Postseason Preview: Section 1AA

Section basketball is just around the corner and as the season comes to a close, it's time to start looking at individual sections. Here's the lowdown on Section 1AA: Favorite: Caledonia The Warriors might not get the top seed in the section if the seeding is based on QRF but make no mistake, they are the team to beat in the section. At worst, they are the third-best team in Class AA and with Owen and Noah King, they'll have a shot in every game they play. Owen King runs the offense and controls the tempo of the game as well as any guard in the state and can get a good shot any time down the floor. Noah is a scoring machine who can beat teams from the post, out on the wing or with the 3-point shot. Marten Morem transferred in from Blooming Prairie and has given them a legitimate third-option and at 6-foot-5, he's a tough guy to match up with a lot of teams because he can score inside and out. Throw in Sam Barthell who just returned to the lineup and the Warriors have four guys who can score double-figures consistently. Section 1AA might be the deepest and most competitive section in the state and if the Warriors do get through, they'll have earned three solid wins, but they've got more than enough talent to do it. And they should be considered the favorite. The crazy thing is that every key contributor and rotation player is a junior or younger. In the Hunt: St. Charles, Lake City, Pine Island St. Charles, Lake City and Pine Island can make legitimate claims as section contenders and top-15 teams in Class AA. All three have a lot going for them, but also have flaws that can ultimately hold them back. The Saints have as much firepower as any team in the section with Kaden Vaughn, Keagon Maloney (pictured) and Drew Leistikow all averaging 12 points per game or more. Justin Ruhberg is their most established player and an elite shooter though he's been predictably inconsistent coming back from a knee injury. Carson Jensen is a solid forward who does the dirty work. The down side to them is that they don't have a lot of size and they give up a lot of points. They give up the second most points per game in the entire section and almost 10 more points per game than any of the top-eight teams. Some of that is pace-related, but if games slow down, can they get stops? Lake City was the surprise team of Class AA through the first half of the year and put together a much better season than anybody could've expected. The Tigers have as good a guard rotation as it gets with Marc Kjos (pictured) and Mitch Marien and have not one, but two stud freshmen in Reid Gastner and Nathan Heise. Kjos and Marien aren't big (5-foot-11 and 5-foot-8) but both guys are strong with the ball and extremely smart. Kjos leads the team averaging about 16 points per game and has seemingly unlimited range while Marien is probably the team's best penetrator. As good as the Tigers have been, it's fair to question if they have gotten a bit worn down as the season's gone on. After a 7-0 start that included wins over Rosemount and Pine Island, the Tigers have gone 11-6 with a couple of perplexing losses. Pine Island might have the best individual player in the section not named King in Broc Finstuen (pictured). [caption id="attachment_140394" align="alignright" width="300"] (photo by Joe Brown/Republican Eagle)[/caption] Throw in Camden Heepke and German-exchange student Mark Mboya Kotieno and the Panthers have have not only a terrific big-three, but a best season in school history. Kotieno gives them a size advantage over every other team in the section and Finstuen's a talent most teams simply don't have. The Panthers don't have a bad loss on the year - though they got beat pretty good by Lake City twice - and they've been excellent lately (14-1 since mid-January). Pine Island isn't perfect though either. In losses, it's been Finstuen and friends too often. While he's a terrific individual player, the good teams seem willing to let him take a lion's share of the shots while keeping the guys like Heepke and Kotieno in check. All three of these teams have the requisite talent to advance to a section final and give Caledonia a game. They all play different styles, which is what makes this section so fascinating. Watch Out For: Zumbrota-Mazeppa, Rochester Lourdes, Plainview-Elgin-Millville Z-M's had an under-the-radar season and has a very solid group that combines athleticism and toughness. Alex Guse is an inside presence and while he doesn't have great height (6-foot-3), he's strong and athletic. Isaiah Nolte, Isaiah Stueber and Jacob Niebuhr make up a solid perimeter trio, with each guy providing a different skillset. Nolte's a terrific defender and controls the tempo, Niebuhr does a lot of his damage off drives and cuts and Stueber is the team's best shooter of the trio. P-E-M might be the most reliant on the 3-point shot of any of the teams in this tier, but the Bulldogs have guys who can certainly light it up. Barron Holtz is the go-to guy for P-E-M, averaging just under 17 points per game and he combined range to the NBA 3-point line with the ability to play on and off the ball. Gavin Folkert and David Penrose both score about 10 points per contest and both guys excel thanks to their ability to knock down outside shots. Rochester Lourdes is the best defensive team in the section and is 8-2 in games decided by eight points or less. That speaks to the toughness and steadiness of a team that is dominated by upperclassmen. Dominic Sieve scores about 14 points per game and Matthew Ustby and Daniel Galkowski both put up about 10 for a team that plays a slower, grinding style. The Eagles have held teams to less than 50 points 10 times on the year. They might not have the requisite firepower to get past some of the teams that fill it up like Caledonia or St. Charles, but their defense will give them a shot in any game. Breakdown It's hard to see Caledonia losing before the section championship game at the very earliest given the combination of talent, experience and toughness on the roster. The Warriors played the toughest schedule of any team with games against Austin, Minneapolis North, Minnehaha and a run through the Three Rivers. Owen and Noah King are as good as it gets and picking against them seems like a foolish endeavor. After that, things get jumbled. St. Charles probably has the most collective talent of any team in the next tier and can overwhelm teams with 3-point shooting. The Saints upped their strength of schedule this year too in hopes of hardening them for an extended run. But if they get a No. 4 or 5 seed, things can get tricky. Pine Island has the highest QRF score right now and Lake City is right behind as both teams have played more AAA and AAAA schools. But Lake City swept the season series with the Panthers. St. Charles beat both teams but has a lower QRF. Rochester Lourdes has wins over Pine Island and Class A power Goodhue but also more losses than the other contenders. With that in mind, the seeding is going to be really interesting because there isn't a huge gap in talent from teams 2-7. Projected Seedings <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Caledonia</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Pine Island</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">St. Charles</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Lake City</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Rochester Lourdes</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Zumbrota-Mazeppa</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Plainview-Elgin-Millville</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Hayfield</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Lewiston-Altura</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Triton</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Chatfield</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Cannon Falls</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Dover-Eyota</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Winona Cotter</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Kenyon-Wanamingo</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">La Crescent</li> </ol>