Scouting Minnesota – The 8AA Talent Surge

<p>There are so many good players in 8AA entering next year that we need an article to simply list them all!  It’s an impressive group that could lead to three, maybe four 8AA teams being in the top 10 next year.</p> <p><strong>The Bagley Backcourt</strong>! A sleeper team for 8AA North is Bagley and that is because of their senior backcourt Kenly Gordon and Alex Norum.  Gordon is the attack minded lead guard that beats people off the bounce while Norum is the skilled shot maker.  Bagley played some good D last season, now can they win 17-18 games?</p> <p><strong>Barnesville Bucket Getter</strong>. The Barnesville Bucket Getter is 5-foot-7 lead guard [player_tooltip player_id="774908" first="Adam" last="Tonsfeldt"]. Adam scored 22 a game and loves to push the pace but if you ask those around him, this senior to be loves to change games with his ball pressure defense. </p> <p><strong>Cowboy Senior Trio</strong>. The 2019-20 season was one of experience getting some talented juniors ready for a senior year run.  And we think they are surely ready.  [player_tooltip player_id="958791" first="Cooper" last="Yaggie"] is the playmaker leading the team in assists and scoring, [player_tooltip player_id="957218" first="Jonah" last="Christensen"] is the do everything wing, and Anthony Conzemius stands 6-foot-6 with some skill and length.  The full trio leads a near full returning roster. </p> <p><strong>Top 8AA backcourt?</strong>  I would go with the East Grand Forks pair of [player_tooltip player_id="567071" first="Sam" last="Votava"], a senior to be, and Tanner Campos, a junior.  These are a pair of players that were asked to play a variety of roles last season and both of them stepped up to the plate.  EGF was a 26-3 team last season and Votava was rightfully an all state level talent. </p> <p><strong>Otters Big and Small</strong>.  No [player_tooltip player_id="567061" first="Dominic" last="Aguilar"] is not small at 6-foot-2 but next to 6-foot-11/7-foot [player_tooltip player_id="774868" first="Chance" last="Fazio"] everybody is small.  This pair of seniors-to-be is unique.  There are a lot of guards out there but only a few of them have the toughness and the court intelligence that Aguilar does.  And there are bigs out there but most of them don’t have the hands that Chance does. </p> <p><strong>The Vikings Return</strong>.  Pelican Rapids was 19-9 last year which is good, but they return four double figure scorers from last season, which is great.  [player_tooltip player_id="774826" first="McHale" last="Korf"] is the long time known talent in the backcourt and along with him is Jayden Rutherford.  On the wing is [player_tooltip player_id="957606" first="Logan" last="Fahje"], a player that often led PR in scoring.  Then up front is [player_tooltip player_id="957201" first="Liam" last="Sytsma"], a 6-foot-7 big man.  These four starters could make the Vikings a top ten team next season. </p> <p><strong>Perham Jackets</strong>.  Did you know that if you take out the 2019 State Tournament, the Perham Yellowjackets have won 56 straight non-state games!  That’s wild.  Finn "Double-Double" Diggins and [player_tooltip player_id="567093" first="Elijah" last="Morris"] have played a big part in nearly all of those wins.  Now the pair leads a top five squad next year in Class AA. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p>