The Apple Valley girls’ basketball squad opened the season ranked No. 19 in Class 4A by Minnesota Basketball News. It has steadily been climbing since then to No. 4.

The Eagles recently won the Roseville tournament over the holiday break, topping No. 3 Centennial 81-67 in the championship. It was their ninth victory in 10 games. Four of those wins were against teams ranked in the top 10.

“Our girls played extremely well,” Apple Valley coach Jeremy Gordon said.

“Winning this tournament was fantastic. It had a great field of teams and was a great test for our team.”

Junior forward Brynne Rolland scored a career-high 33 points against Centennial. It was her fourth consecutive game scoring over 17 points. She is averaging 16.1 points per game.

Senior guard Lyndsey Robson added 22 points. She is the Eagles’ leading scorer, averaging 19.3 points.

“Beating Centennial was a great accomplishment,” Gordon said. “They are a very talented team.

“Our girls were ready for the challenge and brought great focus and energy, especially on the defensive end.

“It shows us the potential we have this season.”

Top performances

• Farmington girls’ hockey goaltender Abby Bollig has put together an impressive run. In the junior’s final five games of 2016, she only allowed four goals while making 103 saves. Bollig has not yielded more than one goal in nine of her 13 starts this season.

• The Red Wing boys’ hockey team has been hovering near the .500 mark, but senior forward Seth Cushing has performed at a high level. He has three hat tricks this season, and has at least two points in all but one game (held to one assist). Cushing has 16 goals and 13 assists this season.

Ron Haggstrom