Midseason Report: Class A Surprise Teams

<p><em>***Photo Credit: Faribault Daily News***</em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We are at about the midway point of the basketball season already. Instead of wondering where the time went and why it can’t slow down, let’s take a look at some of the teams that have been surprises, good or not so good, so far this season. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are some of the surprise teams in Class A: </span></p> <p><strong>Hayfield</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Vikings’ move to the Gopher Conference has worked out nicely as they are undefeated in league play and winning by more than 18 points per game. Hayfield won five games last year and while there was hope for improvement thanks to Mason Tapp and Luke Dudycha, to have 13 wins already on the year has to be considered one of the best surprises in Class A.</span></p> <p><strong>Hancock</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Anytime a team loses a superstar, it’s fair to expect a dropoff. Hancock won more than 20 games last year and went deep into its section tournament but graduated all-everything guard Noah Kannegiesser who accounted for more than 30 points per game. Bennett Nienhaus has been really good and offense hasn’t been an issue thus far for the Owls who are 10-3 and in the mix for a top seed in Section 6. </span></p> <p><strong>Dawson-Boyd</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Blackjacks went into the season with a ton of promise and sneaky hype as a contender out of Section 3 (albeit arguably the best section in the state) and have thus far struggled to gain any positive traction. With four losses by a combined 12 points, Dawson-Boyd certainly isn’t far off. With Bentley Boike, Rommell Horton, Colton Husby and Josh Anyasike, there’s enough talent in house to turn that thing around but to this point, a team that was viewed as a fringe top-10 team has underperformed. </span></p> <p><strong>Henning</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One of a handful of undefeated teams left on the season, Henning has been the biggest surprise of them. How much of that is the lack of a true challenge on the schedule thus far and how much of it is the Hornets being legit? It’s probably both though Henning has passed several tough tests. The offense has been humming all year to the tune of 85 points per game.</span></p> <p><strong>Waterville-Elysian-Morristown</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">WEM wasn’t going to be down for long but I’m not sure even their most faithful fans saw this kind of season coming. The Buccaneers are 14-1 and winning by more than 36 points per game. Some of that is the Gopher Conference being as down as its been in a few years but a lot of that is WEM’s talent and style of play meshing extremely well. They have a bevy of talented offensive players in Grant McBroom, Cole Kokoschke, Bladyn Bartelt and Tanner Ranslow.</span></p>