This is the third game of the day where we will see two Class AAAA teams squaring off. A lot of similarities can be made between these two schools. Both are outer tier suburbs and both have recently gone through a split of their districts into two schools. Both basketball teams like to play fast and both rely very heavily on their guard play to win games.

Woodbury’s program has had a lot of success in the past under long-time head coach Dave Preller. This will be the first year without Preller on the bench, and Lionel Jones takes over as the new head coach. Jones, who most recently was the head coach at Menomonee (WI), brings over a new fast-paced style, which is completely different from Preller’s scheme. This will be a great early test to see how his players are thriving under the new system. The Royals are led by junior guard Kristina White, who is a do-it all guard whose specialty is shooting threes. 

Outside of Hopkins, Chanhassen is one of the deepest teams in the state, with upwards of eight players who play high level AAU basketball. Unfortunately, they will likely be without junior guard Lauren Shifflett, who has led the team in scoring in both of the past two seasons.   Shifflett has yet to practice due to an ankle injury suffered during Breakdown Fall League. The Storm will be led in this game by senior guard Mikki Prince and junior guard Becca Smith.

Kristina White, Woodbury vs.
Mikki Prince, Chanhassen
White is looking to fill the scoring void of Michelle Young, who is now at Bradley, and she has the ability to do it, especially if this offense is as wide open as it is advertised to be. Prince is more of a ball-handler and defender, but will need to step up her scoring if Shifflett does not play.

Why Woodbury will win:

• Woodbury plays pressure defense, and this wears on Chanhassen, especially if they are missing their key scoring guard in Shifflett.
• They shoot a lot of threes, and anytime you can make threes, you put yourself in a great position to win the game.

Why Chanhassen will win:

• Unlike Woodbury, they had most of their team during fall league games to gel, and sometimes that’s all you need to push you over the top in a competitive game.
• Becca Smith and Mikki Prince step up in a huge way to make up for Shifflett’s missed scoring output.

Our prediction: Woodbury (Chanhassen if Shifflett plays)