New London-Spicer girls basketball team stifles Sauk Centre 40-26 in a true conference championship game, owns #1 seed in Sub-Section 6AA-East

The Wildcats are 24-1 (15-1 league) as they wrap up the season with the West Central North Conference championship. The Mainstreeters are 23-2 (14-2 league), with both regular season losses coming at the hands of NL-S.

Sauk Centre was held to eight field goals for the entire game. (Ouch!) It was perhaps the biggest regular-season game in decades for the Mainstreeters, who could have won their first-ever conference title in girls basketball.

NL-S, meanwhile, won their first-ever West Central North Conference crown, after finishing runners-up to Albany the past three seasons. Prior to being moved to the WCCN, the Wildcats had won 15 straight West Central South Conference titles, beginning in 1990-1991.

Tonight's game was held in Sauk Centre, and it was aired on 106.5 FM "The Train" out of the Norway Lake/Sunburg area.

Here's my predictions for seedings (not rocket science, things are pretty clear as of now)...

1- NL-S
2- Sauk Centre
3- Albany
4- B-B-E
5- A-C-GC
6- Holdingford
7- Paynesville Area
8- Melrose Area

In other girls basketball action...The Hancock Owls handed Brandon-Evansville their first loss of the season in a thrilling 58-55 overtime win. Hancock's outstanding junior guard, Bree Holleman, made two 3-pointers and two free throws in the overtime period to drop the 5th-ranked Class 1A Chargers to 21-1 overall. The 6th-ranked Owls improved to 17-3.

In the Central Minnesota Conference, Eden Valley-Watkins improved to 13-0 in the league with a surprisingly close 57-53 win over 4th-place Rockford. The Eagles had already clinched a share of the conference title, but with this win they will own it outright. It marks the fifth straight year they won the CMC alone. Rockford falls to 6-6 in the CMC and 8-17 overall.

The Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta Tigers defeated Minnewaska Area 59-54 in a game of top teams from the West Central South Conference and also Sub-Section 6AA-West. The Tigers (19-4 overall) may have locked up the top playoff seed for the west half of Section 6AA.

In boys basketball action...New London-Spicer earned a share of the West Central North Conference title with a 79-64 win over Foley, which is 8-6 in the WCCN and 12-8 overall. The Wildcats also won the title outright last season, on their way to winning the Class AA championship. NL-S is 13-2 in the WCCN and 17-7 overall. They could be seeded anywhere from #1 to #3 in Sub-Section 6AA-East. (Having two losses to fellow sub-section member Albany does not help their case for a #1 or #2 seed, however.)

Area boys basketball scores:
Dawson-Boyd 63, LQPV 55
KMS 77, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 55 (K-M-S is 17-7 overall, one of their best records ever in boys basketball for the Fighting Saints)
CMCS 67, Hancock 54
MACCRAY 87, Redwood Valley 79 (Whew! This one was a doosey at a packed Redwood Valley High School gymnasium, where the Wolverines remained undefeated)
Benson 75, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 54 (A-C-GC is in meltdown mode, falling to 7-7 in the West Central South, after being state-ranked in December, they have gone 4-8 in their last 12 games...the Braves improve to 9-5 in the WCCS and have won 9 of their last 11 contests)

Area girls basketball scores:
Holdingford 70, Maple Lake 37
Pierz 51, Kimball Area 33
Mora 39, Melrose 36
Albany 78, St. Cloud Cathedral 51
MACCRAY 67, BOLD 48
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 61, Lac qui Parle Valley 50
Benson 73, Paynesville Area 49
Buffalo Lake-Hector 58, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 49
Morris/Chokio-Alberta 59, Minnewaska 54
Watertown-Mayer 69, Litchfield 57
Yellow Medicine East 49, Montevideo 38

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