EP 118: Dangling with P-Mac, A Boys Lacrosse Season Preview with Down the Alley!

Matt and Bill welcome in Austin Polson-McCannon, a Prior Lake assistant coach and co-host of the “Down the Alley” podcast, to preview the boys high school lacrosse season that gets underway this week!

The show starts by touching on some prep sports headlines from the week at (3:43), including Friday’s announcement of “Miss Basketball” in Minnesota and how the transfer bug has hit a few local products playing college basketball.

The boys lacrosse preview with P-Mac starts at (12:45) as the guys go through a recap of last season and the key storylines heading into the Spring 2024 season. Starting at (25:55), they go Section-by-Section discussing a favorite and sleeper team in each group in the State. At (50:15), they discuss the pre-season favorites for the “Mister Lacrosse” in Minnesota award.

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EP 117: Coming Down the Mountain, an MGBCA All-Star Series Preview with Mountain Iron-Buhl GBB Head Coach Jeff Buffetta

Matt welcomes in the 26th year head coach of the Mountain Iron-Buhl Rangers, fresh off a runner-up finish at the Class A State Tournament, as he helps preview this weekend’s MGBCA All-Star Series and the announcement of “Miss Basketball” in Minnesota on Friday.

Coach Buffetta hops on the pod to talk about a monumental week for the women’s game after a thrilling Elite 8, how the girls landscape has changed in the past two decades, and gives his scouting report on future Tarheel sharpshooter Jordan Zubich, as well as all three outstate candidates that are up for this year’s Miss Basketball award.

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Game Time Media Set to Broadcast 2024 MGBCA All-Star Series

TWIN CITIES, MN (March 29, 2024) – Game Time Media is partnering with the Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association (MGBCA) to present a live stream broadcast of the MGBCA All-Star Series, a high school basketball showcase of the top senior girls basketball players in the State on Saturday, April 6 at Carleton College.

It’s the third straight season that Game Time Media and the MGBCA will be partnering up for the broadcast, available to stream for free starting at 12:45pm on gametimemn.com.

The April 6 showcase will feature two All-Star games, slated for 1pm and 2:30pm at Carleton College in Northfield, featuring 43 of the top girls hoopers in the State in the Class of 2024. Both games and the Miss Basketball presentation will be streamed live on gametimemn.com, presented by Game Time Media, the MGBCA, and Twin Cities Orthopedics.

Among the 43 players set to be unveiled in the coming weeks will be five of the six Miss Basketball finalists selected by the MGBCA: Albany center Alyssa Sand (St. Thomas), Benilde-St. Margaret guard Olivia Olson (Michigan), Goodhue guard Elisabeth Gadient (Minnesota State-Mankato), Minnetonka guard Tori McKinney (Minnesota), and Mountain Iron-Buhl’s Jordan Zubich (North Carolina).  Hopkins guard Liv McGill (Florida) is the sixth finalist for the award, but will not be participating in the event. The future Wolverine Olson will be in attendance, but not playing in the All-Star event.

The 2024 “Miss Basketball” in Minnesota will be announced at Friday night’s MGBCA All-Star banquet.

Follow @GameTimeMN and @MNgbballAllStar on Twitter for the latest updates on the full list of participating players in both games of the All-Star series leading up to the event.

Mike Peden, a play-by-play broadcaster at Game Time and analyst for Junior All-Star Basketball, will be on the mic as the lead announcer for the All-Star series event for the second straight season.

About Game Time Media

Game Time Media is the Twin Cities’ premier prep streaming service, providing professional live stream broadcasts of high school sporting events. Game Time Media is the streaming home for Chaska, Eden Prairie, Farmington, Prior Lake, Lakeville North, Lakeville South and Shakopee High Schools as well as the home of the “TC Game Time Podcast,” a weekly show covering prep sports in the Twin Cities as a whole. 

Aside from providing top-notch coverage and live streaming of prep sports, they provide streaming services for a wide-range of one-off events on and off the field. Learn more at gametimemn.com.

Previous Winners of Minnesota Miss Basketball:

2023: Tessa Johnson, St. Michael-Albertville (South Carolina)

2022: Amaya Battle, Hopkins (Minnesota)

2021: Adalia McKenzie, Park Center (Illinois)

2020: Paige Bueckers, Hopkins (UConn)

2019: Kacie Borowicz, Roseau (North Dakota)

2018: Megan Walstad, Eastview (UW-Milwaukee)

2017: Gabi Haack, Elk River (Bradley)

2016: Nia Hollie, Hopkins (Michigan State)

2015: Madison Guebert, Eastview (South Dakota State)

2014: Carlie Wagner, NRHEG High School (Minnesota, 3rd Round WNBA Pick, MIN)

2013: Rebekah Dahlman, Braham High School (Vanderbilt)

2012: Marissa Jenning, Watertown-Mayer High School (Creighton)

2011: Rachel Banham, Lakeville North (Minnesota, 1st Rd, 4th OVL WNBA Pick, CON)

2010: Cassie Rochel, Lakeville North (Wisconsin)

2009: Tayler Hill, Minneapolis South (Ohio State, 1st Rd, 4th OVL WNBA Pick, WAS)

2008: Courtney Boylan, Chaska (Michigan)

2007: Angel Robinson, St. Paul Central (Marquette, 2nd Rd WNBA Pick, NY)

2006: Jenna Smith, Bloomington-Kennedy (Illinois, 2nd Rd WNBA Pick, WAS)

2005: Katie Ohm, Elgin-Millville (Minnesota)

EP 116: The Skippers Stay the Course, a Boys Basketball State Tourney Recap!

Logan, Matt, and Bill put a capper on the winter sports season in Minnesota as they recap last weekend’s Boys State Basketball Tournament, breaking down two major upsets in Class 4A and talking how three title favorites went through a gauntlet to take home the crown in each of the other three classes.

Also discussed is a highlight-reel dunk from Isaiah Johnson-Arigu of Totino-Grace, some predictions for this week’s Mr. Basketball announcement, and some way too early thoughts on teams to watch out for next year.

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EP 114: Let them Eat Cake, a Boys State Hockey Recap PLUS a Preview of this Week’s Girls Hoops’ Tourney with Grant McGinnis!

The podcast crew are back for a two-parter episode, recapping the weekend’s Boys High School Hockey Tournament before welcoming in Grant McGinnis of Prep Girls Hoops Minnesota to preview this week’s big dance in girls basketball!

Starting at (5:00), Matt, Logan, and Bill go through the prep sports headlines of the week, including reacting to Sunday’s announcement of Mr. Hockey Minnesota.

At (9:33), they dive into their State Boys Hockey recap, touching on each game of the Class AA Tournament first at (10:57), culminating with the Edina Hornets capturing their 14th State title. Starting at (29:10), they discuss each game of a compelling Class A tourney (29:10), and spotlight some great goaltending and an MVP performance for senior Andrew Dwinnell for St. Cloud-Cathedral.

Starting at (38:29), Grant McGinnis joins the show to preview the Girls Basketball State Tournament! They talk favorites in each class, potential upset picks to look out for, and discuss the wealth of talented players in the State fom Class 4A and the likes of Aaliyah Crump (Tonka) & Liv McGill (Hopkins) all the way down to Class A standouts like Jordan Zubich of Mountain Iron-Buhl.

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EP 113: “Tourney Time:” A Boys HS Hockey State Tournament Preview with the Star Tribune’s David La Vaque

It’s State Tournament week at “the X” as the podcast previews the Boys High School Hockey Tourney with David La Vaque, a prep sportswriter at the Minneapolis Star Tribune and author of “Tourney Time: Stories from the Minnesota Boys State Hockey Tournament!”

The guys get into the show by welcoming in La Vaque, before toouching on some prep sports headlines this week, including some ticket snafus at last week’s Section Finals and a record-setting performance in girls basketball.

Starting at (12:43), they get into their State Tourney talk by recapping last week’s slate of Section Finals, including detailed breakdowns of Chanhassen, Edina, and White Bear Lake’s wins that La Vaque covered for the Strib, as well as Logan’s thoughts on the upset of the week down in Rochester!

At (38:15), they react to the seedings and matchups of both the Class A and Class AA Tournaments and muse on how the tournaments might play out this week in St. Paul.

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EP 112: “A Bunch of Nobodies” with Centennial Boys Hockey’s Rich Menne, Previewing this Week’s Section Finals & a Girls State Hockey Recap!

Before welcoming in the head coach of Centennial Boys Hockey, Matt, Logan, and Bill reconvene, first talking about the announcement of Mr. Hockey & Frank Brimzak award finalists, as well as their predictions for who the top-10 finalists for Mr. Basketball will be later this week.

Starting at (13:08), they recap last week’s Girls Hockey State Tournament, talking about Hockey Town Minnesota storming to their third straight title in Class A and Edina’s sterling display at the X last week.

At (23:30), they transition to boys hockey and talk all the notable results from the past week in Class AA, starting with St. Cloud’s stunning upset of Roseau last Tuesday, and how Elk River and Buffalo will make history in this Wednesday in the Section 8AA Final! They break down each Section Final going down this week, including Matt’s thoughts after calling one of the 5AA Semis and Logan preparing for this Thursday’s Section 1AA Final call.

Interview with Rich Menne, the 13th year head coach of Centennial, starts at (44:03). Menne talks about his team’s battle with Rogers Saturday, Harper Searles’ Mr. Hockey finalist snub, how impressed he’s been with Rogers, Champlin Park, and Maple Grove’s seasons this year, and the “bunch of nobodies” mantra that has the Cougars buzzing into their first Section Final in three years!

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MGBCA All-Star Series 2024 Streaming