Minnesota First Look: Waterville-Elysian-Morristown
The Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers were one of the surprise teams in 2019-20, going 23-1 in the regular season while running away with the Gopher Conference and advancing to the Section 2A-South finals. Improvement was expected given how young the Bucs were…
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Continue ReadingThe Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers were one of the surprise teams in 2019-20, going 23-1 in the regular season while running away with the Gopher Conference and advancing to the Section 2A-South finals. Improvement was expected given how young the Bucs were the previous season, but WEM blew away any notion of modest improvement. Now with two returning all-conference players and a solid core of role players, the Bucs head into 2019-20 with very high expectations.
KEY RETURNERS: Grant McBroom, Cole Kokoscke, Zach Sticken
WEM’s top returning player, McBroom was terrific as a junior, averaging nearly 20 points and nine rebounds per game. The 6-foot-2 swingman is a polished three-level scorer with the athleticism to get to the rim and finish in traffic plus a silky jumper out beyond the 3-point line. He’s got all-state potential and should be the favorite to win the Gopher Conference Player-of-the-Year.
Kokoscke joins McBroom to form one of the best duos in Class A. A 6-foot-3 forward, Kokoschke is an incredibly tough cover because of his array of skills inside and out. He’s got sound footwork and strength to bury smaller defenders inside, but also a soft shooting touch to the 3-point line. He’s a potential double-double guy for the Bucs.
Sticken was a key reserve for WEM last year, backing up Bladyn Bartelt and Tanner Ranslow while providing 3-point shooting and solid defense. He’s excellent in that role and can provide some secondary playmaking.
STEPPING INTO NEW ROLES: Domanik Paulson, Nick Lemieux, Matthew Van Houdt,
If you want a breakout candidate for this upcoming year in the Gopher Conference, it’s Domanik Paulson. The 6-foot-2 sophomore was a key rotation guy last year and had his share of really solid games. He’ll take over point guard duties while he may not be the scoring threat in his sophomore year that Bartelt was as a senior, he’s a terrific facilitator and defender.
Lemieux and Van Houdt were fringe rotation guys last year for a Buccaneers team that won its share of blowouts. Both guys look capable of filling in around the top returners. Van Houdt gives WEM another athletic forward who can rebound and finish while Lemieux is a steady ball-handler who the Bucs can trust to make good decisions, knock down open shots and defend.
QUESTION: Will the Bucs get challenged before the postseason?
WEM went 23-1 in the regular season last year, winning 19 games by double-figures. A downturn in the Gopher Conference combined with the Bucs’ upswing meant there were more blowouts (more than 15-point wins) than competitive contests.
WEM steamrolled people all year and while it is likely that the Bucs would’ve still lost to Springfield last year in the Section 2A-South final, not getting tested a whole lot before that game could’ve been a reason for why they were defeated so thoroughly.
Section 2A is loaded once again this year with Springfield, Nicollet, and Mountain Lake all figuring to be strong (plus the other half of the bracket that features state-ranked clubs like BOLD and MVL). Will the Bucs be prepared for stiff competition come March?
SEASON OUTLOOK
WEM has the look of a top-10 team in Class A heading into this season. The Bucs will undoubtedly be the favorite to win another Gopher Conference title and come section tournament season, they’ll be right in the mix. This is one of the deeper and more well-balanced WEM teams in recent years and it’s got the experience and high-end talent to pile up a ton of wins.