Step two completed, Mainstreeters girls' basketball team drubs Albany to advance to sub-section finals!

Ashley Gruber is one of six seniors on this year's Mainstreeters team that made it to the program's fourth sub-section championship game in a row with a win over Albany tonight.

At St. John's University tonight, the Sauk Centre Mainstreeters girls' basketball team defeated conference rival Albany 70-52 in the sub-section semifinals. The Mainstreeters are now 23-4 overall.

They now take on Staples-Motley (23-4) in the Sub-Section 6AA-North championship game next Tuesday night (Mar. 6) at 8 p.m. back at St. John's.

Some action from the Albany game...


Stay tuned for more updates over the weekend.

Roosevelt Austin injures knee in state match

Roosevelt Austin finished his match Friday night against Cody Hazelett, but the junior 195-pounder did not come out unscathed. Not only did Austin suffer a hard-fought 4-2 loss, he also suffered a knee injury.

The extent of the injury is not known at this point, but Austin was unable to continue to wrestle and had to default his next match.

Austin is a three-sport star at Sauk centre High School. He was the Mid-Minnesota Offensive Player of the Year this past season, scoring 21 touchdowns for the Mainstreeters.

Read this week's Sauk Centre Herald to find out more about Austin's injury.

Mainstreeters boys' basketball serves notice on the rest of Section 6AA

The Sauk Centre boys' basketball team made a big statement tonight with a thrilling 59-57 win over the top-seeded Long Prairie-Grey Eagle Thunder on the home court. The win raised their overall record to 15-8 heading into the playoffs.

Just down I-94, Melrose Area defeated Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 73-63.

Update from the Xcel Energy Center

Roosevelt Austin lost his Class AA state quarterfinal match in a tough 4-2 decision tonight in St. Paul to Cody Hazelet (33-6) of Simley.

In Austin's opening match, he won by fall (5:41) to advance to the quarterfinals.

Austin wins grueling first match

Roosevelt Austin was all smiles after his late pin against Chandler Arredondo of Richfield. Austin is now 34-4 at 195 pounds and advances to tonight's quarterfinals. More photos below!!

Roosevelt Austin (33-4) got out to a 4-2 lead in his opening match against Richfield's Chandler Arredondo (19-8) and after Arredondo tied it up early in the second period, Austin was able to pull a switch and pin his opponent to advance to Friday night's quarterfinals.

Austin said he was going for one point to try and escape with a win, but when he saw the opportunity, turned Arredondo on his back late in the third to record the fall.

"He was strong," said Austin of his opponent. (see accompanying video)

Austin will now face Cody Hazlett of Simely. Hazeltt is 32-6 and defeated Plainview-Elgin-Millville's Garrett Wolf (40-3) by a 19-6 margin.

Stay tuned to the Streeter Sports Blog to watch Austin's progress at the state tournament.

(Herald video)...battling in his state opener!

Keenan Pearson sets personal best at 'state' butterfly race

Keenan Pearson, a junior on the Sauk Centre-Melrose Fusion swimming and diving team, talks about his outstanding performance in today's Class A butterfly race...

Pearson finishes ninth in Butterfly

Pearson in the first leg of the 100 butterfly Friday afternoon.

Keenan Pearson swam a personal best of 55.0 seconds in the 100 butterfly at the state swim meet this afternoon. Pearson was happy with his performance (see video interview that will be up shortly).

Because Pearson finished outside of the top 8, he does not have a chance to earn a state medal. However, just a junior, he is looking to get back to state next year and crack the top 8.

Great job for Keenan today representing the Sauk centre-Melrose swim squad.

Pearson swam a personal best 55.0 in Friday's heat, finishing ninth.

Pearson opens 'state' swimming meet today at noon

(Below) The 400 freestyle relay race at the Section 3A meet in Willmar last Saturday...

The Class A preliminaries begin at noon today at the U of M Aquatic Center in Minneapolis.

Step one completed for the Sauk Centre girls' basketball team

Final score in tonight's Sub-Section 6AA-North opener: Sauk Centre 66, Holdingford 35.

The Mainstreeters (22-4) take on #4-seed Albany (17-8) in the sub-section semifinals at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday night at St. John's University. The Huskies held off a rally from Pierz and won 61-53 to advance. At halftime, Albany had a 27-24 lead and broke it open to go in front by as many as 15 points.

Other Section 6AA scores:
Melrose Area 52, Osakis 51 OT!
Staples-Motley 81, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 38
New London-Spicer 71, St. John's Prep 45

More will follow later.

Sub-Section seedings are in! Sauk Centre boys' basketball hosts Albany next Thursday to open playoffs

Travis Rieland, one of four seniors on this year's Mainstreeters team, scans the court during the team's first meeting with Albany in January. Sauk Centre opens the playoffs at home next Thursday at 7 p.m. 
PHOTO BY BRYAN ZOLLMAN

After closing out the regular season with a non-conference game at home against neighboring rival Long Prairie-Grey Eagle tomorrow night, the Sauk Centre Mainstreeters boys' basketball team enters the postseason with a #4 ranking in the 8-team Sub-Section 6AA-North. They begin with a quarterfinal game at home against #5-seed Albany (12-11) next Thursday at 7 p.m.

The sub-section semifinals continue at St. John's University the following Saturday, with the finals scheduled for Tuesday, Mar. 13 at the same location. Stay tuned to the Streeter Sports Blog for more updates as the postseason develops.

2012 Sub-Section 6AA-North boys' basketball seedings:
1. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle
2. Melrose Area
3. Pierz
4. Sauk Centre
5. Albany
6. Staples-Motley
7. Osakis
8. Holdingford

2012 Sub-Section 6AA-South boys' basketball seedings:
1- Litchfield
2- Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta
3- Benson
4- New London-Spicer
5- Minnewaska Area
6- St. John's Prep
7- Eden Valley-Watkins
8- Paynesville Area

Sub-Section 6AA-North boys' basketball playoff seeding is tonight

The brackets and schedule will be posted early Thursday morning.

Sauk Centre (14-8) is in the running for either the #4 or #5 seed. Their win last week over Albany could help them make a case for getting the #4 seed, although the Huskies (12-11) have played just as well as the Mainstreeters have over the past couple of weeks.

The playoffs begin on Thursday, Mar. 8 at the top four seeds in the quarterfinal round.