The CMC Preview

<p>Next up, the CMC Preview.  The Central Minnesota Conference.  The league lost some stars and now it’s time to see what new stars step up.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <p>Top Ten in State Potential: BBE</p> <p>Class A basketball is wide open this year and there are a number of teams that could step in, go on a run, maybe win the title.  BBE is one of those teams as they will start the year as a top ten area squad. [player_tooltip player_id="962264" first="Kaden" last="Pieper"] has star qualities, type of player I’m watching for as a potential all state caliber talent in Class A.  The Jags are the overwhelming favorite to win this league. </p> <p>Compete with Most: Eden Valley-Watkins, Paynesville Area</p> <p>Replacing Josh Streit will of course be tough as he contributed so much.  EVW won’t have the same type of team but they will still be a dangerous team with Alex Haag back as a senior and some reserves stepping into bigger roles. Paynesville Area is in a very similar spot to EVW losing a star ([player_tooltip player_id="774773" first="Corbin" last="Froelich"]) but having some good players returning.  Chase Bayer developed so much last year we think he and [player_tooltip player_id="1225659" first="Eli" last="Nelson"] will form one of the league’s better backcourts. </p> <p>Rebuilding: Kimball Area, Royalton, Maple Lake, ACGC, Holdingford</p> <p>As you will notice, most of this league is in a state of change: some lost stars, some weren’t good and have new line-ups.  If any team can catch some momentum they could finish in the top three. </p> <p>I put Kimball Area in this spot partially because they lost some key seniors, and partially because they got hit hard by Covid last year so they missed some games, and players missed some time.  Therefore it’s kind of hard to really know what they have coming in, but we will them the best of luck as they get a fresh start.</p> <p>No rotation was hit as hard as Royalton’s by graduation.  They went 8-11 last year and most of their rotation graduated.  It will be a bit of a new beginning for the Royals.  One team that may respond with "what about us?" when it comes to being hit by graduation is Maple Lake.  The Irish lost most of their starters to graduation from a 5-15 team.  They have a bit more back than Royalton (not by much) but are still in a rebuilding spot. ACGC and Holdingford also used a lot of seniors that were lost but there were also some others that moved into the line-up and gained experience. Both struggled last year finishing at the bottom of the league.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>21-22 Predictions</strong></p> <ol> <li>BBE</li> <li>Paynesville Area</li> <li>Eden Valley-Watkins</li> <li>Kimball Area</li> <li>Maple Lake</li> <li>Royalton</li> <li>ACGC</li> <li>Holdingford</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>CMC Preseason All Conference</strong></p> <p><strong>First Team</strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="962264" first="Kaden" last="Pieper"] of BBE (jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958747" first="Ashton" last="Dingmann"] of BBE (sr)</p> <p>Alex Haag of Eden Valley-Watkins (sr)</p> <p>Chase Bayer of Paynesville Area (sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1284178" first="Luke" last="Dingmann"] of BBE (soph)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Second Team</strong></p> <p>Will Van Beck of BBE (sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1225659" first="Eli" last="Nelson"] of Paynesville Area (jr)</p> <p>Landon Neiman of Eden Valley-Watkins (jr)</p> <p>Lucas Jansky of Kimball Area (sr)</p> <p>Jackson Pysch of Royalton (jr)</p> <p>Ernesto Brown of Maple Lake (sr)</p>