23-24 Month 1: What Have We Learned

Happy New Year everybody!  The 1st month of the 2023-24 season is in the books.  40 games online with another 36 in person (would be 44-32 in person if I had made the Tipoff Classic).  I've seen 101 teams that I previewed with a few more outstate class AAAA schools.  That leaves just 5 class AAAA schools for me to see.  Apologies to Chanhassen, Edina, Prior Lake, Burnsville and Owatonna.  Let's take a look at what's stuck out to me in the 1st month. 

Section 1AAAA
Farmington off to an impressive 8-0 start before losing to Armstrong at Hamline.  A 40 point boat racing of section rival Lakeville South really stuck out.  Granted Lakeville South is still playing without wing Marley Baah-Yeboah which will be a big addition.  But they're still 6-3 and have played only 1 home game.  Lakeville North is what we expected.  Rochester Century is a dangerous squad with star forward Shaun Wysocki.  They showed that by taking Farmington to the buzzer at Farmington on opening night and beating Mankato East.

Section 2AAAA
Minnetonka took Park Center to the wire at CSP over the holiday and that's their only loss.  Andy Stefonowicz has been terrific running the show for them.  Lowest point total so far is 81 points so they can really fill it up as shown by the 103 they put on Lakeville South.  A fun test on the island awaits the Skippers January 6th.  

Eden Prairie is 5-4 with no bad losses there (LS, BSM, Farmington, Orono).  But in my viewing against Orono, their defense was porous and the offense was very stagnant.  4 wins in a row for the Eagles including wins at CDH, at East Ridge and vs Eastview in the East Ridge event is a good sign.

We reserve judgement on Chanhassen since A) I haven't seen them.  B) most of their schedule has been without star PG Max Woods..  But they did take a very good Buffalo squad to the wire at Buffalo.

Section 3AAAA
Big story here is Eastview off to a 1-6 start for new coach Danny Olsen.  Having an entirely new roster around Jon Mekonnen and a tough schedule have shown.  Rosemount has taken advantage of a soft schedule but they did pick up a close win over Eagan.  Eagan with experience and a bunch of length.  Soph Alex Schropfer has stepped into his rotation role nicely.  Max Buslee gives them a 16 PPG sniper.  Hastings got off to a hot start and then the Czar curse hit as they lost 4 of 6 games since I thought they might jump out to a crazy good record.

Section 4AAAA
East Ridge is 3-5 but they're still trying to get a couple rotation pieces back.  Woodbury 6-2 but the schedule has been soft.  Eagan's length and switching really took them out of offense at Hamline.  Tartan 6-2 with a tough loss at St. Louis Park but they did knock off Minneapolis North to win the 3 day Hibbing holiday tournament.  Young guard play for the Titans has made for some struggles.

Section 5AAAA
Park Center everything we expected.  Cash Chavis has enjoyed the bright lights as he's come up big at the end of wins over Lakeville North and Minnetonka.  Roseville off to a nice 4-2 start including a home win over Forest Lake.  Maple Grove 4-5 with a win over Benilde-St. Margaret's over the holiday.  Losing Brady Laliberte saps the Crimson lineup of a critical scoring option.  Champlin Park lost their 1st 5 and has won their next 5.  Wing Preston Thielke is having a breakout year for the Rebels.

Section 6AAAA
Wayzata just keeps it rolling as the top ranked team in AAAA.  Hopkins is 7-2 with the only losses to #1AAA Totino-Grace and #1AA Breck.  Washburn making their case too at 7-1.  Only loss is to Eagan but they have wins at Tartan, vs Eastview and at section foe Armstrong.  Speaking of Armstrong, they were on a 5 game losing streak before knocking off Farmington.  Seth Newbern should be back soon and that's a huge boost to the Falcons lineup.

Section 7AAAA
Forest Lake getting a nice year from Owen Waldoch to top yet another down year in this section.  Anoka knocked off Holy Family and gave a ranked Fridley team a run.  Trey Borchers was out of the Tornadoes lineup over the holiday so hopefully they get him back soon.  Centennial getting Ty Burgoon back was critical and they just knocked off Forest Lake.  Andover missing Chase Pemberton for the season deprives them of an offensive option.  Alex Kopetzki and Cam Begalle push the pace for an entertaining squad.

Section 8AAAA
Rogers at 9-1 to lead the section.  The loss is a 22 point loss to Buffalo though.  Losing Adam Broberg to injury is a major change to their season.  He had a great start.  Buffalo 7-2 but the 2 losses were blowouts to Mankato East and Sauk Rapids-Rice.  Bison 4-18 from 3 in the loss to Mankato East, 3-33 from deep in the loss at Sauk Rapids.  Sauk Rapids size was a major problem in that game.  Frosh forward Isayah Cook is one to keep an eye on for the Storm.  There's no bottom feeder team in this section so don't be shocked if we get another wild and crazy year of seed upsets at tourney time.

Class AAA
Totino-Grace won the 1st matchup with Park Center.  Only loss was a tight loss to Wayzata in the Tipoff classic.  So they've made it clear they're the top team in AAA at the moment.  Mankato East has staked their claim to the #2 spot in AAA with wins over Buffalo, Orono and Alexandria.  De La Salle and Benilde-St. Margaret's both ready to fall out of the AAA poll is a surprise.  BSM is struggling to figure out their offense and they have no depth.  De La Salle has the win over the Red Knights just before the holiday but they're still putting the pieces together.  Orono has also stumbled with a home rivalry loss to Delano and a Granite City loss to Mankato East. They did bounce back with a win over Stewartville.  Junior guard Nolan Groves is having a great season for Orono.

In section 3AAA, how about Minneapolis South jumping in the AAA poll at #7 this week with only 1 loss.  Jumarion Weh has been a nice addition on the wing with 19 a game.  That goes with 3 other holdovers averaging double figures including wing Poet Davis at almost 21 a night.  On Feb 3rd, they get section foe St. Paul Harding who's off to a 6-2 start.  Highland Park is off to a 1-6 start is a major surprise but I still think they can contend in the St. Paul City.  Tommy Hesse's grit and hard play for Two Rivers has been a real pleasure to watch.

In section 4AAA, Columbia Heights and St. Paul Johnson both squads that can make your life totally miserable with defensive pressure.  The Heights 30 point drubbing of St. Cloud Tech jumps off the page there.  We knew Mahtomedi would be down but an 0-7 start is a surprise.  Then they go and hit 19 3s against Austin including 10 from Tyler Swanson to get their only win.

In section 6AAA, the AAA section of death, we already mentioned BSM and Orono.  How about Richfield's CJ Armstrong.  He started the season with back to back 50 point games.  Then 38 in a buzzer beating loss at Orono.  He's still averaging 34.2 a night after 2 slower games in Wisconsin over the break.  On Thursday, the Spartans host Delano.  Delano is 8-2 and has won 5 out of 6 including the win at Orono.  Will Strandemo vs Armstrong is appointment viewing.  Holy Angels off to a 2-7 start with losses to Kennedy, Jefferson and a 3rd straight loss to Brooklyn Center.  But the Stars just beat Highland Park and Simley for new coach Troy Bell.

Class AA
In 4AA, St. Paul Academy with a blowout statement win against St. Agnes in the Harding holiday tourney sticks out.  Minnehaha has lost 4 in a row but all those were against AAAA schools.  Quick quiz, who has the top record in section 4AA?  That's right, the Nova Classical Academy Knights at 5-2.  Reality will set in very quickly now that they've started league play in the Skyline, but who would have thought.  Its a much improved defensive squad.  Math and Science has somehow played half a season already at 6-7.  Need buckets?  Take a look at Shawn Huberty of St. Paul Washington.  He's putting up 33.7 PPG from his guard spot.  Slippery getting to the rim off the bounce.

In 5AA, Breck ran the table at Augsburg including a win over Hopkins.  They are the standout squad in class AA right now.  Minneapolis North just reloads.  They lost a close game to Tartan in the Hibbing tourney final.  Their game on Wednesday at Holy Family looms large for section seeding.  Southwest Christian is lurking at 5-2 as they get ready for Wright County East play.  Blake and Maranatha also off to nice starts.  Liked what I saw from Providence Academy frosh PG Leo Giwa.  Cristo Rey at 0-7 with every loss in blowout fashion is a major surprise.

Class A
New Life is 4-3 and took a couple games on the chin in the Legacy tourney but 6 winnable games coming up to finish 1st rotation of Skyline play before a rematch at Maranatha (remember last year's double 5 min OT and stay there until 10:30 PM fiasco last season?).  Heritage has won 6 in a row including the Pierz holiday title to stand at 6-1.  Big MCAA game for them this week at Spectrum.  Both of these teams have tight home wins over Avail Academy.  Avail lost by 1 at New Life and 3 at Heritage.  Avail started out 1-4, all on the road.  But that 1 win was at Park Christian who beat New Life over the holiday.  Now they've won 4 in a row including a blowout win in their big EMAC showdown vs Math & Science.  The next group in the MCAA looks to see if they can capture that 4th spot.  Will it be PACT who has a win over Avail?  How about 6-3 United Christian?  Or does somebody come out of nowhere and make a run?  Hope Academy 1-8 as they have a young roster starting 2 freshmen and an 8th grader but with senior wing Brian Moss, they are dangerous since 4A is so weak after the top 3.