First Look: 8AAAA
Teams Brainerd. They have a chance to be pretty good. Good juniors, Kobe at forward, solid coaching. Buffalo. Very interesting to see what’s next for Buffalo. Had a step back last year, some talent there. Elk River. Watch out for…
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Brainerd. They have a chance to be pretty good. Good juniors, Kobe at forward, solid coaching.
Buffalo. Very interesting to see what’s next for Buffalo. Had a step back last year, some talent there.
Elk River. Watch out for the Elks. These are tough, gritty kids with Keller and Pink back to battle.
Maple Grove. Overwhelming favorite to win the section, so much talent. Top 3-4 in Class AAAA.
Moorhead. The Spuds do have some size back but do they have the guards to keep things going?
Rogers. Because of Wilson, Musoke, and Alexander I think they could be good. Quite good. Maybe.
St. Cloud Tech. Lost top two scorers but bring back some really good juniors and sophomores.
St. Michael-Albertville. Their season all depends on how the totally new line-up steps in and adjusts.
Ten Thoughts
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Maple Grove in the section spreads out the Class AAAA top teams throughout many sections.It’s not perfect but better than it’s been.I still like the 64 team event anyway considering that most teams are metro and sections are already changing a lot every two years anyway, but the new groups will give the state a better chance to have the legit top eight.
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The Crimson.They have so much.Pg (Brad Davison), shooters (Davison and Jack Hutchison), slashers (Tywhon Pickford and Taron Pickford), dribble attackers (Pickfords and Davison), top passer (Davison), leader (Davison), shot blocker (Reed Nikko), low post high percentage finisher (Nikko), board clearer at the rim (Nikko), tough guy workers ready to battle (Jared Martinson and Kayode Awosika), and active feet working defenders (Hutchison and Pickford).
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That said the Crimson have some bad section memories now getting beat in the section semis two years in a row.They are the big favorite but they have a hurdle they need to get over before they can start thinking state.
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Teams I really don’t know what to expect from. Buffalo and STMA.Just don’t have a lot of knowledge of the guys they have coming back this year.Buffalo is a good program and STMA is coming off a great year.
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I think Brainerd’s record could surprise.They have a nice junior class of hoopers and Kobe Ahnonen will give them the talent, they have a good coach too.
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Elk River should scare people.I remember them fighting for their lives late in the season and Matt Keller and Trent Pink stepped up to fight for their team.They are the top two scorers and they are back.Plus Elk River is well coached.
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Rogers has disappointed people before when they picked them to be very good but I really like the toughness of Allen Wilson and William Alexander as guards.Add in a high potential explosive scorer in Steffon Musoke and this could be a really good year.
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St. Cloud Tech.Top two seniors were the top scorers they are gone. The Plomboms have moved a couple times, they are gone.That said, Rauch Chol and Chris Backes are solid juniors and Brevyn Spann-Ford and Camden Jackson are top sophomores.
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Not sure if the section games are in St. Cloud but there is nothing better than going up to a string of section title games at SCSU with this one included.Or when the semis were there and they had six games in a day.
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Moorhead makes me think of the guys on Red River Heat which makes me think of what they went through this summer seeing a friend pass. Best wishes to those kids.
Section Team
PG. Brad Davison, Maple Grove
SG. Matt Keller, Elk River
SF. Stefan Musoke, Rogers
PF. Brevyn Spann-Ford, St. Cloud Tech
C. Reed Nikko, Maple Grove
Scorer off Bench. Taron Pickford, Maple Grove/Allen Wilson, Rogers
Shooter off Bench. Jack Hutchison, Maple Grove
Slasher off Bench. Tywon Pickford, Maple Grove
Tough Guy off Bench. Trent Pink, Elk River
Crowd Favorite. Kobe Ahnomen, Brainerd