When the Section 7A seeds came out, Littlefork-Big Falls head coach Jeff Maish estimates he had at least 20 people complain to him that the Vikings would probably have to play Mesabi East in the first round.
He’s sick of hearing about it.
“Mesabi East doesn’t have a good draw, either,” the fourth-year head coach said Monday before practice.
Mesabi East (18-9), which crushed 11th-seeded Mesabi Academy 90-74 on Tuesday in the play-in round, finished 7-0 against teams in Section 7A during the regular season this year. They entered the postseason with two more wins than the Vikings (15-7), but got the No. 6 seed because the seeding process is based on a point system, and the Giants play half the Section 7A schedule compared to the rest of the teams in the section. L-BF is the No. 3 seed.
“It’s going to be a physical team,” Maish said.
The Giants, a Class 2A school last year, also enter the contest riding an 8-game win streak.
The Vikings have won six of eight and are banking on some late-season success carrying over into the postseason. L-BF defeated second-seeded Orr on Feb. 19 and nearly clipped top-seeded Chisholm the following night before falling 62-61. After opening the year 6-4, L-BF is 9-3.
“One game at a time right now,” Maish said. “It’s an old cliche, but the back-to-back Chisholm and Orr games proves we can play with Mesabi East. Those two (outcomes) will definitely prepare us for this game.”
