The Pheasant Preview

<p>Hancock and West Central Area tied for the Pheasant Conference title last winter and both should be competing for the league championship again. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <p><strong>Top Ten Potential:  </strong>Hancock</p> <p>Hancock was a score away from the Class A title last season losing in the state championship game 61-60 to Hayfield. Three all league players have graduated from Hancock plus the Owls lost a few reserves to graduate as well.  Hancock will still have all state center [player_tooltip player_id="958732" first="Matt" last="Thompson"] back as well as a few guards that are ready to take a step forward.  There are some quality underclassmen that will be on the floor as well.  </p> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: West Central Area, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross</p> <p>West Central Area and Hancock have very similar returning profiles.  The Knights best returning player is also a big (Ryder Staples) but West Central Area also losses three all league players.  Both teams were 7-1 in league play last year and will be neck and neck.  The one difference is that West Central is in Class AA basketball so they aren’t quite the top ten level squad that Hancock is although that’s because they are in difference classes of course. </p> <p>Wheaton/Herman-Norcross was under .500 for the season overall last year and the .500 team in the middle of the league.  The good news is that the Warriors have their entire rotation back and they could be as much the contender that the other top squads are.  </p> <p><strong>Rebuilding</strong>: Ortonville, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley</p> <p>The Trojans lost 15 of 18 games last season scoring only 38 points a game and they lost a ton of their rotation to graduation. Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley had as rough of a year as Ortonville but they have more talent returning so CGB should take a step forward. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>21-22 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <ol> <li>Hancock</li> <li>West Central Area</li> <li>Wheaton/Herman-Norcross</li> <li>Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley</li> <li>Ortonville</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Preseason All Pheasant Conference</strong></p> <p><strong><u>First Team</u></strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958732" first="Matt" last="Thompson"] of Hancock (sr)</p> <p>Ryder Staples of West Central Area (sr)</p> <p>Sebastian Felix of Hancock (sr)</p> <p>Jacob Strunk of West Central Area (jr)</p> <p>Clint Determan of Wheaton/Herman-Norcross (jr)</p> <p>Dylan Bainbridge Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley (jr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Second Team</u></strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="962317" first="Cole" last="Gilsdorf"] of Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley (jr)</p> <p>Luke Joos of Hancock (sr)</p> <p>Grant Dawson of Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley (jr)</p> <p>Owen Longnecker of Ortonville (sr)</p> <p>Cole Anderson of West Central Area (jr)</p> <p>Jackson Koehl of Hancock (jr)</p>