Hill-Murray has one of the most tradition-rich boys hockey teams in the state, a regular at the state tournament with four championships in its school’s history.

Gentry Academy is a young program, which earned its own championship — in Class A — in its lone state appearance in 2021.

Count one for the upstart.

Gentry Academy, seeded fifth, beat top-seed Hill-Murray 4-2 in the Class 2A, Section 4 semifinals on Wednesday at Aldrich Arena in Maplewood.

Third-seed White Bear Lake beat No. 2-seed Stillwater 2-1 in overtime in the section’s other semifinal. The Bears trailed 1-0 in the final minute of regulation, but Rian Marquardt tied the contest with 56 ticks remaining after White Bear Lake pulled its goalie.

Then Nash Roed scored the winner less than a minute into the extra session.

The two winners will face off for the section title at 7 p.m. Friday at Aldrich Arena.

Gentry Academy kept its upset run in the section tournament going after a minor 6-3 upset of No. 4-seed East Ridge to open the tournament. The Stars then took control early Wednesday against Hill-Murray.

Braden Bois scored 4:48 into the first period for Gentry Academy, before Caden Zasada evened the game just over a minute late for the Pioneers. Collin Hennes scored before the end of the first for the Stars, who pulled out to a 4-1 advantage midway through the second period. Everett Nelson and Brekken Zabrok scored in the second for Gentry Academy.

Tristan Will closed the scoring for Hill-Murray, which outshot the Stars 36-25. The Pioneers won’t play in a section final for the first time since 2005.

Gentry Academy’s Gavin Grose made 34 saves in goal. Grayson Hanggi made 21 saves for the Pioneers.

In the other semifinal, Teague McGlynn opened the scoring in the second for Stillwater, who wasn’t able to make the one goal stand up.

Gavin Bajda made 27 saves in goal for the Ponies. Bears goaltender Riley Helmberger stopped 19 shots.

Section 6AA Championship

Edina won its section title on Wednesday by beating Wayzata 3-1 at Ridder Arena on the University of Minnesota campus. Bode McConnell had a hat trick for the second-seeded Hornets, who also got 28 saves from Chase Bjorgaard.

Fourth-seed Wayzata couldn’t keep it’s run going after upsetting No. 1-seed Rogers 5-2 in the semifinals. Eli Molde scored to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead over Edina in the first. Ryan Pellinger stopped 25 shots in goal for Wayzata.

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Recognizing a looming eviction crisis following Operation Metro Surge, the St. Paul City Council voted Wednesday to redirect more than $1.42 million from various housing funds toward the city’s recently-revived emergency rent help program.

The seven-member council, first meeting as the St. Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority and then as the full council, approved an amendment to the Planning and Economic Development budget, dipping into unused Housing Trust Fund money for $926,000 to support the city’s recently-expanded Emergency Rental Assistance program. That funding will help pay for two additional staff positions this year, as well as staffing for future years.

St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her directed another $500,000 to the program from Local Affordable Housing Aid dollars by administrative order, bringing the total amount of money in the rent assistance program to $3.8 million.

The program was established in 2020 to support renters in response to the pandemic, and revived in 2025 at the urging of Ward 7 Council Member Cheniqua Johnson, whose East Side ward has among the highest number of evictions in the state. Working with Planning and Economic Development, the council has adjusted and expanded eligibility guidelines.

The program launched in mid-November with an initial $1 million in funding, offering a one-time payment of up to $2,500 for late rent and associated fees, paid directly to the landlord. By early December, it had paused applications as a result of overwhelming demand. Council members said they expected it to reopen soon.

Statewide, residential eviction filings were already flirting with state records by the end of last year.

“Even before recent federal actions and economic disruption, too many neighbors were already at risk of displacement, and those pressures have only intensified,” said Johnson, in a written statement issued Wednesday night.

The council this month called on Gov. Tim Walz and state lawmakers to direct the state’s Public Utility Commission to enact an energy and gas shutoff moratorium, and previously voted Jan. 21 to ask the governor and state leaders for a temporary eviction moratorium, with the goal of protecting workers impacted by Operation Metro Surge from losing their housing.

Her, who was also quoted in the written statement, said the city is “pulling every lever we can at the local level to respond to the crisis Trump unnecessarily brought to St. Paul” and said “we need more buy-in from the state and federal government to help our communities bounce back.”

The St. Thomas women’s basketball team kept its strong run going Wednesday by pulling out a 73-71 win against Kansas City at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena in St. Paul.

The Tommies (15-14, 8-7 Summit) won for the fifth time in six games and second straight by coming up clutch late.

Kansas City (7-22, 4-12) led 70-66 with 40 second remaining. St. Thomas’s Alyssa Sand hit a pair of free throws to draw within two points. Tierra Trotter made one of two free throws for a three-point Kansas City advantage with 20 seconds left. From there, it was all Tommies.

Faith Feuerbach converted a layup with 11 seconds left for St. Thomas. Then, Tommies forward Autumn McCall had a steal and assisted to Jada Hood for a layup. Hood was fouled and added a free throw for the final margin.

Sand had 23 points to lead St. Thomas. Mikalya Werner had 22 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Savahhan McGowan added 10 points off the bench.

The Tommies finish the regular season on Saturday at 2 p.m. on the road against Oral Roberts.

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Aldi, the German discount grocery chain, has officially confirmed long-standing rumors it will open its fifth St. Paul store in the former Lunds & Byerlys space downtown. The store, to be located at 115 E. 10th St., is expected to open by the end of the summer, according to a spokesperson for the market.

The grocery released a written statement on behalf of regional vice president Matt Lilla on Wednesday evening, calling St. Paul “a vibrant and growing town, so we have selected a location that is the most convenient for the majority of residents. Our goal is to provide a shopping destination that supports high traffic volume daily while meeting the needs of our shoppers in every community.”

Lunds opened in 2014 adjoining the luxury Penfield apartments at 10th and Robert streets but closed the grocery last March, after struggling when downtown employers, including the state of Minnesota, shifted to remote work during the pandemic. The closure left downtown St. Paul, which has experienced a gradual conversion of office space to housing, without a grocery.

Interviewed before the store closing, chief executive officer Tres Lund said last year that an increase in store security expenses and decrease in customer visits had left operating costs outpacing sales. Meanwhile, staffers were difficult to retain following incidents of shoplifting, harassment, vandalism and an arson that caused upward of $500,000 in damage in 2022.

Some critics had called the Lunds grocery prices out of step with the surrounding neighborhood, which includes retirees on fixed income, residents living in luxury or affordable housing and a mix of private-sector and municipal workers. Company officials promised at the time that they would leave shelving, coolers and refrigeration in place and do what they could to accommodate another grocer moving into the space.

Aldi, which entered the U.S. market 50 years ago, plans to open more than 180 stores across 31 states this year, which would bring its total U.S. holdings to 2,800 locations. Its “westward expansion” strategy will include 50 new stores planned for the Denver and Colorado Springs markets within the next five years, as well as 10 new stores in and around Phoenix, Ariz., in 2026 alone, for a total of 40 new stores in the Phoenix market by the end of 2030.

In the southeastern United States, Aldi plans to convert 80 grocers to the Aldi format this year, for a total of more than 200 conversions in that market from 2024 through the end of 2027. Its plans also include new distribution centers in Florida, Arizona and Colorado, as well as a revamped website.

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