Braham hosted Barnum on Tuesday afternoon. It's the annual battle of the Bombers, whether it's fall, winter or spring these two teams seem to play during every season. This time during Christmas break, and as the game began it seemed like the early start time along with it being in the middle of Xmas break, gave these teams some rust to knock off.

The Lady Dragons hosted Cloquet on Tuesday night. The Dragons played their third team in Class AAA or higher with the matchup. They were looking to get back over .500 on the season and head into Christmas break on a high note. It wasn't the best of starts for either team, fouls piled up early on for Cloquet. Both defenses played hard and made it difficult to find any decent shots.

The Cambridge-Isanti Boys hosted St. Francis on Friday night. Mike McDonald's crew was looking for the first conference win of the season, but it wasn't going to be easy against a rival. The Bluejackets applied the pressure early against the Saints, on offense they scored early and often, on defense they played full court and it forced a plethora of turnovers.

The Pine City Boys hosted Milaca on Monday night. Both teams came in searching for the first section win of the season. The Wolves came out and set the pace early on, offensively they moved the ball around and shot quick, defensively it was full court press trying to force Pine City to break it. The Wolves were out to an early 9-0 lead. But the Dragons were able to correct things on the fly.

North Branch hosted Chisago Lakes on Thursday night for a double header. The boys teams would take the court first. The Vikings came in having yet to win a game, but an offense that was high flying. The Wildcats had already won a game on the year, and while their offense didn't average as monat point, their defense was allowing less than the Vikings.

Pine City hosted Foley on Tuesday night. These two teams played last year in Foley and what a game that was. This time the game happens alittle earlier in the season in Pine City. Foley came in as the #1 team in the section, and Pine City was also in the top 5.

Rush City hosted Barnum on Monday night. Barnum brought in their high flying offense and stingy defense, and the Tigers brought their physicality. Rush City may have been the most physical team the Bombers have faced up to this point. The defenses were the talking point as the game began and really all throughout the 1st half.

The Lady Dragons hosted Hastings on Friday night. The Raiders weren't just some random team making the trip to Pine City, Dragons HC Padrick Judd used to coach there. While there were some connections, Pine City knew they had business to take care of. As the game began it was clear the time off for both teams brought some new energy. Despite the energy neither team got off to a particularly great start, but credit should be given to the defenses in this game.

Pine City girls hosted Aitkin on Saturday. The girls basketball team had a busy end to their week, on Friday they played in the cities against St Croix Prep, then had to turn around and play again Saturday afternoon. Some fatigue was sure to play a factor in this midday game, especially this early in the season. But Pine City did not let that hold them back, despite the slow start. Vivian Lahti got them on the board first with a three.

East Central hosted Braham on Friday night. These two teams split their regular season series last year, but Braham had the final say in the playoffs. East Central has a the conference title the last few years and look to defend it, but Braham has aspirations of a title themselves. Both teams knew they needed to get off to a hot start. Early on both teams had some rust to knock off, there were some early mishaps on both sides. While it took some time, the scoring came a