Maranatha Christian Academy doesn’t act like a Class 1A program. One glance at the Mustangs' schedule proves why.

After playing St. Paul Central on Saturday at the Breakdown Sports Tip-Off Classic, Maranatha has Burnsville, Hopkins, DeLaSalle and Minneapolis Roosevelt on the menu, among other large Class 3A and 4A schools. It’s something for which coach Jim Hammond actively lobbies.

“We made it as hard as we could,” said Hammond, who acknowledged it’s not an easy process.

The fact that big schools schedule the small private program is an encouraging sign and indicative of the state of Maranatha basketball.
Most large schools balk at the idea of playing a Class 1A team because it doesn’t do them any good, he said.

“It says good things, the fact that they’ll give us the game,” Hammond said.

The beefy schedule will put the Mustangs in a nice position to end the season strong -- hopefully with another trip to the state tournament, where they lost in the quarterfinals one year ago.

It’s not only healthy for the current Mustangs makeup, but an important attraction for future players.

“They wouldn’t probably be coming to our school if we weren’t playing big schools,” Hammond said. “And the girls love it. The more games we can get like this, the better.”