2021-22 Season Preview: Bay Conference

<p>Looking ahead to the 2021-2022 WIAA boys basketball season, Prep Hoops Wisconsin breaks down the race in the Bay Conference.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4><strong>PROJECTED ORDER OF FINISH</strong></h4> <p>1.  Xavier</p> <p>2. Green Bay East</p> <p>3. Menasha</p> <p>4. West De Pere</p> <p>5. Shawano</p> <p>6. Seymour</p> <p>7. New London</p> <p>8. Green Bay West</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>THE FAVORITE - Xavier</strong></p> <p>The defending champs do lose quite a bit of firepower from their 23-5 squad, but get back a pair of reigning first-team All-Conference performers in junior [player_tooltip player_id="1024438" first="Alex" last="Sherwood"] and senior [player_tooltip player_id="865856" first="Charlie" last="Pfefferle"].</p> [caption id="attachment_1241314" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/07/Ryan-Sweeney6-1.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1241314 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/07/Ryan-Sweeney6-1-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="1028771" first="Ryan" last="Sweeney"][/caption] <p><strong>TOP CONTENDER - Green Bay East</strong></p> <p>Senior [player_tooltip player_id="1028771" first="Ryan" last="Sweeney"] leads the way and is the league’s top returning scorer at 20.5 ppg. A legit player of the year candidate, Sweeney is coming off a big summer on the travel circuit. East was just 6-11 overall in 2020-21, but has their top three scorers back from a year go.</p> <p><strong>DARK HORSE - Menasha</strong></p> <p>The Bluejays have one of the best 1-2 punches in the league with [player_tooltip player_id="1017075" first="Jalen" last="Womack"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1200561" first="Jaxson" last="Dillon"]. Menasha finished in the middle of the league last season and were very up and down at times, but finished the year by winning three of their last four and lost a heartbreaker in the regional finals to a strong Little Chute squad.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4><strong>PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE</strong></h4> <p><strong><em>First Team</em></strong></p> <p>G [player_tooltip player_id="865856" first="Charlie" last="Pfefferle"] - Sr. (Xavier)</p> <p>G [player_tooltip player_id="1017075" first="Jalen" last="Womack"] - Sr. (Menasha)</p> <p>G [player_tooltip player_id="1028771" first="Ryan" last="Sweeney"] - Sr. (Green Bay East)</p> <p>G [player_tooltip player_id="981202" first="Ethan" last="Heck"] - Jr. (West De Pere)</p> <p>W [player_tooltip player_id="1024438" first="Alex" last="Sherwood"] - Jr. (Xavier)</p> <p><strong><em>Second Team</em></strong></p> <p><span style="font-size: 1rem;">G [player_tooltip player_id="1072733" first="Jalen" last="Flowers"] - Sr. (Green Bay East)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 1rem;">G [player_tooltip player_id="1200561" first="Jaxson" last="Dillon"] - Sr.  (Menasha)</span></p> <p><strong>W Daniel Inman -  Sr. (Seymour)</strong></p> <p><strong>F Jacob Landon - Jr. (Shawano)</strong></p> <p><strong>F Ethan Schwitzer - Jr. (Shawano)</strong></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>PLAYER OF THE YEAR - [player_tooltip player_id="1024438" first="Alex" last="Sherwood"]</strong></p> <p>Sherwood broke out as a sophomore, putting up 17 points and 10 rebounds per game en route to first team All-Conference honors.  The 6-foot-7 wing/forward is a deadly outside shooter that shot 54.5 percent from the field last season.  Along with his ability to bring the ball up the floor, score 1-on-1 on the block,  Sherwood is a big matchup problem for opponents.</p> [caption id="attachment_1241093" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/07/Ethan-Heck.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1241093 size-medium" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/07/Ethan-Heck-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="981202" first="Ethan" last="Heck"][/caption] <p><strong>BREAKOUT PLAYER - [player_tooltip player_id="981202" first="Ethan" last="Heck"]</strong></p> <p>West De Pere loses its top two scorers from last season, leaving the way for Heck to take over. A promising sniper, Heck averaged 9.0 ppg as a sophomore. Heck has some of the best positional size in the state as a 6-foot-5 shooting guard who moves exceptionally well without the ball and has an effortless, clean stroke.</p> <p><strong>SLEEPER TO WATCH - [player_tooltip player_id="1072733" first="Jalen" last="Flowers"]</strong></p> <p>Flowers should be a solid No. 2 to Sweeney this season at Green Bay East. The Red Devils were 3-7 in league play last season and 6-11 overall. When Flowers, who averaged just shy of 12 points per game, scored 16 points or more, East was 4-1. A terrific defender that plays with passion, Flowers does a great job of creating havoc on the ball and turning defense into offense the  other way.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>