John Marshall 61-45.

Six-foot-9 Rocket sophomore Matthew Hurt had 37 points and I was told altered a lot of Trojan shots in the game.

No. 4 rated and No. 1 seed Lakeville North has 6-foot-10 senior Nathan Reuvers in the middle to go up against No. 20 rated and No. 3 seed John Marshall's Hurt.

Reuvers is going to Wisconsin to play college ball while Hurt is being courted by every major basketball program in the country.