Hiawatha Valley League Preview

The Hiawatha Valley League is one of the deepest and toughest southern small-school conferences in the state. Seven of the 12 teams had winning records a year ago. There are a number of traditionally strong programs and while many figure to go through transition years this upcoming winter, it’s bound to be competitive from top to bottom. <strong>Conference Commentary</strong> <strong>State Contender</strong>: None at the moment The best teams in the league a year ago were Goodhue and Lake City and while the Wildcats made a run to the state title game last year, neither one has the look of a state contender in Class A as it currently stands. Both teams lost a lot and will have to find a lot of new guys in new roles early on. <strong>On the verge</strong>: Pine Island, Rochester Lourdes, Goodhue It’s entirely possible that the two best teams in the conference this upcoming season are Pine Island and Rochester Lourdes. Both were solid last year and return a fair amount of talent for the upcoming campaign. The Panthers may have the best individual player in the conference in <strong>Broc Finstuen</strong> and the Eagles bring back five of their top seven players. For Pine Island, it will be the Broc Finstuen and <strong>Camden Heepke</strong> show. Perhaps the best duo in the conference, it’ll be on those two guys to lead the way for a team that showed it could put up points in bunches a year ago. The key for the Panthers will be finding guys who can fill out rotation slots and potentially take some pressure off those two in some other areas of the game. Lourdes brings back five key guys including all-conference caliber players <strong>Carter Greguson</strong> and <strong>Daniel Galkowski</strong>. The Eagles have a terrific inside-outside duo as Galkowski might be one of the best big men in the league and Greguson is a difference-maker on the wing. Rochester Lourdes won 18 games a year ago and while seven of its wins were by seven points or less, a year of experience plus their two-way balance makes them potentially the best team in the HVL. Goodhue might not be a state contender, but the Wildcats’ style of play will allow them to handle big personnel loss as they’ll bleed wins with a grinding defense and an extremely methodical offense. They also have two of the best players in the league in <strong>Jacob McNamara</strong> and <strong>Ben Opsahl</strong>. Throw in <strong>Taylor Buck</strong> and<strong> Nick and Lucas Thomforde</strong> and the Wildcats should find themselves in the win column plenty. <strong>In between: </strong>Zumbrota-Mazeppa, Hayfield, Byron, Stewartville, Lake City Lake City was the best team in the conference a year ago and while the Tigers lose a huge senior class, they’ve got two very talented guards in <strong>Mitch Marien</strong> and <strong>Marc Kjos</strong> back. There’s a fair amount of unknown with Lake City, but the Tigers haven’t endured a losing season since 2007-08. If a program is built to handle a mass exodus in the HVL, it’s Lake City. Bryon is a team that could push for a top-three spot in the league as well. After winning 15 games a year ago, the Bears return key guys in <strong>Michael Coble</strong>, <strong>Zach Dykes</strong>, <strong>Caden Blazing</strong> and <strong>Bjorn Knutson</strong>. Zumbrota-Mazeppa returns four key rotation guys including starters <strong>Isaiah Nolte</strong> and <strong>Alex Guse</strong>. Both guys averaged double-figures a year ago and it wouldn’t be a shock if the Cougars doubled their win total this winter. Stewartville is another team that didn’t enjoy much success last season but the Tigers return a lot of key players including <strong>Nikolas Theil</strong> and <strong>Sam Barnes</strong> and have one of the best bigs in the conference in <strong>Carter Goski</strong>. The Tigers should improve on their eight wins from a year ago. Hayfield might be closer to the “rebuild” category as the Vikings lost seven seniors from a year ago but <strong>Trace Tebay</strong> and <strong>Drew Olive</strong> are both back and both guys could contend for all-conference honors. <strong>Rebuilding:</strong> Kenyon-Wanamingo, Triton, Cannon Falls, Kasson-Mantorville Kenyon-Wanamingo won just two games a year ago. That number might have been artificially low because their best player,<strong> Gavin Roosen</strong>, missed half of the season with an injury. His presence would’ve certainly helped K-W and he’s back, but the Knights just don’t have a lot of basketball talent at the upperclass levels right now. Triton was decent last season but graduated one of the top-five players in the conference in point guard Isaiah Wannarka. The Cobras also lost their second best player in Garrett Dahms and only bring back two starters. Cannon Falls graduated their top two players in Tanner Carlson and Dylan Dirckx — part of a six-man senior class. The Bombers bring back <strong>Ryan Dirckx</strong> and <strong>Carlton Lindow</strong> but with so much unknown, it feels like the Bombers could be headed towards a season in which they play a lot of younger guys. The KoMets might be closer to the “in between” mark as they return several talented players including starting point guard <strong>Brendan Knoll</strong> but the loss of Braxton Raymond seems like one that could prove tough to overcome. <strong>Conference Power Ranking</strong> <ol> <li>Rochester Lourdes</li> <li>Goodhue</li> <li>Pine Island</li> <li>Byron</li> <li>Zumbrota-Mazeppa</li> <li>Lake City</li> <li>Stewartville</li> <li>Hayfield</li> <li>Cannon Falls</li> <li>Kasson-Mantorville</li> <li>Kenyon-Wanamingo</li> <li>Triton</li> </ol> <strong>Preseason All HVL</strong> <strong>First Team</strong> Broc Finstuen, Pine Island, Sr. Jacob McNamara, Goodhue, Sr. Michael Coble, Byron, Jr. Camden Heepke, Pine Island, Sr. Carter Greguson, Roch. Lourdes, Sr. <strong>Second Team</strong> Ben Opsahl, Goodhue, Sr. Daniel Galkowski, Roch. Lourdes, Sr. Gavin Roosen, K-W, Sr. Marc Kjos, Lake City, Jr. Carter Goski, Stewartville, Jr. <strong>Third Team</strong> Brendan Knoll, K-M, Sr. Nikolas Theil, Stewartville, Sr. Bjorn Knutson, Byron, Jr. Mitch Marien, Lake City, Sr. Alex Guse, Z-M, Sr.