The Hiawatha Valley Preview
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What would you compare the Hiawatha Valley league to? I would say it’s Minnesota version of the Missouri Valley Conference. Here is your Hiawatha Valley League preview. Conference Commentary Top Ten Potential: Lake City, Goodhue Lake City returns all of…
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Continue ReadingWhat would you compare the Hiawatha Valley league to? I would say it’s Minnesota version of the Missouri Valley Conference. Here is your Hiawatha Valley League preview.
Conference Commentary
Top Ten Potential: Lake City, Goodhue
Lake City returns all of their key pieces from a 13-6 team. What’s even more important is that most of those key pieces were playing as underclassmen last year. They have a ton of room to grow. Lake City is a top ten team in Class AA while Goodhue is a top ten level team in Class A. Will Opsahl Will Opsahl 6'8" | SF Goodhue | 2023 State MN and Dayne Wojcik Dayne Wojcik 6'4" | C Goodhue | 2022 State MN make one of the best 1-2 punches in Class A basketball. What we said about Lake City is nearly the exact same for Goodhue, they return most of their line-up including all their starters, many of which were underclassmen last season.
Top Contenders: Byron, Stewartville
Byron will be right there competing with Goodhue and Lake City for the league title. Yes Braaten and Ahjany are gone, but Byron still has a number of high quality players. They are a Class AAA team and we don’t think they will be top ten there (although don’t put it past them) but they are certainly a contender for the Hiawatha Valley title. Stewartville lost four of their top five scorers and those players – including Will Tschetter Will Tschetter 6'8" | PF Stewartville | 2021 State #96 Nation MN – will be tough to replace. That said, most of their bench returns and there are some good young players ready to make a move.
Compete with Most: Cannon Falls, Kasson-Mantorville
Cannon Falls was three games under .500 last year and with what is returning they could be somewhat similar to that this year although maybe a game or two better. Kasson-Mantorville is in a similar situation to Cannon Falls although they may have a bit more experienced talent with their 3-4 starters back.
Rebuilding: Rochester Lourdes, Zumbrota-Mazeppa, Pine Island
21-22 Conference Predictions
- Lake City
- Byron
- Goodhue
- Stewartville
- Kasson-Mantorville
- Cannon Falls
- Rochester Lourdes
- Zumbrota-Mazeppa
- Pine Island
Preseason All Hiawatha Valley Conference
First Team
Justin Wohlers Justin Wohlers 6'6" | PF Lake City | 2022 State MN of Lake City (sr)
Ryan Heise Ryan Heise 6'8" | SF Lake City | 2023 State MN of Lake City (jr)
Will Opsahl Will Opsahl 6'8" | SF Goodhue | 2023 State MN of Goodhue (jr)
Hunter Lorenson Hunter Lorenson 6'0" | PG Lake City | 2024 State MN of Lake City (soph)
Dayne Wojcik Dayne Wojcik 6'4" | C Goodhue | 2022 State MN of Goodhue (sr)
Second Team
Jaxon Marine Jaxon Marine 6'4" | SF Byron | 2022 State MN of Byron (sr)
Camden Holecek Camden Holecek 6'2" | SG Kasson-Mantorville | 2022 State MN of Kasson-Mantorville (sr)
Trent DeCook Trent DeCook 6'2" | SG Byron | 2022 State MN of Byron (sr)
Carson Matzke Carson Matzke 6'3" | SG Lake City | 2022 MN of Lake City (sr)
Miles Hettinger Miles Hettinger 6'8" | C Stewartville | 2022 State MN of Stewartville (sr)
Third Team
Jaden Shones Jaden Shones 6'1" | SG Lake City | 2024 State MN of Lake City (so)
Isaac Dearborn Isaac Dearborn 6'0" | PG Byron | 2023 State MN of Byron (jr)
Henry Tschetter Henry Tschetter 6'3" | SG Stewartville | 2024 State MN of Stewartville (soph)
Mason Flom of Kasson-Mantorville (sr)
Parker Dunham Parker Dunham 6'2" | SF Rochester Lourdes | 2023 State MN of Rochester Lourdes (jr)
Noah Blanchard Noah Blanchard 6'4" Cannon Falls | 2022 MN of Cannon Falls (sr)
Fourth Team
Riley Kuehl of Pine Island (sr)
Adam Poncelet Adam Poncelet 6'3" | SG Goodhue | 2023 State MN of Goodhue (jr)
Bode Mayer Bode Mayer 6'5" | PF Stewartville | 2022 State MN of Stewartville (sr)
Jordan Klepel of Kasson-Mantorville (sr)
Max Barnes of Stewartville (sr)
Tyson Christensen of Goodhue (sr)