The Heart O Lakes Preview
Can anybody hand Perham a defeat this year? Will Perham contend for the state title this March? It the Heart O Lakes Preview! Now. Conference Commentary Top Ten in State: Perham, Pelican Rapids The Jackets went a perfect 28-0 last…
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Continue ReadingCan anybody hand Perham a defeat this year? Will Perham contend for the state title this March? It the Heart O Lakes Preview! Now.
Conference Commentary
Top Ten in State: Perham, Pelican Rapids
The Jackets went a perfect 28-0 last season and they enter the season a top 4-5 team in Class AA basketball. With leading scorer Finn Diggins Finn Diggins 6'5" | PF Perham | 2021 State MN and sharp shooter Elijah Morris Elijah Morris 6'2" | SG Perham | 2021 State MN returning their are still high expectations for Perham. Perham has four players back from last year’s rotation overall, and a nice group of young players ready to supply depth.
If there is a team that can push Perham this year, it’s Pelican Rapids. The Vikings bring back four starters and have a senior class that has shooting, guard play making, size, and depth. The McKale Korf, Logan Fahje Logan Fahje 6'0" | SF Pelican Rapids | 2021 State MN , Jayden Rutherford backcourt ranks with some of the best in Class AA basketball.
Compete with Most: DGF, Barnesville, Breckenridge, Frazee, Hawley
DGF had a potent attack leading to 22 wins. They could depend on four guys a night for double digit numbers. Half of those players have graduated but expectations are high for Owen Leach Owen Leach 6'6" | SF Dillworth Glyndon-Felton | 2023 State MN who put up 16 and 8 last year as a 6-foot-5 frosh. If this was a normal 26-game schedule year I would tell you that Barnesville is a sleeper squad to hit that 20 win mark. They have one of the top couple point guards in this league in senior Isaac Tonsfeldt plus a rising junior named Kaden Zensen. Isaac is a 20 a game scorer while Isaac is likely to average a double-double this year.
In researching Breckenridge’s talent coming back this summer I was quite surprised that this was only a 13-14 team. They have a nice senior class led by Cooper Yaggie Cooper Yaggie 5'11" | PG Breckenridge | 2022 MN at guard, Jonah Christensen Jonah Christensen 6'2" | SF Breckenridge | 2021 State MN at wing, and Anthony Conzemius up front. Part of me thinks because there is a new coach it’s a bit of a rebuild, but with quality seniors it’s really not. Breckenridge has the talent to be top five in this league, but then again they went 2-6 last year against Perham, Pelican, DGF, and Barnesville including two very ugly losses to DGF. Tough to know really want to expect.
Frazee could take a jump this year! They have a couple senior scorers, some decent size for the league, a junior group ready to contribute, they could improve on that struggling league record. A way I can show I think this is a good league? Hawley isn’t going to be a pushover either. With only one person lost from last year’s 0-12 in league team, they will improve.
19-20 Conference Predictions
Perham (1)
Pelican Rapids (2)
DGF (3)
Barnesville (4)
Breckenridge (5)
Frazee (6)
Hawley (7)
Preseason All Central Lakes Conference
First Team
Finn Diggins Finn Diggins 6'5" | PF Perham | 2021 State MN , Perham (Sr)
Logan Fahje Logan Fahje 6'0" | SF Pelican Rapids | 2021 State MN , Pelican Rapids (Sr)
McHale Korf McHale Korf 6'0" | PG Pelican Rapids | 2021 State MN , Pelican Rapids (Sr)
Owen Leach Owen Leach 6'6" | SF Dillworth Glyndon-Felton | 2023 State MN , DGF (Soph)
Elijah Morris Elijah Morris 6'2" | SG Perham | 2021 State MN , Perham (Sr)
Second Team
Jack Courneya, Frazee (Sr)
Ian Mickelson, DGF (Sr)
Jayden Rutherford, Pelican Rapids (Sr)
Liam Sytsma Liam Sytsma 6'7" | C Pelican Rapids | 2021 State MN , Pelican Rapids (Sr)
Isaac Tonsfeldt, Barnesville (Sr)
Third Team
Broden Fleishner, Frazee (Sr)
Hayden Grani, Hawley (Jr)
Carson Hespe, Perham (Sr)
Grant McMartin, Perham (Sr)
Gabe Thompson, Perham (Sr)
Kaden Zenzen Kaden Zenzen 6'4" | PF Barnesville | 2022 MN , Barnesville (Jr)