The Valley Conference Preview

<p>An improving league that has balance and talent is the Valley Conference.  Today we look at the southern Minnesota league in depth. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <p><strong><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Shane-Stevenson.jpeg"><img class="alignright wp-image-1081243 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/11/Shane-Stevenson-150x150.jpeg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a>Top Ten in State</strong> – Nicollet, St. Clair</p> <p>With a top player like [player_tooltip player_id="846185" first="Riley" last="Hulke"] graduating and a couple starters that need to be replaced, Nicollet has some holes to fill.  But with an All State Class level player back in [player_tooltip player_id="774858" first="Shane" last="Stevenson"] plus a couple others returning, Nicollet is a state contender in a year where there is no real favorite at all.  St. Clair doesn’t have a star like Stevenson but they have much more returning than Nicollet or just about everybody else from a 17-win club.  </p> <p><strong>Potential Top Ten in State</strong> – TML-GHEC, Mankato Loyola</p> <p>With four of their top six guys back - including a pair of double figure scoring threats - TML-GHEC is another contender for this league.  Adam and Matt Heckman lead the way and both bigs could give a double-double with Adam capable of doing it on a nightly basis.  Loyola graduated a lot of players so contending will take some work but their backcourt of [player_tooltip player_id="957612" first="Logan" last="Carlson"] and [player_tooltip player_id="962250" first="Lawson" last="Godfrey"] will be one of the best backcourts in this league.  </p> <p><strong>Compete with Most –</strong> Madelia, Cleveland, Martin County West</p> <p>Ja’Sean Glover is the best player in this conference and one of the top two players in Class A basketball.  Maybe the best.  Madelia lost three starters from last year though so they have spots to fill around Glover.  Cleveland has a lot more back from last year than Madelia did although they won only nine games.  [player_tooltip player_id="774784" first="Ben" last="Holden"] is one of the best players in the league.  Martin County West won 18 games last season but lost their top two scorers, that’s the bad news.  Bringing back half the rotation is the good news. </p> <p><strong>Rebuilding – </strong>Alden-Conger, LCWM, JWP</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>20-21 Valley Conference Predictions</strong></p> <ol> <li>Nicollet</li> <li>St Clair</li> <li>TML-GHEC</li> <li>Mankato Loyola</li> <li>Madelia</li> <li>Martin County West</li> <li>Cleveland</li> <li>LCWM</li> <li>JWP</li> <li>Alden-Conger</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Preseason All Valley Conference </strong></p> <p><strong><u>First Team</u></strong></p> <p>Conner Andree of St. Clair (Jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="850733" first="JaSean" last="Glover"] of Medelia (Jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958717" first="Adam" last="Heckman"] of TML-GHEC (Jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="774784" first="Ben" last="Holden"] of Cleveland (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="774858" first="Shane" last="Stevenson"] of Nicollet (Sr) </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Second Team</u></strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="957612" first="Logan" last="Carlson"] of Mankato Loyola (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="962250" first="Lawson" last="Godfrey"] of Mankato Loyola (Soph)</p> <p>Eric Rohlfing of Cleveland (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958831" first="Colton" last="Thomsen"] of Nicollet (Jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958811" first="Mason" last="Ward"] of St. Clair (Jr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Third Team</u></strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="962279" first="Zach" last="Anderson"] of Martin County West (Soph)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958839" first="Devin" last="Embacher"] of St. Clair (Jr)</p> <p>Matt Heckman of TML-GHEC (Sr)</p> <p>Cael Jaskulke of TML-GHEC (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958766" first="Tom" last="Loeffler"] of St. Clair (Jr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Fourth Team</u></strong></p> <p>Collin Bode of Nicollet (Sr)</p> <p>Landon Dimler of JWP (Fr)</p> <p>Isaac Mueller of Cleveland (Sr)</p> <p>Tanner Sinn of Martin County West (Jr)</p> <p>Zack Wells of LCWM (Soph)</p> <p>Owen Wolter of TML-GHEC (Sr)</p>