Girls basketball: Litchfield-NLS to play for 6AA-South title today

COLLEGEVILLE — For the third time this season today at 7:45 p.m., the Litchfield Dragons and New London-Spicer Wildcats will duke it out on the basketball court. Even though the first two meetings had conference implications, tonight’s winner at St. John’s University will get a more important victory: a sub-section championship that secures a spot in the Section 6AA title game.
If history has its way, top-seeded New London-Spicer will hoist up another Section 6AA-South plaque, but No. 3 Litchfield has other plans. NLS has beaten Litchfield twice during the regular season in Wright County Conference play, but the Dragons have won five of their last six games, including a school-record 95-point performance a day after Valentine’s Day, to improve to 15-12.
NLS is also playing some of its best basketball right now, having five in a row and 12 of its last 13 to improve to 23-4. The Wildcats opened the season winning 10 straight before losing three of four and have outscored their first two postseason opponents 143-73.
During the regular season NLS was 8-0 against section opponents while Litchfield was 4-3. The Dragons’ only other loss against a section foe this season was against Osakis, a 20-win team that was ousted Saturday in the North sub-section semifinals by No. 2-seed Sauk Centre (25-2).
Litchfield outlasted NLS 60-53 in overtime in last year’s sub-section final. The Dragons then lost by 13 to Sauk Centre in the Section 6AA title game.
Sauk Centre meets top-seeded Staples-Motley (21-5) today at 6 p.m. in the North final at St. John’s University. The North and South champs will then meet on Friday at 8 p.m. at St. Cloud State University’s Halenbeck Hall with a spot in the Class AA State Tournament at stake.
Sauk Centre is the three-time defending section champion.