Owatonna Girls Open Playoffs Wednesday

The Owatonna High School girls basketball team opens the playoffs Wednesday, February 26 at New Prague at 7 pm with coverage on AM 1390 KRFO and on the free KRFO app. The Huskies are the sixth seed and the Trojans are the third.

The winner will play the winner of the No. 7 Northfield at No. 2 Rochester Mayo game Saturday, February 29 at the high seed. The other bracket starts with No. 8 at top-seed Farmington and No. 5 Lakeville South at No. 4 Rochester John Marshall. The finals for Section 1AAAA are Friday, March 6 at the Mayo Civic Center Arena.

Owatonna (9-16) went 3-2 over their last five games of the season which included a win over a strong Austin team. The Huskies played a great first half against John Marshall. OHS is averaging 50 points a game and giving up 59.

New Prague (20-6) has won 13 of their last 14 games. The Trojans are scoring about 64 points per game and surrendering 51. New Prague played several Big Nine teams, beating Century, John Marshall, and Northfield. They also beat section foe Lakeville South but lost to Farmington.

The Tigers are the heavy favorites in the section with a 24-2 overall record. Their only losses are to Hopkins and Rosemount. Farmington won the South Suburban Conference outright. They did not play any teams from the Big Nine Conference.

Second-seed Mayo (21-4) lost three of the first four games, two of them by a single point. They avenged losses to John Marshall and Mankato West with double-digit victories in their second meetings and have won 16 games in a row.

John Marshall (17-9) has wins over Mayo and Lakeville South this season. The Rockets lost three in a row in early February to top-tier Big Nine teams Austin (by two points), Red Wing (by three points), and Mankato West (by one point on a buzzer beater).

Section 1AAA girls playoffs begin Wednesday as well. No. 5 seed Byron is at No. 4 Albert Lea. No. 6 Winona goes to No. 3 Kasson-Mantorville. No. 7 Faribault plays at No. 2 Austin. Top-seed Red Wing has a first-round bye.