Class AA Title Contender Series: Waseca

<p>Waseca finished last season 25-5 facing maybe their toughest schedule last year, and they bring everything back.  Everything. Yes they are a state title contender. </p> <p><strong>Key Wins in 19-20</strong>:  Minneapolis North, Marshall, Lake City, Stewartville, JCC, Waconia</p> <p><strong>Oops:  </strong>Minnehaha Academy, Champlin Park, DeLaSalle, Caledonia</p> <p><strong>Moving On: </strong>Nobody from the rotation.  A few seniors that didn’t play but nobody from the regular rotation. </p> <p><strong>Returning Starters</strong>:  The point guard is <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="532560" first="Ryan" last="Dufault"]</strong>, a D2 offered leader that had the best summer of any senior point guard in the state.  The shooting guard will be <strong>Adam Hoehn</strong>, a three year starter that is the team’s knock down shooter.  Small forward?  Minnesota State-Mankato committed wing <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="567041" first="Kyreese" last="Willingham"]</strong>, a top defender and athlete in this class.  Kyreese sometimes handles, sometimes is a shooter, is always on the attack, and he ranks with the best defenders.  The top posts are <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="774886" first="Matt" last="Seberson"]</strong> and<strong> [player_tooltip player_id="532587" first="Andrew" last="Morgan"]</strong>.  Seberson is one of the top up and comers at his spot in the class while Morgan is a high major offered low post player with agility that is rare for his size. It’s a starting five that has four guys that started in a state title game two years ago, and a group of five that took out a pair of this year’s Class AA Preseason top five teams (Minneapolis North and Stewartville). </p> <p><strong>Reserves Playing a Bigger Role: </strong>When you don’t lose a starter, or a player from your rotation, it’s tough to earn too much of a bigger role but it’s possible that the Jays bench players from last year could earn more time.  The key reserves were guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="774943" first="Tave" last="Ball"]</strong> and forward <strong>Dravyn Spies</strong>.  Ball is a ball pressure demon with great quickness while Spies will step on the floor and do whatever his coach asks him to do, and do it willingly.  Ball and Spies would be starters on 95 percent of the teams in the state, and they are a key reason why Waseca is a top 5-6 team talent wise in this state. </p> <p><strong>Potentials from the JV:   </strong>There are a couple juniors people should get to know.  One is <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958826" first="Shaun" last="Hulscher"],</strong> a guard that played the 8th/9th man role at times but was also hurt so his varsity time was limited.  A key player that could add depth is <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958792" first="Elijah" last="Breck"]</strong>, a post that moves well and has the size to do things around the basket and skill to do things away from it. </p> <p><strong>Final Thoughts</strong>:  Having beaten Minneapolis North the last two seasons - last year 92-74 - and with everybody back from last year’s team, the Jays have earned the preseason number one ranking.  But can they keep it?  And more importantly can they win the title.  The Jays on this roster have beaten the Polars twice and will not be scared if and when they play again.  But this Polars team also has [player_tooltip player_id="532569" first="Andre" last="Gray"] which changes the game.  We hope we get to see the teams play a third team.  Caledonia got the better of Waseca last year but lost [player_tooltip player_id="721829" first="Noah" last="King"].  The game will still be really tight with the Warriors returning four starters.  Also, Perham never lost a game last season and brings back a lot.  They are also a contender. </p>