The Minnesota River Preview

<p>We are about a week and a half away from games being played.  Today we check in on the Minnesota River Conference and the favorites there.  </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <p><strong>Top Contenders</strong> –  Mayer Lutheran, Southwest Christian</p> <p>Mayer Lutheran has the top player in the league in [player_tooltip player_id="850739" first="Teigan" last="Martin"] and a junior class as a whole that is full of talented, experienced players.  The Crusaders are one of the favorites and if they put things together in way that is even better than expected, a state tournament contender. My top team though is Southwest Christian, a squad with seven of their top eight guys back plus an impact transfer who should be a top player in the league.  They do have a new coach and won only half their games last year but the Stars are the favorite plus a top five team in Section 5AA.  </p> <p><strong>Compete with Most – </strong>Belle Plaine, Le Sueur-Henderson, Sibley East</p> <p>Losing four starters from a 15-12 team will lead to some set backs for Belle Plaine but they do have Cade Morrison returning plus all of their bench players.  There is experience just not much big minute experience.  Le Sueur-Henderson will be an improved team with a large group of players returning plus one of the league starts in [player_tooltip player_id="774817" first="Dominic" last="Drent"].  With four guys back that played big minutes the Giants should take a large step forward. Sibley East has two starters back and they should from an excellent inside-out combo. Dose and Flieth are seniors that should make Sibley East a contender as well, if they can add the needed depth around them. </p> <p><strong>Rebuilding – </strong>Tri City United, Norwood Young-America</p> <p>Tri-City will improve this year.  They have their top talent back from a season ago so they will win more than a game, but it’s still a rebuilding group. NYA won only six games and they lost their of their best four guys from that six-win team.  Could be a step back. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>20-21 Minnesota River Conference Predictions</strong></p> <ol> <li>Southwest Christian</li> <li>Mayer Lutheran</li> <li>Sibley East</li> <li>Le Sueur-Henderson</li> <li>Belle Plaine</li> <li>Norwood-Young America</li> <li>Tri City United</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Preseason All Minnesota River Conference </strong></p> <p><strong><u>First Team</u></strong></p> <p>Nick Burke of Southwest Christian (Jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="774817" first="Dominic" last="Drent"] of Le Suer-Henderson (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="850739" first="Teigan" last="Martin"] of Mayer Lutheran (Jr)</p> <p>Cade Morrison of Belle Plaine (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="957609" first="Tyson" last="Sandness"] of Southwest Christian (Sr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Second Team</u></strong></p> <p>Lucas Anderson of Southwest Christian (Sr)</p> <p>Caleb Dose of Sibley East (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="957230" first="Aaron" last="Flieth"] of Sibley East (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958820" first="Tyler" last="Neitzel"] of Mayer Lutheran (Jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958788" first="Brayden" last="Zimmerman"] of Southwest Christian (Jr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Third Team</u></strong></p> <p>Zach Berndt of Le Sueur-Henderson (Sr)</p> <p>Lukas Graff of Le Sueur-Henderson (Sr)</p> <p>Isaac Harrison of Southwest Christian (Sr)</p> <p>Johnathan Hurd of Tri-City United (Jr)</p> <p>Nick Morland of Southwest Christian (Sr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Fourth Team</u></strong></p> <p>Matt Rabenberg of Tri-City United (Sr)</p> <p>Ty Hosee of Mayer Lutheran (Jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958818" first="Jack" last="Kruger"] of Southwest Minnesota Christian (Jr)</p> <p>Connor Olson of Mayer Lutheran (Jr)</p> <p>Brady Will of NYA (Sr)</p>