basketball

The Owatonna girls' basketball team will open the Section 1AAAA playoffs at home Wednesday, February 28 as the fourth seed against No. 5 Rochester John Marshall. Game time is 7PM on KRFO AM1390. OHS (20-6) swept JM (13-13) this season 54-43 and 69-49. The winner goes to the Mayo Civic Center Saturday for a 1PM against the winner of top-seed and defending section champ Lakeville North (21-5) and Rochester Century (6-20).

The Owatonna girls' basketball team closed out their home regular season at 11-0 with a 64-48 win over Faribault Tuesday at the OHS gym. Some of the best moves on the night came from the senior players' moms, who presented a halftime dance routine that included dribbling with basketballs.

The Triton and Blooming Prairie girls' basketball teams open the playoffs at home this week. The Cobras entertain La Crescent Tuesday, February 20 at 7PM in Dodge Center in Section 1AA. The Awesome Blossoms host Wabasha-Kellog Thursday at 7PM in the ultra-competitive Section 1A tournament.

A pair of 14-game basketball winning streaks were snapped Saturday. The Owatonna boys fell to Rochester John Marshall 62-46. NRHEG lost at Redwood Valley 63-61.

Owatonna's gymnastics team turned in a school-record performance of 149.8 to capture their third consecutive Section 1AA crown Friday night at Rochester John Marshall High School. The Huskies will compete at the state meet Friday, February 23 at the University of Minnesota's Sports Pavilion. OHS was third at state last year.

Rochester Mayo's boys' basketball team hung close with Owatonna until the final four minutes of Tuesday's game at OHS with the Huskies prevailing 74-58. Owatonna led just 37-35 at the half. Dalton Kubista scored 26 points and has 999 for his career. OHS goes to Red Wing Friday for a 7:30PM game on KRFO AM 1390.

The Owatonna girls' basketball team beat Rochester Mayo Tuesday night 48-38. Senior Sydney Schultz left the game early in the second half with an apparent knee injury and did not return to the game. About two minutes into the second half, she went up for a contested shot and was on the floor in pain moments later.

The NRHEG boys' basketball team wrapped up at least a share of the Gopher Conference title with their 77-55 win over Blooming Prairie Friday night. The Panther girls did the same thing with their 61-54 victory at Maple River on Saturday. Each team will look for the outright title this week.

The Owatonna girls' basketball team raced to a 47-18 halftime lead on their way to a 69-48 win over Rochester John Marshall Friday night. More importantly, the packed gym helped raise $2,750 for the American Cancer Society on the Huskies' Coaches Versus Cancer night. Youth night and the pep band added to the festive atmosphere for what may have been a preview of the opening round of the section playoffs later this month.

The big hurdle came last Saturday with their come-from-behind win over Albert Lea, but Thursday night the Owatonna wrestlers wrapped up the Big Nine title with a 43-18 win over Faribault at the OHS gym. The Huskies' boys' basketball squad won their 12th in a row Thursday, 73-59 at St. Michael-Albertville. Owatonna's boys' hockey team struck first at No. 2A Mahtomedi, but lost to the speedy Zephyrs 5-1.