The Three Rivers Preview

<p>Caledonia has been the big dog in this area for a long period of time and that will continue.  Lewiston-Altura, La Crescent, and PEM will be right there contending again.  </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <p><strong>Top Ten</strong>: Caledonia</p> <p>The Warriors earned second place in state last season with [player_tooltip player_id="754315" first="Eli" last="King"] not playing!  The way this team played following the lead of their coach was one of the best stories of 2020-21.  Now Eli returns with some returning starters and a nice group of incoming players.  They are a state contender again. </p> <p><strong>Potential Top Ten:</strong> Lewiston-Altura, La Crescent, PEM, Rushford-Peterson, Chatfield</p> <p>There is a healthy group of teams that have the talent to put together a strong season and make a top ten run.  And maybe even a conference title and/or section title run challenging Caledonia.  Chatfield won’t be a big team but they will be tough and talented.  The Lancers are a good program.  They build up kids through their system that are tough and know how to compete.  This year’s team will be no different. Lewiston-Altura has one of the best combo attacks in Class AA hoops.  [player_tooltip player_id="958810" first="Collin" last="Bonow"] and [player_tooltip player_id="958799" first="Thomas" last="Menk"] are that combo and they should push this team to 20 wins. PEM was the best in the west a season ago and they will compete for their half of the league once again. The Bulldogs lost their top two talents from last year so matching last year’s success will be tough but they will be among the contenders. Rushford-Peterson returns three of their top four players from a 13-7 club including their top talent Justin Ruberg. </p> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Wabasha-Kellogg</p> <p>The Falcons were 4-13 last year with good young players competing for them.  Blake Passe and [player_tooltip player_id="1284211" first="Ryan" last="Hartert"] had good years in their first varsity season and will be even better this year. </p> <p><strong>Rebuilding</strong>: Dover-Eyota, St. Charles, Winona Cotter, Fillmore Central</p> <p>St. Charles was a game over .500 last year with Kooper Vaughn having one of the most incredible scoring seasons we have seen.  With so many players graduated this is a bit of a start over for St. Charles but [player_tooltip player_id="1284200" first="Owen" last="Maloney"] looks like the next star at this school.  Dover-Eyota had a rough previous winter so their reset is still in motion. Winona Cotter was winless last year in the league and they are rebuilding their program. Filmore Central graduated six seniors that led the team to 3-11 and they will only have one senior back.  There will be a bit of an issue of experience for them. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>21-22 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <p><em>East</em></p> <ol> <li>Caledonia</li> <li>La Crescent</li> <li>Rushford-Peterson</li> <li>Fillmore Central</li> <li>Winona Cotter</li> </ol> <p><em>West</em></p> <ol> <li>Lewiston-Altura</li> <li>Plainview/Elgin-Millville</li> <li>Chatfield</li> <li>St. Charles</li> <li>Wabasha-Kellogg</li> <li>Dover-Eyota</li> </ol> <p><em>Power Rankings</em></p> <ol> <li>Caledonia</li> <li>Lewiston-Altura</li> <li>La Crescent</li> <li>Plainview/Elgin-Millville</li> <li>Chatfield</li> <li>Rushford-Peterson</li> <li>St. Charles</li> <li>Wabasha-Kellogg</li> <li>Fillmore Central</li> <li>Dover-Eyota</li> <li>Winona Cotter</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Preseason All Three Rivers Conference</strong></p> <p><strong><u>First Team</u></strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="754315" first="Eli" last="King"] of Caledonia (sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958799" first="Thomas" last="Menk"] of Lewiston-Altura (sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="962259" first="Carter" last="Todd"] of La Crescent (jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958700" first="Jackson" last="Koepke"] of Caledonia (sr)</p> <p>Justin Ruberg of Rushford-Peterson (sr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Second Team</u></strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="962263" first="Cole" last="Johnson"] of Chatfield (jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958810" first="Collin" last="Bonow"] of Lewiston-Altura (sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1282891" first="JaShon" last="Simpson"] of Caledonia (sr)</p> <p>Peyton Schumacher of PEM (sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1284202" first="Parker" last="McQuin"] of La Crescent (so)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Third Team</u></strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1284200" first="Owen" last="Maloney"] of St. Charles (so)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1284211" first="Ryan" last="Hartert"] of Wabasha-Kellogg (so)</p> <p>Malachi Bunke of Rushford-Peterson (sr)</p> <p>Drew Schindler of Chatfield (jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1262106" first="Lewis" last="Doyle"] of Caledonia (so)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Fourth Team</u></strong></p> <p>Connor McGuire of PEM (sr)</p> <p>Aeron Stevens of PEM (jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="962288" first="Grady" last="Hengel"] of Rushford-Peterson (jr)</p> <p>Blake Passe of Wabasha-Kellogg (jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1225624" first="Thane" last="Meiners"] of Caledonia (sr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>