Every Tuesday at 6:50 p.m. and 9:50 p.m. during the high school year, we feature a team or athlete with our TRIA Prep Salute.This week’s salute recognizes the Benilde-St. Margaret’s boys basketball team,

No. 6 Benilde-St. Margaret’s breezes past Chanhassen 90-55 for third straight win. Zahara Bishop’s 25 points led the way for the Red Knights along with 17 from Pressley Watkins and Kendall McGee’s 13 points.

Alexandria hosts No. 9 (Class 4A) Sauk Rapids-Rice (13-4) at 7:15 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31, and No. 2 (Class 3A) Orono (11-3) at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8. Sauk Rapids-Rice beat Alexandria, 81-76, on Dec. 7, 2024, in a game where Thompson was out with an injury.

The Alexandria boys and girls basketball teams play conference games to end the week before hosting Benilde-St. Margaret's on Saturday

BOYS BASKETBALL RANKINGS By Minnesota Basketball News CLASS 4A • 1. Cretin-Derham Hall (17-0); 2. Wayzata (15-2); 3. Hopkins (16-1); 4. Tartan (16-0); 5.

Minnesota high school boys basketball is finally in full swing, and High School on SI has the top 25 teams in the state ranked regardless of classifica

MOORHEAD — The Alexandria Cardinals boys basketball team wasn't messing around on Tuesday night. The Cardinals rolled through the Moorhead Spuds 100-72 in non-conference play at Moorhead High School. Alexandria improved to 9-3 overall and extended their win streak to five games.

Benilde St. Margaret's Ken Pauly, shown in a 2012 game, is the sixth boys hockey coach to reach 600 victories. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Fifth-ranked (Class 3A) Benilde-St. Margaret’s took a 10-9 lead with 12:30 left in the first half and never looked back as it defeated second-ranked (Class 3A) Alexandria 79-53 in a physical game on Jan. 25, 2025.

The junior goalie guides the Thunderhawks against the Wolverines and one of the state’s top scoring duos in clash for control of Class 2A, Section 7 at 7 p.m. on startribune.com.

The Alexandria boys and girls basketball teams are ranked No. 4 in the Minnesota Basketball News Class 3A rankings (Jan. 29, 2025 edition). The Alexandria boys basketball team (12-3) is ranked No. 4 in Class 3A behind Mankato East (14-1),

David La Vaque is a high school sports reporter who has been the lead high school hockey writer for the Minnesota Star Tribune since 2010. He is co-author of “Tourney Time,” a book about the history of Minnesota’s boys hockey state tournament published in 2020 and updated in 2024.