Trevor Peterson and Bob Torgrimson passed it off as no big deal.
But Friday's boys hoops game between Hawley and Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton will have a big impact on the Heart O' Lakes standings.
"We have a game on Friday?" joked Peterson, the Hawley boys basketball coach.
"Friday? What game is that?" kidded D-G-F coach Torgrimson.
It's the first game after the holiday break for both teams, and - all kidding aside - the winner will definitely send a message to the rest of the HOL.
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"You tell yourself it's another conference game, but I think it's one that coaches and players circle on the calendar," Peterson said. "A lot of people put us at the top of the list going into the year."
D-G-F (8-1) heads to Hawley after winning the Moorhead Holiday Tournament with an impressive 86-75 win over Class 4A Buffalo.
Guards Jake Driscoll and Jonathon Molina are D-G-F's engine, with Driscoll averaging 27.6 points per game, and Molina averaging 14.8.
"You know Driscoll is going to get his points, but Molina has really emerged for them," Peterson said. "He's gone from a little runt that ran around causing havoc on defense into a legitimate scorer."
Hawley is unbeaten at 6-0, and delivered West Central Area its only loss of the season.
Eric Clute (22.3 ppg) and Andrew VanHavermaet (18.5) lead the Nuggets. The Nuggets also have five players at 6-foot-4 or taller, which could cause some trouble for the Rebels.
"With our size, that's going to be hard to counter," Torgrimson said. "It's like we're giving up four, five, six inches to every guy."
Hawley is the only team that doesn't have a loss in HOL play, but D-G-F is one of four teams right behind them with only one loss in league play.
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The Rebels' lone loss was a 75-72 double-overtime decision to West Central Area, which has only lost to Hawley. Perham's lone HOL defeat is also to WCA, and Breckenridge's only loss in league play is to D-G-F.
"You look at this game against Hawley, and it's almost like any game in the conference because a lot of the games have been close," Torgrimson said. "The Heart O' Lakes has been tougher than tacks this year."
Something else
Moorhead's girls basketball team took first place at the Alexandria Holiday tournament behind its typical balanced attack. Tricia Vanyo averaged 16 points per game in the tourney - including 19 in a 60-57 victory over Marshall in the title game. Gina Jaroszewski averaged 14.5 points per game in the tourney, and Kelsey Jacobson scored 22 in the Spuds' 68-61 opening-round win over Robbinsdale-Armstrong. ... Cass Lake-Bena's Brady Fairbanks lit up the Concordia Christmas Tournament, averaging 24.3 points per game in the Panthers' three wins. CL-B was the only team to go 3-0 in the tourney.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Kerry Collins at (701) 241-5548 or kcollins@forumcomm.com
