AREA PREP ROUNDUP: Red Lake boys hoops No. 1 in Section 8A East standings

RED LAKE -- The regular seasons are winding down for many of the area winter sports teams and before long the playoffs will begin.

The Section 8A East boys basketball playoffs should be very entertaining as six teams are bunched within 15 QRF points and any of them could eventually rise to the top.

As of this week Red Lake is leading the pack with a QRF of 70.4 but right on the Warriors' heels is Fosston at 67.3

Not far behind are Northome-Kelliher (60.4), Walker-Hackensack-Akeley (60.1), Cass Lake-Bena (58.7) and Blackduck (56.9).

Trailing the Section 8A East leaders are Mahnomen (35.8), Laporte (26.4), Clearbrook-Gonvick (21-8), Bug O Nay Ge Shig (15.4) and Lake of the Woods (13.9).

WHA currently leads the Northland Conference standings with a 7-1 record while Cass Lake-Bena and Red Lake share second at 5-2. Not far behind is Blackduck at 5-3 while Northome-Kelliher is 4-3, Nevis 4-4, Pine River 1-8 and Laporte 0-8.

Today's schedule sees Northome-Kelliher at Red Lake and Blackduck at WHA. In nonconference play Clearbrook-Gonvick (2-13) heads to Fosston.

Bagley currently is seventh in the nine-team Section 8-2A Northeast standings with a QRF of 29.3. East Grand Forks (127.5) and Crosby-Ironton (111.2) rule the roost and should be the top two seeds.

Bagley is 4-14 overall and 2-7 in the Pine to Prairie North Division.

The Flyers' girls team owns a 9-5 overall record and is solidly entrenched in second place in the Pine to Prairie North Division with a 7-3 record. Win-E-Mac is 11-0 in the division while Fosston and Fertile-Beltrami are 4-5, Mahnomen 2-8 and Climax-Fisher 0-10.

In the section standings Bagley is seventh of the nine teams with a 45.1 QRF. Pequot Lakes leads the section at 86.2.

WHA and Red Lake are in a heated battle for the top spot in Section 8A East as the Wolves own a 57.2 QRF and Red Lake is at 56.5. A distant third is Clearbrook-Gonvick at 40.3 while Kelliher-Northome is at 38.9. Rounding out the current standings are Fosston (32.2), Blackduck (21.4), Mahnomen (18.2), Lake of the Woods (15.8), Cass Lake-Bena (15.5) and Laporte (12.1).

WHA also leads the Northwoods Conference with an 8-1 record. Pine River holds second at 6-2 and Clearbrook-Gonvick is third at 5-2.

Trailing the leaders are Kelliher-Northome (4-3), Nevis (4-4), Blackduck (3-6), Cass Lake-Bena (0-6) and Laporte (0-6).

Clearbrook-Gonvick visits Kelliher-Northome today and Blackduck heads to WHA. In Pine to Prairie action Bagley hosts Win-E-Mac.