The Metro West Conference title could come down to Tuesday's matchup between Robbinsdale Cooper and Chaska, and defending league champion Cooper may bring a little extra motivation into the contest against the one conference team it has not defeated this season: Chaska.
The 68-63 stumble on Jan. 15 was Cooper's narrowest margin of defeat this season, so the Hawks' confidence should remain high heading into this road rematch that is also our Top Game of the Week.
A year after dropping just two games en route to winning the Class 3A state championship, Cooper has struggled to replicate a similar performance in the regular season. The Hawks (13-7, 8-1), the No. 7 team in the Class 3A rankings released by Minnesota Basketball News on Feb. 6, started the season 1-5, thanks, in part, to playing a challenging schedule that included five games against teams currently ranked. Starting Metro West play has been a boon for the squad, which won three league games before the loss to Chaska and another four after. The Hawks begin the week with a six-game winning streak.
Aja Wheeler (14.3 points per game) commands the Cooper offense and joins Kierra Wheeler (13.2), Arthel Massaquoi (11.6) and Andrea Tribble (11.0) to provide the Hawks with a potent core of scorers averaging 11 or more points per game.
Chaska is on the verge of something special. It is going for its second conference title since joining the Metro West in the 2014-15 season, and these Hawks are undefeated in conference play and sitting atop the league standings this season. A regular-season series sweep of Cooper would give Chaska a 2.5-game lead with only three conference matchups left on the schedule.
Kennedy Sanders scored a season-high 23 points in the victory over Cooper, and she could be key for No. 7-4A Chaska (18-3, 10-0) to win the rematch and secure the squad's second Metro West title.