The Granite Ridge Preview

<p>A season ago Albany and Mora were neck and neck for the Granite Ridge title.  How does 2021-22 look?  We preview the Granite Ridge Conference now!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <p><strong>Top Contenders:  Albany, Mora, Little Falls</strong></p> <p>The Huskies lost their top couple scorers but return two starters and a couple quality reserves.  After a 17 win season Albany will surely be in the mix once again. Mora was a top ten team last season led by four senior starters and an experienced bench.  The Mustangs may not be as good but with Garret Honstrom inside scoring in double digits they will still be a contender. Mora has some good junior guards ready for a bigger role. The team with the most talent returning is Little Falls (5 of top 7 guys).  </p> <p><strong>Compete with Most: Pierz, Foley, Milaca, Zimmerman</strong></p> <p>The Pierz Pioneers were the third best squad in the league last season led by four double figure scoring seniors.  There is a group of seniors ready to move from role players to leaders. Foley may have a very good player, one of the league’s best players, back in [player_tooltip player_id="958787" first="Ryan" last="Piepgras"].  Several seniors have graduated but Piepgras will keep Foley in the mix. Milaca’s junior class is talented and should make the Wolves a double figure win team at least this season.  Zimmerman is in a similar spot to Milaca in that they have juniors ready to leading the program. Catehdral should also be better. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>21-22 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <ol> <li>Albany</li> <li>Little Falls</li> <li>Mora</li> <li>Pierz</li> <li>Milaca</li> <li>Zimmerman</li> <li>Foley</li> <li>St. Cloud Cathedral</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Preseason All Granite Ridge Conference</strong></p> <p><strong><u>First Team</u></strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958795" first="Carter" last="Birr"] of Albany (sr)</p> <p>Garret Honstrom of Mora (sr)</p> <p>Austin Neu of Little Falls (sr)</p> <p>Brady Goebel of Albany (sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="962296" first="Peyton" last="Hunt"] of Milaca (jr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Second Team</strong></span></p> <p>Zach Gwost of Little Falls (sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="957627" first="Nolan" last="Spence"] of Zimmerman (jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958787" first="Ryan" last="Piepgras"] of Foley (sr)</p> <p>Laque Jefferson of Albany (sr)</p> <p>Davis Artisesni-Skime of Zimmerman (jr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Third Team</u></strong></p> <p>Lewis Wolbert of Milaca (jr)</p> <p>Andrew Winscher of Pierz (sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1225628" first="Beau" last="Thoma"] of Little Falls (jr)</p> <p>Ben Virnig of Pierz (sr)</p> <p>Ethan Poser of Little Falls (sr)</p>