POLL: Three Crusader hockey players up for player of the week in the March 3-9 poll
SAINT CLOUD – With the St. Cloud Cathedral boys hockey team winning the Class 1A state title, three Crusaders were nominated for this week's athlete of the week poll.
Covering games from March 3-9, the poll includes all three Crusader state games at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The poll also includes section boys and girls basketball games from around central Minnesota. St. Cloud Tech's point guard continues to shine and the Albany girls won their section tournament. Two Huskies can be voted on this week.
Crusaders win state: St. Cloud Cathedral wins second state hockey title, dedicates win to Mack Motzko
Albany takes down Huskers in section: Albany wins section girls basketball championship, other area teams eliminated
Last week's poll: GALLERY: Athlete of the week poll Feb. 25-March 2
Tech won two section basketball games and advanced to the Section 8-3A final versus Alexandria on Wednesday. Senior point guard Tameron Ferguson scored 27 points in the 82-56 quarterfinal win March 5 against Little Falls and in the 76-70 semifinal March 8, he had 43 against Detroit Lakes. Ferguson also had 21 rebounds, nine assists and 11 steals in the two games.
In two section tournament wins for the Albany girls, including the Section 6-2A championship over Holdingford on March 8, senior Kylan Gerads had 36 points. She scored 21 in that fourth-consecutive title game, leading the Huskies and in the semifinal versus Annandale, Gerads had 10 rebounds. On the week she had 13 rebounds, nine assists and seven steals. Albany beat Holdingford 76-50 and Annandale 78-34.
St. Cloud Cathedral played three boys hockey games, ending with winning the Class 1A state championship March 9 in the Xcel Center in St. Paul. En route to the 3-1 championship win over Hermantown, the Crusaders beat Northfield 5-1 and Warroad 4-3 in overtime.
Senior goalkeeper Nick Hansen was locked in during the tournament, putting together a .939 save percentage in the three games. He saw 82 shots on goal during the tournament and had the most saves March 8 versus Warroad, when he stopped 30 of 33 shots. In the title game, Hansen was 28-29.
On offense for the skating Crusaders, junior John Hirschfeld was the most productive forward. He had three goals in the tournament, including two against Warroad. He also had five assists and was on faceoff duty for Cathedral’s top line.
Senior Alyssa Sand also had quite a week for Albany girls basketball. She had 39 points on the week, 11 rebounds, four assists and seven steals in two games, including the section title. Sand really shined in the semifinal, however. She had 28 against Annandale, adding 10 boards, two assists and three steals.
Finally, sophomore Griffin Sturm is the third Cathedral hockey player nominated. The defenseman was pivotal in keeping opponents out of the offensive zone in the three wins and had a goal and three assists in the games.
Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: St. Cloud Times March 3-9 player of the week poll
