Class AAA Title Contender Series: Mankato East

<p>Did you know that Mankato East has went to state every three years in recent history (2012, 2015, 2018)?  Did you know that 2021 is next up in that trend?  Here is our Cougars preview. </p> <p><strong>Key Wins in 19-20 (27-2):  </strong>Austin, Columbia Heights, Mound-Westonka, Hutch, Owatonna, Mayo</p> <p><strong>Oops</strong>: Marshall, DeLaSalle</p> <p><strong>Moving On: </strong>Mankato East used a nine man rotation last year and seven of those players have graduated.  [player_tooltip player_id="846123" first="Jax" last="Madson"] is at Concordia-St. Paul and [player_tooltip player_id="846124" first="Joich" last="Gong"] is at Kirkwood CC in Iowa, the pair made up one of the best backcourts in Minnesota last season.  Big [player_tooltip player_id="721862" first="Jordan" last="Merseth"] is playing for Bethany Lutheran, forward Dom Bangu is at Riverland CC in Austin playing for the Blue Devils, and Owen Atherton is at Northwestern playing baseball.  Grant Hermer and Brandon Schendel came off the bench last season, and they have graduated as well.  Yes that is a lot of players that need to be replaced, but East did have one of the best JV teams in the Big Nine plus they have two of the Big Nine’s best returning players.</p> <p><strong>Returning Starters</strong>:  <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="850715" first="BJ" last="Omot"]</strong> is one of the elite juniors in the state of Minnesota while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="774742" first="Pal" last="Kueth"]</strong> is a top 75 senior in the state.  Both have strong potential with Omot already being a D1 offered prospect while Kueth could be a scholarship player down the road.  Omot is 6-foot-7 and has the skills to play four positions.  Kueth is 6-foot-5 at the forward spot with the shooting touch to make shots from several angles.  Omot scored 10-11 a game last season and is likely to double that this year while Kueth scored eight a game as a junior and will likely double his average as a senior as well.  </p> <p><strong>Reserves Playing a Bigger Role:  </strong>Two guys that played mostly JV last year but snuck in some competitive games at times as the 10th man were junior shooter <strong>Sean Clement</strong> and 6-foot-6 junior forward <strong>Puolrah Gong</strong>.  Clement will add needed shooting to this team and likely be the feet set shooting weapon in a starting role.  Gong is the next name to likely surface from the East program that AAU teams try to add and colleges start looking at this tape.  Gong is a long, skilled 6-foot-6 wing that can block shots and knock down perimeter shots.  Runs well and is very likely to start for the Cougars.</p> <p><strong>Potentials from the JV: </strong>Senior big <strong>Ben Snaza</strong> is the next player that we think has starting potential.  He’s a 6-foot-3 center that has shown his toughness at the JV level in the past leading that team in scoring and rebounding.  Unfortunately Snaza lost last year to a torn ACL.  If the starting line-up doesn’t include the five names that we have already about then it could include 6-foot-1 sophomore wing <strong>Jalen Hayes</strong>.  Hayes is the best underclassmen that will be on the Cougar varsity roster this year.  He’s a tough defender that has good skills for his age.  Six-foot-3 junior <strong>Jack Pemble</strong> will join Snaza as a low post physical type while junior guard <strong>Jacob Eggert</strong> should add depth to the backcourt after a solid JV year.  East will only have three seniors and that’s Kueth, Snaza, and guard <strong>Tommy Braswell</strong> who will come off the bench as well. </p> <p><strong>Final Thoughts</strong>:  Mankato East is one of the top programs in Class AAA basketball.  Their playoff match-ups with Marshall have been must-see high school basketball contests that are forming into a nice little rivalry.  Marshall has more experience back so they will have the small edge coming into the year but East is talented enough to push for top ten in state, The Big Nine title, and the section crown once again.  </p>