8A Final - #1 Warroad vs. #3 Detroit Lakes

[ClassAGuy]

#1 seed Warroad Warriors (21-5-1) vs #3 seed Detroit Lakes Lakers (17-9-1)
February 26th, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT | @ Ralph Engelstad Arena, TRF

Warroad enters the 8A Final looking for redemption after suffering the upset loss in last years 8A Finals despite being Class A’s #1 team at the time. This is a team full of championship talent as many of these players won multiple State Titles at the youth level and are now looking for their chance to do the same at the varsity level. In order to get that chance they will have to get through Detroit Lakes who they handled in the regular season but as they learned last year anything can happen in a Section Final game.

Warriors Leaders- Sr #20 Mooney Shaugabay (21-29-50 pts), Jr. #7 Gavin Andersen (30-32-62 pts) & 9th grader #5 Roderick Jackson (13-19-32 pts) make up the Warrior elite big top line. Sr #21 Broden Hontvet (7-31-38 pts) & 9th grader #22 Ayven Hontvet (14-25-39 pts) are a talented pair of brother defenders who play big minutes and can join the rush and add to the offensive Warroad attack.

Warriors Goalie- Jr. #30 Finn Hanson (16-5-1) 1.62 GAA .926 SV% has been Warroad’s start all season long and he is a great competitor who has been strong in net all winter and he has looked good during their 8A playoff run so far.

Warriors Redemption- Warroad since the start of the year has been on a path for redemption. Last season they ended the regular season as Class A’s #1 team but they were never able to get to St Paul to see if that ranking was indeed true. Instead, they suffered a heartbreaking upset in the 8A Final that snapped consecutive streak of Tourney Appearances. Now this year they’re on a rampage through the 8A playoffs, having out-scored teams 24 to 1 so far, and they want to make sure they don't suffer the same fate of last year now.

Warriors Special Teams- The Power Play is at 33.7% and Penalty Kill is at 91.9 %

Detroit Lakes enters the 8A Finals for the first time in program history as they were able to upset the Defending State Champs EGF in the Semifinal Round. Now they will have a chance to take on the mighty Warriors who they have not beaten as a program since 1980. The Lakers have known since rejoining 8A back in 2012 that the road to the Tourney would be one of the most difficult in Class A and would have to go through the “Big Three” as they look to get back to State for the first time since 1996.

Lakers Leaders- Srs. #42 Easton Kennedy (31-22-53 pts), #11 Will Cymbaluk (14-37-51 pts) & #22 Carter Whitworth (10-8-18 pts) make up the Lakers top scoring line. Soph #43 Bauer Walter (7-19-26 pts) & 9th grader #5 Rhett Walter (1-22-23 pts) are a talented pair of brother defenders who play big minutes and can join the rush and add to the offensive to the Lakers attack.

Lakers Goalie- Jr. #1 Griffin Lindberg (17-7-1) 2.39 GAA .919 SV% has seen action in the Lakers net since he has been a freshman. He’s a veteran now who has been at his best in the 8A playoffs and will be the key to a potential upset

Lakers 8A Rise- Ever since Head Coach Ben Noah took over the Detroit Lakes program his goal has been to build a program that can compete and eventually break through vs the “Big Three” of Section 8A. Saturday's upset over EGF was a huge step in those efforts as now for the first time since 2004 we will have an 8A Final with someone outside the “Big 3” in it. It also is Detroit Lakes first Section Final game since 2001 back when they were in 4A and there was a sophomore on that team named Ben Noah for a full circle rise.

Lakers Special Teams- The Power Play is at 23.5% and Penalty Kill is at 86.8 %

[defense]

Welp. This is hard...
Go Detroit Lakes!!!