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Sports

No. 5-ranked Tartan Titans Boys Basketball Team Heads to Sections

Tartan will play Woodbury High School at home Friday night.

The highly ranked boys basketball team is poised to make a deep run in the section playoffs with the hopes of landing in the state tournament for the first time in five years.

Minnesota’s No. 5-ranked Titans (23-3) earned the top seed in Section 4AAAA after finishing second in the Classic Suburban Conference behind Hill-Murray. The Titans are 8-2 in their last 10 games and bring a four-game winning streak into the post-season. Tartan will play host to the No. 8 seed Woodbury Royals (11-16) at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Titans have been a tough, well-balanced team on all fronts all season long.

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Their tenacious defense led the Classic Suburban Conference, allowing an average of 46.7 points per game. The Titans can also put the ball in the hoop, scoring an average of 65.7 points per game during the regular season.

The Titans also bring a team into sections that boasts a good balance of athleticism and size.

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The Preiner brothers Drew and Luke (both senior forwards listed as 6-feet, 3-inches tall) lead the team in scoring averaging 13 and 11.7 points per game respectively. Sophomore guards Xavier Hall and Darrion Strong hold the backcourt together at 6-feet tall averaging 5.7 and 10.8 points per game respectively. The offense is anchored by senior centers Joel Awich at 6-feet, 6-inches tall and Ryan Burns at 6-feet, 5-inches tall, who give the Titans a lot of size in the post.

The Titans will face the Royals who advanced in the section tournament Tuesday night defeating the No. 9 seed Henry Sibley Warriors 92-79.

The Royals were 4-6 in the last 10 games of the regular season. Woodbury scored an average of 63.7 points per game, while allowing an average of 61.9 points per game throughout the regular season. The Royals are led by junior guard Rickey Suggs, who averaged 12.9 points per game and junior forward Connor Mckeen, who averaged 12.7 points per game this year.

The winner of the Titans-Royals match-up will face the winner either the No. 4 seed White Bear Lake Bears (17-8) or the No. 5 seed Stillwater Ponies (14-12). The Bears and the Ponies split their head-to-head games this season with White Bear Lake winning 61-56 when they played host to Stillwater on Dec. 17. The Ponies beat the Bears 60-55 when the teams clashed in Stillwater on Feb. 1.

White Bear Lake (7-3 in their last 10 games) brings a five-game winning streak into the postseason. The Bears scored an average of 63.6 points per game this season and allowed an average of 57.2 points per game. White Bear Lake is led by 6-foot, 5-inch junior center Zachary Meyer who averaged 13.1 points per game and senior guard Nathan Sheldon who averaged 13 points per game this season.

The Ponies were 6-4 over their last 10 games, but gained momentum with a late-season 41-40 victory over Cretin-Derham Hall on March 1 and ended the regular season crushing Hastings 49-25. Stillwater scored an average of 54.5 points per game this season, while allowing an average of 53.1 points per game. The Ponies are led by 6-foot, 4-inch sophomore center Andrew Duxbury who averaged 10.3 points per game and 6-foot, 6 inch senior forward Paxton Harvieux who averaged 9.7 points per game this season.

On the top half of the bracket, the No. 2 seed Roseville Raiders (21-5) open up the tournament hosting the No. 7 seed East Ridge Raptors (14-12). The Raiders swept the Raptors in their two head-to-head match-ups this season winning by 25 points (90-65) on Jan. 7 and by 31 points (81-50) on Feb. 11.

Roseville ended the regular season sharing the Suburban East Conference title with Cretin-Derham Hall. Roseville comes into the tournament 7-3 in their last 10. The Raiders scored an average of 76.2 points per game this season while allowing about 63 points per game. Roseville is led by a pair of seniors, 6-foot, 4-inch forward Lucas Brown who averaged 18.5 points per game this season and guard David Stanley who averaged 15.1 points per game.

East Ridge closed out the regular season at home beating Woodbury 79-71. The Raptors averaged 65 points per game this season while allowing about 65.2 points per game. Sophomore guard Justin Pahl led East Ridge in scoring this season averaging 15.3 points per game and senior center Adam Schwartz who averaged 12.3 points per game.

The other semifinal match-up in the top half of the bracket pits the No. 3 seed Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders (19-7) against the No. 6 seed North St. Paul Polars (12-14).

Cretin-Derham Hall comes into the tournament 8-2 in their last 10 games closing out the regular season by defeating Roseville at home. The Raiders averaged 66 points this season while allowing about 54.8 points per game. Cretin-Derham Hall is led by senior guard Raijon Kelly who averaged 15.3 points per game this season and sophomore guard Taylor Montero who averaged 13 points per game.

North St. Paul was 7-3 in the last 10 games closing out their season with wins over Henry Sibley, South St. Paul and Mahtomedi. The Polars averaged 53.8 points per game this season while giving up about 54.5 points per game. Junior center Hunter Brooks led North St. Paul in scoring averaging 13.7 points per game and senior guard Rex Johnson averaged 11.9 points per game this season.

The Section 4AAAA semifinals will be held at East Ridge High School on Tuesday March 15, with the top half of the bracket playing at 6 p.m. and the bottom half starting at 7:30 p.m. The section finals will be played Friday, March 18, at 7 p.m. at East Ridge. For tournament brackets and scores, visit Minnesota Sports Online.

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