Prep athletes of the week: Elk River's Scheid can rely on strength or moves

For as long as she can remember, Scheid has been one of the tallest girls in her class. "I've been 6 feet tall since I was in seventh grade," said Scheid, who is now a 6-2 sophomore and a force in the low post.

In her past four games, Scheid has averaged 27.3 points. She had a string of three consecutive games with 30 points of more before settling for 18 (while playing less than a full game) in Friday's 73-44 victory over Coon Rapids.

To the surprise of no one, Scheid said most of her points come inside, where she's developed both a power game and a nice array of moves from the low block.

"At this age, it's more about going up strong," she said. "But I've got a few moves I like. A hook shot, a drop step and an up-and-under."

And if she needs to get to the free-throw line, where she's a 75-percent shooter? "Probably a double drop step and bring it to the middle of the lane."

Until her streak last week, Scheid never had scored 30 points in a varsity game, let alone three in a row. "It's kind of a dream come true," she said.

The 6-5 senior was a two-way standout in three victories. She averaged 24.3 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks, including her first triple-double of the season — 24, 10 and 10 — in a 65-50 victory over Becker.

The junior winger's goal with two minutes to play lifted the Crimson to a 2-1 victory over Blaine and was the highlight of a three-victory week. She capped it with her first hat trick of the season in a 9-1 rout of North Metro.

A 6-0 record with two pins, a major decision and an invitational championship were enough to justify the sophomore 113-pounder's elevation to No. 3 in the Class 3A rankings. His signature victory was a 6-0 decision over Rosemount's Jake Baker in the finals of the Eastview Invite.

To say it's been a breakout year for the sharpshooting 6-6 junior is an understatement. He set a career high for scoring for the second time in less than two weeks, going off for 45 points in an 86-73 victory over then Class 4A, No. 8 Roseville. He had 39 in a loss to Bettendorf (Iowa) on Jan. 4.

Scoring nine goals in a season would be a reason to celebrate for many Peterson, a junior forward at the Victoria-based school, scored nine in two games last week. He had six goals in an 8-2 victory over Orono and a hat trick (with two assists) in a 10-0 rout of Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato.

The senior's routines are rounding into postseason shape. She had a personal-best all-around score of 37.65 in a meet at Hopkins and bettered that with a 37.95 (including a meet-winning 9.75 floor exercise) at the Park Invitational.

JIM PAULSEN