In a rematch of last March’s Section 7AAA girls basketball final, Grand Rapids produced a similar result Saturday afternoon, defeating host Princeton 75-63 in the season opener for both teams.
Heaven Hamling and Hannah DeMars scored 16 points apiece to pace the Thunderhawks, whose 12-point victory margin matched that of last year’s section championship game. Trailing 37-35 at the break, they outscored the Tigers 40-26 in the second half.
Princeton was led by Julia Bjurman’s 22 points, 18 of which came from behind the 3-point line.
Boys hockey
Hibbing-Chisholm 4,
Mound Westonka 1
For the second consecutive night Jarrett Lee scored twice, and for the second consecutive night the Bluejackets were 4-1 winners.
Zach DeBoom added a goal and an assist and Paxton Kriske made 20 saves as visiting Hibbing-Chisholm, ranked 17th in Class A, improved to 2-0.
Football
Prep Bowl champs crowned
Elk River capped a perfect season by running past Spring Lake Park 42-14 in Saturday’s Class AAAAA title tilt at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The Elks (13-0), 5-5 a year ago, were hardly challenged this fall. Saturday, Nicholas Rice ran wild, piling up 242 yards on just 13 carries. His teammate, Sam Gibas, added 105 yards on 11 touches as Elk River didn’t throw a single pass.
r In the Class AAA championship game, Rochester Lourdes used a wild - and somewhat controversial - hook-and-ladder, plus another lateral, en route to a late TD that gave the Eagles a 42-35 win over St. Croix Lutheran.
r Minneapolis North started Saturday’s three-pack of contests at the Vikings’ stadium by defeating Rushford-Peterson 30-14 to win Class A, the school’s first state title in football.
r Winners from Friday’s four championship games included:
Grand Meadow is on top of nine-man for the fourth year in a row thanks to the Superlarks’ 41-21 rout of Cleveland/Immanuel Lutheran, which got past Cromwell-Wright in the semifinal round.
Caledonia showed it has no equal in Class AA by hammering Eden Valley-Watkins 61-12. Quarterback Owen King was 17-of-25 passing for 328 yards and five TDs as the Warriors claimed their seventh title since 2007.
Benilde-St. Margaret’s, which started its state tournament run by beating Cloquet in the quarterfinals, edged Winona 31-28 in the Class AAAA final.
In the big-school affair, Totino-Grace edged Eden Prairie 28-20.
