Rochester Mayo junior Claire Loftus lost her first match of the high school tennis season this fall, falling to Eagan’s Cassandra Li.

Loftus won her final match of the high school tennis season this fall, topping Li.

The latter match was for the Class 2A individual state championship. Loftus, the No. 2 seed, scored redemption via a 7-5, 6-0 victory at Baseline Tennis Center.

“Going up against (Li, the No. 1 seed who hadn’t lost this season), it wasn’t like, oh, I was supposed to win,” Loftus said. “And I think that helped me. I was able to play more relaxed and without the pressure and the stress.”

But not without the fatigue. This has been a long, successful week for Loftus, who helped Rochester Mayo win its first-ever team state title on Wednesday.

“It’s been a long week. Lots of matches,” she said. “So I was definitely feeling tired.”

Loftus took her time between points to catch her breath, but also made a point to switch up her game plan and be aggressive in an attempt to play shorter points. She lived at the net. Once Loftus found her groove, she rolled.

“I started to trust my shots more, and I was able to feel confident when I hit my strokes,” Loftus said.

It was the opposite for Li. The Eagan sophomore said her confidence started to wane during the match and she grew impatient. That often leads to unforced mistakes.

But while Friday ended in disappointment, that experience figures to serve Li well moving forward.

“It’s really good memories, I would say,” she said. “It definitely does give me something to look back on and try to know what to improve on next time so I got it.”

Loftus helped Rochester Mayo complete the perfect sweep this week. She won the individual crown, the Spartans claimed the team title, and Rochester Mayo’s Malea Diehn and Keely Ryder outlasted Lakeville North’s Keira Kelly and Addy Bowlby in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, in the doubles championship match.

Loftus’ victory also completes a sweep of her own. She now owns a team state title, a doubles state title and a singles state title.

What’s left to play for?

“Two more (titles),” she said. “I’ll be back next year, hopefully to do just the same, I guess.”

Class A

Breck’s Isabelle Einess won her second straight singles state title, topping Osakis’ Leah Maddock 6-0, 6-0 in the final. Einess didn’t drop a single game throughout her state tournament run.

The doubles crown went to Blake’s Fatemeh Vang and Nana Vang, who bested Minnehaha Academy’s Chloe Alley and Greta Johnson in the final, 6-0, 6-2.

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WASHINGTON — A night after benching Jujhar Khaira committed a couple of bad turnovers in the Wild’s end in a 6-2 loss at Philadelphia, the winger was a healthy scratch for Friday’s game against the Capitals.

Khaira essentially didn’t play after passing the puck to the opponent twice in one shift, and head coach Dean Evason was asked before a 6 p.m. puck drop at Capital One Arena if that was the reason he didn’t play Friday.

“Nope,” Evason said. “Because we’d sit the whole team.”

The Wild entered the second of back-to-backs with losses in three of their previous four games (1-2-1), and Evason saved most of his pregame ire for the top line of Kirill Kaprizov, Ryan Hartman and Mats Zuccarello. After combining for 10 points in a comeback victory over Edmonton on Tuesday, they were a combined minus-7 against the Flyers.

“They were really bad last night,” Evason said. “They were awful.”

The trio combined for 10 shots on goal, none of which found the net, and, officially, five giveaways. One of those turnovers erased some vital momentum after the Wild pulled within 3-2 early in the third period.

Kaprizov was on the blue line when he skated backwards and was picked by Cam Atkinson, who sent the put ahead to a streaking Owen Tippett for a breakaway goal that started a late three-goal assault.

“We spoke to them and they’re very accountable,” Evason said. “But I would say you have to bring it every night. If you’re gonna be leaders on our hockey club, and you’re gonna play the most minutes, you’d better do the most things right — and they did not.”

Before that game, Evason acknowledged that the coaching staff had discussed breaking up the line, at least temporarily, and the line responded by exploding in a 7-4 victory over Edmonton on Tuesday. Hartman had a hat trick and two assists, Kaprizov three assists and Zuccarello a goal and assist.

Evason said the entire team would watch video of the Flyers game before taking the ice against the Capitals.

“We turned the puck over … I don’t know the exact number, but it’s 40-something,” he said. “We will be addressing that here before the game.”

Debut for Hunt

Without Khaira, the Wild were left to play with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, meaning Daemon Hunt was set to make his NHL debut. He was recalled for emergency purposes before the three-game trip that ends Sunday in New Jersey.

Six-foot-1 and 200 pounds, Hunt was the third pick in the third round of the 2020 draft and spent all of last season at AHL Iowa.

“He’s a very calm guy,” Evason said. “He’s very mature. He’ll be ready to go.”

Evason said he didn’t plan for any of his blue liners to play offensive shifts against the Capitals.

Briefly

The Wild are short because they’re without injured core players Jared Spurgeon, Matt Boldy, Alex Goligoski and Freddy Gaudreau. Evason said Wednesday that Boldy (upper body) is the closest to returning.

Defensemen Spurgeon (upper) and Goligoski (lower) are on long-term injured reserve, and Gaudreau was pulled back from this trip with an upper body injury that has been bothering suffered when he was leveled by Ryan Reaves Oct. 14 in Toronto.

After missing last week with a foot injury, Vikings left guard Ezra Cleveland has been a limited participant in practice this week. He is listed as questionable heading into the rivalry game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon at Lambeau Field.

Asked how Cleveland has looked in practice this week, head coach Kevin O’Connell noted that he is slowly working his way back to 100 percent. He also acknowledged that left guard Dalton Risner has looked good in practice this week.

It raises the question: Which player starts for the Vikings if Cleveland and Risner are at full strength heading into the game against the Packers?

“We are working through that,” O’Connell said. “As we have said from the beginning of training camp, we are on the look for the best five, and that is ultimately is going to be what drives the decision.”

It’s worth noting that with Risner starting Monday night’s game, the offensive line for the Vikings had arguably its best performance this season. That group dominated the trenches against a very talented defensive front, which helped the Vikings score the upset over the San Francisco 49ers.

“We want to try and solidify what that best five looks like,” O’Connell said. “The ebbs and flows of guys getting dinged up here and there will have a lot to do with it.”

Asamoah ruled out

The only Vikings player ruled out for Sunday’s game is linebacker Brian Asamoah. He is working through an ankle injury and did not practice this week.

“Just didn’t turn over like we had hoped,” O’Connell said. “We’ll try to get him some more treatment throughout the weekend and see if we can have him available for next week.”

Meanwhile, running back Kene Nwangwu is questionable with an illness, and receiver Jalen Nailor is questionable with a hamstring injury. Tight end T.J. Hockenson, after missing a practice earlier this week, has progressed to the point that he doesn’t have an injury designation.

Proper footwear

It’s always going to be a talking point at Lambeau Field. Will players opt for different cleats in hopes of better traction on natural grass?

Though it’s something O’Connell has encouraged his players to consider this week, he won’t mandate the type of footwear use on Sunday.

“I think enough of them understand how important it is,” O’Connell said. “The seven-stud cleats will clearly be a tool for those guys to use to help enhance their ability to not be on the ground. That is really the No. 1 requirement for football players — to not be on the ground when they don’t have to be.”

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The Timberwolves’ most majestic offensive performance during the 2022-23 season came when they were down multiple star players.

In March at Madison Square Garden, the Wolves — missing Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards — poured in 140 points, assisting on 34 of their 51 buckets in a victory over the Knicks.

The ball and bodies were all moving that night, flowing in a perfect rhythm to create one great look after another. Wolves point guard Mike Conley, who had 11 assists that night, said the team called “maybe three” sets all game.

“You just got it going and the ball found its way around,” Conley said.

That was the ideal form of Timberwolves coach Chris Finch’s offense — players moving in random ways but always cognizant of location for spacing and executing multiple actions within the 24-second shot clock window.

The Wolves struggled to execute such an offense at various times throughout last season, especially at critical junctures. They couldn’t maintain proper spacing required for a multiple-big offense to function, and in general failed to shift the defense to create advantageous situations at critical junctures in games.

That’s why the Wolves implemented more structure during training camp this fall. Rather than having players put themselves into actions at random early in possessions, plays are called to inform them of where to go.

It’s not Finch’s favorite plan of attack, but the coach thought it necessary to maximize the offensive potential of the Wolves’ talented, albeit sometimes funky-fitting starting five.

“It might take away some creativity, but nothing’s going to be overly elaborate. Just set a starting structure,” Finch said in training camp. “We get in trouble when we don’t have good structure to start an offense.”

Because Edwards and Towns are notorious ball stoppers. Players were in favor of the shift, agreeing with the necessity of a firmer starting point on offense.

“Structure can be a crutch sometimes. But it’s necessary in certain scenarios,” Conley said. “If guys have tendencies where they get wild with the ball, get a little loose with the ball, it’s good to have some structure to say, ‘Hey, one or two guys do this, the rest of y’all, we want y’all looking at two dribbles get off it, pass it, shoot it, whatever it is — play your role.’ ”

Edwards himself said the additional structure was good, as it kept him focused. He added it’s “easier to score” when he’s getting others involved.

In the preseason, the benefits of structure — more play calls and direction — showed themselves. Minnesota’s offense had a clear purpose. And with that purpose came ball movement and points.

But Finch noted ahead of the regular-season opener in Toronto that even with structure, bad tendencies can take over when the lights come on. And, sure enough, the Wolves retreated to their sticky offense of old in their loss to the Raptors. Edwards was 8 for 27 shooting, while Towns was 8 for 25. Many of their looks were difficult shots.

Play calls aren’t a surefire antidote for a lack of ball movement. If a player isn’t willing to get off the ball and let movement play out, it won’t happen. Edwards shouldered the blame for falling back into former bad habits after the loss to Toronto — and vowed to play the way he did in the preseason.

If that happens, Minnesota’s chances of fulfilling its potential with this cast of characters skyrockets. If not, the Timberwolves’ offense will again likely be up and down, reliant largely on difficult shot-making.

“We’ll have to settle into the rhythm that we know we played with throughout all preseason,” Finch said.

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