Surprises and disappointments coming into conference play.

Surprises

• Shakopee 6-0 with wins at Washburn and at home over Mounds View. Without Eric Carlson, I thought they'd be a middle of the road team at best. Big grudge match on Friday vs the next team in the list.
  
• Armstrong 6-2 with a 3 pt loss to Cooper, a come from behind win at STA and a rout at Stillwater and a game they should have won vs CDH. With the way they shoot, they'll always be a threat.
• Red Wing 8-0. A 500 team last year, they've started 8-0 props to them.
• Forest Lake 7-1 They could contend in 7AAAA. When I saw them vs Como Park their offense was brutal and I don't think they should have lost to Blaine, but give them credit for the win over Rocori. While they're still a level below the leaders in the Suburban East, they're better than I expected.
• Central 5-3. You had to think they'd be much better this year, but they're doing a nice job avenging the non-conference losses of last season and will be a major factor in St. Paul City play.
  

Disappointments

• Hill-Murray 0-6 I know they've had a difficult schedule, but I expected more from them with Peter McKeown.
• Washburn 3-4 This is a team that has the talent to compete in tough section 6AAA, but if they want to win the section they have to better than 3-4.
• Henry 3-3. Great guards, but young. They're talented enough that they should have beaten Eagan and Rosemount. And they'll need to be better than this to over take Spring Lake Park in 3AAA.
• Trinity 1-5 with their tradition I thought they'd get more wins. A 32 pt loss to Mound-Westonka and a 28 pt loss to St. Croix Lutheran were surprising.
• DeLaSalle. Yes they played 3 games in Houston and played their other 2 games without Royce White, but nobody could have expected 0-5.
• Breck 5-3, this gets a disappointment for losses to Edison and Roosevelt at home. With 7 of their 8 at home, anything worse than 7-1 had to be a disappointment.