Minnesota boys and girls basketball top games of the week (Feb. 7-11)

Park Center boys and Totino-Grace rematch, while East Ridge and White Bear Lake girls go head-to-head

SBLive's Minnesota boys basketball Power 25 (Feb. 6)

Minnesota boys and girls basketball top performers of the week (Jan. 31-Feb. 6)

Vote now: Who should be SBLive's Minnesota Athlete of the Week? (Jan. 31-Feb. 5)

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Boys basketball

Park Center (17-0) at Totino-Grace (12-5), 2/9 at 6 p.m.

Park Center looks to continue its dominance over every team in the state as it travels to face Totino-Grace on Thursday. The Pirates have yet to lose this season and this game against Totino-Grace may be the toughest test it faces the remainder of the season.

Totino-Grace has won five of its last six games and are coming off a close victory to a slumping Hopkins team on Saturday by a score of 86-84. The Eagles have home court advantage in this one, but it should not matter as Park Center may finish the season with an unblemished record.

Photo by Earl Ebensteiner

Lakeville North (15-2) at Lakeville South (12-5), 2/7 at 7 p.m.

The crosstown rivalry between these two teams is the SBLive boys basketball game of the week.

Lakeville North continues to stake its claim as the second best team in the state winning eight straight games. The Panthers defeated the Cougars in its first matchup by a score of 75-62 a month ago. The Panthers big man Nolan Winter continues to dominate opponents scoring a whopping 21.7 points per game.

Lakeville South is coming off a tough loss to an average Burnsville team on Friday 53-49. The Cougars had a solid run the last month after losing to its rivals early in January, but may struggle to contain the tough front line for the Panthers again.

Wayzata (14-3) at Hopkins (13-6), 2/10 at 7 p.m.

Wayzata and Hopkins are two teams on completely different paths the second half of the season. The Trojans have rattled off fourteen straight victories and blew out the Royals 89-64 on January 17th. The Trojans have some impressive victories over Minnetonka, East Ridge and Buffalo the last three weeks. All of those victories were double digit blowouts.

Hopkins started out the year hot and have struggled the last month. The Royals are 4-5 the last month and have struggled against top competition in its conference. Hopkins needs this one to maintain pace in its conference, but Wayzata seems unbeatable at this point.

Photo by Earl Ebensteiner

Buffalo (15-3) at Minnetonka (14-3), 2/7 at 7 p.m.

Buffalo and Minnetonka are battling for positioning in the Lake Conference and this game could be a huge indicator of playoff positioning down the stretch.

Buffalo lost to Minnetonka 59-57 earlier in January and they are coming off one of their worst losses of the season to Wayzata 77-49 on Friday. The Bison have a relatively clear path the remainder of the season if they can defeat a scorching hot Minnetonka team on Tuesday.

Minnetonka has one loss in nearly two months. Their only loss came at the hands of an elite Wayzata team. The Skippers pulled off a tough 59-57 victory over Buffalo nearly a month ago and need this victory to maintain pace with Wayzata in the conference. Look for a motivated Skippers team to come out ahead in this one.

Eagan (11-7) at Eastview (13-4), 2/7 at 7 p.m.

Eagan has won four of their last five games and played Lakeville South tough in the last few weeks. The Wildcats now travel to Eastview to face a tough Lightning squad.

Eastview was on a five game winning streak until it lost to Minnetonka on Saturday. The Lightning are one of the more unpredictable teams in the state having defeated Lakeville North earlier in the season and losing a game to Rosemount. Eagan may pose a similar threat to Eastview in this one.

Girls basketball

Hopkins (18-1) at Wayzata (17-2), 2/10 at 7 p.m.

Hopkins and Wayzata is the SBLive girls basketball game of the week.

Hopkins has one loss on the year to Providence Academy, and it defeated Wayzata 57-50 on January 17. The Royals are a dominant second half team this year, outscoring their opponents 954-605. Wayzata will have to match that output to be able to win this one.

Wayzata has two losses on the season. One to this Hopkins team and one to a 19-1 Chaska team. The Trojans have won five straight since their loss to Wayzata and have an opportunity to tie the Royals for first place in the Lake Conference with only a few games remaining.

Benilde-St. Margaret’s (14-5) at Becker (17-3), 2/11 at 12 p.m.

Benilde-St. Margaret’s is coming off a blowout loss to an elite Chaska team, but it had previously won its last six games. The Red Knights continue to be led by their star duo Olivia Olson and Kendal McGee, who combined are averaging 42.3 points per game. Benilde-St. Margaret’s needs to stack victories to keep pace with Chaska.

Becker sits at 17-3 and their only loss in the last month is at the hands of St. Michael-Albertville. The Bulldogs sit atop the Mississippi 8 Conference, but Cambridge-Isanti is nipping at their heels. The Red Knights may pose the Bulldogs with their toughest test of the season outside of St. Michael-Albertville.

Photo by Jeff Lawler

East Ridge (18-3) at White Bear Lake (16-4), 2/10 at 7 p.m.

East Ridge is 9-1 in their last ten games and their only loss was against Rosemount back in the end of December. The Raptors are sitting atop the Suburban East Conference, but Stillwater is hanging closely behind. The Raptors defeated White Bear Lake at home 65-52 a little over a month ago.

White Bear Lake was on a six game winning streak until they faced Stillwater last Thursday. The Ponies blew out the Bears 56-41 in that game. The Bears have been extremely consistent this season and have taken advantage of the weaker teams in their conference. East Ridge may be the only team in their way the rest of the regular season.

Providence Academy (16-2) at St. Peter (13-5), 2/11 at 3 p.m.

Providence Academy has one loss on the season to teams based in Minnesota. The Lions' only loss came at the hands of conference leading Becker very early in the season. Providence Academy has impressive victories over Hopkins and Becker in the last month and now travels to face an underrated St. Peter team.

St. Peter is leading the Big South East conference, and the closest team is within two games. The Saints are coming off a big victory against a solid Marshall team and have won seven games straight. Providence Academy is likely the toughest team on St. Peter’s schedule this year, but it has an opportunity to play spoiler.

Photo by Jeff Lawler

Stewartville (19-2) at Rochester Lourdes (19-3), 2/7 at 7:15 p.m.

Stewartville and Rochester Lourdes wrap up the top five women’s games of the week here in Minnesota.

Rochester Lourdes is in first place in the Hiawatha Valley Division and Stewartville is in a close third. Rochester Lourdes lost 64-52 earlier in the season to Stewartville and will likely need to win this one to stay atop the conference.