The last of three big school / small school matchups at the Breakdown Sports Tip Off Classic pits two teams ranked in the top 10 in their respective classes. Class AAAA Osseo will make the short drive down to Hopkins, while Class AA Caledonia will make an almost 200-mile trek from the beautiful southeast corner of the state. The two teams are as different from one another as are the communities. Caledonia is more of a blue collar, fundamental team, whereas Osseo is a flashy squad full of high profile athletes.

Osseo comes into this game with the No. 9 ranking in Class AAA. The Orioles will look to upend Maple Grove in Section 5AAAA and earn a state tournament berth. The Orioles are led by a trio of talented guards in Mikayla Bailey, Janay Morton and Phillis Webb. Bailey has already made her college decision, and will be headed to the University of Minnesota.

Caledonia is no stranger to matching up with a highly-ranked Class AAAA team. They took on then No. 4 Chaska in last year’s Breakdown Sports Tip Off Classic and played them tough, losing by only 11 points. Had they not come up to play that game last year, they would hold the state record with 51 straight wins. However, after winning the state tournament in 2009, Coach Sorenson knows that playing tough competition to get ready for a playoff run is more important that the record books.

Amber Sorenson vs Mikayla Bailey:
Both of these guards have already made commitments to play Division 1 basketball in college; Bailey with a verbal to Minnesota and Sorenson a signed National Letter of Intent to Northern Iowa. Bailey is considered to be the best defender in the state, while Caledonia’s offense is run through Sorenson, who averaged close to 19 ppg last season.

Why Osseo will win:
The Orioles' talented and athletic guards will pressure Caledonia into turnovers.  Webb and Morton will transition together and their speed will be unbearable for Caledonia. Mikayla Bailey will lock down Amber Sorenson, limiting Caledonia’s ability to run their offense

Why Caledonia will win:
Six-foot-3 sophomore center Emme Lange will control the paint on offense and defense.  Ambers Sorenson’s combination of size (6-foot-2) and shooting ability (42 percent on threes) will be too much for Bailey (5-foot-8) to handle.  Veteran coach Scott Sorenson will pull just another trick out of his oversized bag, much like he did to beat Jordan in the 2009 state tournament

Our prediction: Caledonia