Staying true to my word, Georgie Jones of St. Paul Central has 19 double-doubles coming into tonight's game against Southwest. For those who say she isn't division one material, Jones has shown consistency at her position, a skill valued in this sport. Having a former teammate at Marquette only helps.
Anyway, the bulk of the St. Paul City conference was seeded in section 4 for class AAA. Out of this section, Johnson got the #2 seed, Highland Park is #4, Como Park drew #6, Arlington got #7 and Harding brings up the rear at #8.
Don't get your hopes up at Harding, they're likely to suffer their first winless season in school history for girls basketball. Como will be knocked out in the 1st round. Highland Park comes in with a solid 14-9 record (soon to be 15-9 after they defeat Harding) but have no quality wins. Johnson could advance to state, but they'll need to advance past Hill-Murray and likely Minnehaha Academy to do it.
As I mentioned before, Johnson faired much better this season than last year. All of their losses were against class AAAA schools, including a mere six-point loss to Hopkins. Johnson won't have to worry about them for the tournament. They have swept every other St. Paul team in the section and have two quality wins against Plainview/Elgin-Millville and Winona-Cotter. On the other hand, neither of those schools are AAA schools. Ultimately, it may come down to team chemistry for Johnson.
Minnehaha Academy's two losses were against DeLaSalle and St. Francis, but Minnehaha hasn't played as many AAAA teams as Johnson has. They will be the favorite at 23-2, but the statistics could prove misleading.
Another factor in St. Paul's favor is location. The section semi-finals and finals will be played at Arlington. No team outside St. Paul in section 4AAA played there this season.
It makes geographical sense to group the city schools together. What effect it will have remains to be seen.
More game notes for the Central-South game and comments on Humboldt's playoff selection to follow.
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