Blake Bears (2018-19 season 13-15, 3-6 Conference, 5th)
The Bears 3 amigos, Gabe Ganz, Jasper Liu and Robert Grace all return on the perimeter. They combined for almost 42 PPG last year. Soph Theo Liu fills in nicely when 1 of those 3 gets a breather. Sam Deignan and David Bix also return to the lineup. Size and depth remain an issue.
Breck Mustangs (2018-19 season 22-6, 7-3 Conference, 2nd)
Tim Sension returns to lead the program after most recently spending time with the St. Louis Park girls. He had the head job previously from 1996-2002. He has to replace beast forward David Roddy and his huge numbers. No double figure scorers return but the cupboard isn't bare. Junior PG Jaren Morton returns along with wings Andy Ott and Jimmy Koch. Alex Demaris returns inside.
Minnehaha Academy Redhawks (2018-19 season 29-2, 6-0 Conference, 1st)
The 3 time defending conference and class AA champs once again have an embarrassment of riches. Isaiah Davis comes in from Apple Valley and soph Chase Carter (son of former Gopher Randy Carter) comes over from Maranatha. Guard Terry Lockett returns after a year at prep school. Not to mention the big 3 high-major trio of PG Jalen Suggs (24.2 PPG), SF Prince Aligbe (10.5 PPG) and F Chet Holmgren (18.6 PPG) all returning. Plus a shooter in soph Donovan Smith and football star Kaden Johnson to do dirty work.
Mounds Park Academy Panthers (2018-19 season 4-20, 0-9 Conference, 6th)
The Panthers have to replace 2 of their top 3 scorers. That includes high jumping forward Yahya Madar and 17 PPG. Junior Jack Paulson is the top returner with 14.9 PPG Senior guard Shane Fruchterman will provide most of the rest of the scoring. Austin Lee, Ayoub Mahamoud and Hunter Erickson also return to the rotation.
Providence Academy Lions (2018-19 season 16-12, 6-3 Conference, 3rd)
Ariel McDonald moved on to take the head job at Maranatha so the Lions don't have a coach as of this writing. 7 of the top 8 scorers graduated including forward Mark Richelsen (17.3 PPG) and 2 other double-figure scorers. Guard Jacob Halek and forward Sean Rocheford are the only 2 returnees that saw significant minutes.
St. Paul Academy Spartans (2018-19 season 17-11, 4-5 Conference, 4th)
Kevin Keto takes over the program. He was recently an assistant at Forest Lake. Junior guard Adam Holod and his team high 15.7 PPG return to the lineup. The next 3 scorers, including 2 double figure scorers, need to be replaced. That includes power forward Ryan Moore. Liam Will, Alex Herrmann and Griffin Thissen all return to the rotation. Sophs Clarke and Brandt Baskerville could step into contributing roles.
Predicted Order of Finish
- Minnehaha
- Breck
- Blake
- St. Paul Academy
- Providence
- Mounds Park Academy
Half of the league has new coaches. As to predictions, everybody is just playing for second here. Minnehaha arguably the best team in the state regardless of class. I think that race for second comes down to rivals Blake and Breck. Call that a coin flip as I can make a case for either here. Then it progressively drops off. St. Paul Academy has more back than Providence and Mounds Park Academy will find it hard to match last season.
Conference MVP: Jalen Suggs - Minnehaha
Underclassmen to watch:
- Theo Liu - Blake
- Jimmy Koch- Breck
- Prince Aligbe, Donovan Smith, Chase Carter, DeWayne Givens - Minnehaha
- Brandt Baskerville, Clarke Baskerville - St. Paul Academy
- Breck at Blake - Jan 7th
- Blake at Breck - Jan 24th
- Minnehaha vs Cretin-Derham Hall- Dec 7th (Tipoff Clasic at Hopkins)
- Minnehaha at North St. Paul - Dec 11th
- Minnehaha at East Ridge - Dec 28th
- Park Center at Minnehaha - Jan 3rd
- Sierra Canyon (CA) at Minnehaha - Jan 4th
- Eden Prairie at Minnehaha - Feb 18th
- De La Salle at Minnehaha - Feb 22nd
- Minneapolis North at Minnehaha - Feb 27th
No comments:
Post a Comment
Have a different take than mine? You can provide your take here.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.