The Metro East Preview

Ryan James October 25, 2019 @ 04:35 PM

Tartan again? Will North St. Paul be right there with them? And is Minnesota ready for an improved South St. Paul squad? The Metro East is now! Conference Commentary Potential Top Ten: Tartan, North St. Paul Do not be fouled by the NSP Polars losing 11 games last year and not having their 28 point per game scorer Dejuan Carter. There is talent in the Polars program that can legitimately win this league. Shaheed Muhammed will step in to the Carter role and then have a lot of talent around him. As far as Tartan goes, mark down those 20 wins. Now from there, will they win the league? Get back to state? [player_tooltip player_id="846184" first="Langston" last="Binns"], [player_tooltip player_id="774743" first="Dorian" last="Singer"], and [player_tooltip player_id="721853" first="Joseph" last="Kearney"] are a good trio. Compete with Most: Hastings. Mahtomedi, Simley, South St. Paul Hastings lost their top three scorers but they have enough returning players to improve on last year’s nine wins. The Raiders are will coached and have their PG back. As far as the Zephyrs go, they won 25 games last season and went to state, but there are a ton of new players that will be in the starting line-up. The Zephyrs will be fine up front but the guards will be inexperienced. The Simley Spartans have a new coach who inherits a 10-17 team that has a good young core. Speaking of young core, watch out for South St. Paul. The days of the Packer doormat are done. This team has real top third of the league talent. Rebuilding: Henry Sibley, Hill-Murray, St. Thomas Academy The Sibley Warriors won six games a year ago and lost seven players from their rotation so they will be breaking in a new group of guys. Hill-Murray has another new coach and another tough year ahead of them as they continue to try and rebuild the program. STA lost nearly everything from a team that won a dozen games. [player_tooltip player_id="774766" first="Yenika" last="Fondungallah"] is talented but he will need a lot of help. 19-20 Conference Predictions <ol> <li>Tartan</li> <li>North St. Paul</li> <li>Mahtomedi </li> <li>South St. Paul</li> <li>Hastings</li> <li>Simley</li> <li>St. Thomas Academy</li> <li>Henry Sibley</li> <li>Hill-Murray</li> </ol>   Preseason All Metro East Conference First Team [player_tooltip player_id="721853" first="Joseph" last="Kearney"] of Tartan (Sr). [player_tooltip player_id="846165" first="Brenden" last="Lankford-Johnson"] of North St. Paul (Sr). Shaheed Muhammed of North St. Paul (Sr). [player_tooltip player_id="774743" first="Dorian" last="Singer"] of Tartan (Jr). Max Wilson of South St. Paul (Fr).   Second Team Ruot Jioklow of Simley (Soph). [player_tooltip player_id="958636" first="Alonzo" last="Dodd"] of South St. Paul (Soph). [player_tooltip player_id="955684" first="Devon" last="Haraldson"] of Hastings (Sr). [player_tooltip player_id="846184" first="Langston" last="Binns"] of Tartan (Sr). [player_tooltip player_id="846213" first="Luke" last="Ricker"] of Mahtomedi (Sr).   Third Team [player_tooltip player_id="774816" first="Marquise" last="Gleb"] of South St. Paul (Jr). [player_tooltip player_id="774766" first="Yenika" last="Fondungallah"] of St. Thomas (Jr). [player_tooltip player_id="846159" first="Cole" last="Chapman"] of Mahtomedi (Sr). [player_tooltip player_id="958644" first="Shawn" last="West-Zimpel"] of North St. Paul (Soph). [player_tooltip player_id="721965" first="Colby" last="Zak"] of Hastings (Sr).   Fourth Team [player_tooltip player_id="567121" first="Breyton" last="Buysman"] of Simley (Jr). [player_tooltip player_id="721953" first="Marcus" last="Brown"] of South St Paul (Sr). [player_tooltip player_id="955829" first="Trey" last="Swanson"] of Hastings (Sr). [player_tooltip player_id="957131" first="Cal" last="Greene"] of Mahtomedi (Jr). Kenny Larmie of Hill-Murray (Sr)   Fifth Team [player_tooltip player_id="774876" first="Laron" last="Thomas"] of North St Paul (Jr). Devin Robinson of Simley (Soph). [player_tooltip player_id="774878" first="Cameron" last="Latvis"] of Henry Sibley (Jr). Kenny Jordan of Tartan (Sr). [player_tooltip player_id="955665" first="Brody" last="Fox"] of Mahtomedi (Sr).