West-metro winter memorable in prep sports

With a brief respite before the onslaught of spring sports, here's a look back at some of the best — and even some forgettable — moments from the west metro during the 2014-15 winter sports season.

The good: Stop me if you've heard this before: The Lake Conference established itself as the most consistent boys' basketball conference, top to bottom, in the metro area. Three teams — Hopkins, Eden Prairie and Minnetonka — were ranked among the top 10 in Class 4A all season. Wayzata, which tied for third in league play, upset Maple Grove in the Section 5 semifinals. Edina, which finished last, was 2-6 in conference, 16-3 overall. The five Lake Conference teams were a combined 85-17 in nonconference play.

The great: DeLaSalle won its fourth consecutive Class 3A state championship, becoming just the third team in state history win four titles in a row (Minneapolis Henry and Southwest Minnesota Christian of Edgerton were the other two). The Islanders prepped for their state tournament run with a schedule heavily loaded with top teams from around the Upper Midwest, going 5-2 against teams from outside Minnesota.

The up-and-coming: Minnehaha Academy established itself as a program to watch over the next few seasons. The Redhawks posted an 18-8 record while being led by two players not yet old enough to drive: JaVonni Bickham, a 6-foot-6 freshman power forward, and Jalen Suggs, a slick seventh-grade guard.

The good: The rise of the Minneapolis Conference. The league, which in the span of about a decade had gone from being among the metro's power conferences to a league with one state tournament-quality program (Washburn), showed signs of returning to past glory. Washburn, Southwest, South, North and Henry each put up strong seasons with 15 or more victories.

The great: Hopkins won its fourth Class 4A girls' state championship in the past five years with an intense, breathless style that rarely gave opponents room to breathe. The Royals (30-1) came within one overtime loss to Eastview in early December of the first undefeated season in program history.

The almost-great: Three years after the core of its current team, all of them freshmen, suffered through a 3-24 season, Orono struck back with a 25-1 regular season and spent most of the season ranked. No. 1 in Class 3A. The Spartans' state championship run was stopped by a 55-48 loss to Marshall in the Class 3A semifinals. They ended up winning the third-place title.

The roar: In what colleague David La Vaque recalls as "the most sustained roar and continuous engagement of the crowd in any of the recently completed state tournaments," Duluth East upset Edina 3-1 in the Class 2A semifinals, ending the Hornets' quest for a three-peat of state championships.

The ugly: High school hockey's image took a hit when two section playoff games ended in brawls. Bloomington Jefferson and Holy Angels skirmished after Jefferson's 3-2 victory in the Class 2A, Section 2 quarterfinals. Two days later, benches cleared after Eden Prairie's 1-0 victory over Benilde-St. Margaret's in the Class 2A, Section 6 semifinals. Three Eden Prairie players were suspended for the section championship game, which the Eagles won anyway, defeating Minnetonka 2-1 in overtime.

The great news: Attendance, always an issue at the state tournament, was up for the Class 2A championship game. Hill-Murray defeated Minnetonka 2-1 in the finals before 3,709 fans, an increase of 81.8 percent from 2014.

Jim Paulsen • 612-673-7737