Evergreen 2A preview – Tumwater stacked for deep post-season run

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It looks like a three horse race once again in the Evergreen 2A League. Tumwater is the clear favorite, coming off a fifth place finish at the state tournament last year. W. F. West looks to be a good bet to finish runner-up once again, although Black Hills may have a say in that. Aside from these three teams who finished as the top three last season, the rest of the league is in re-build mode. Here's a closer look at the 2022-23 teams. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Tumwater-1st place 2022-(22-6) 11-1-league-5th place state</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key returners-</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1270732' first='Luke' last='Brewer']</strong> - 6'2-G-2023 (17.9PPG) League MVP</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1416732' first='Andrew' last='Collins']</strong> - 6'2-G-2023 (12.4PPG)1st team all league</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1439248' first='Connor' last='Hopkins']</strong> - 6'2-G-2023 (7.8PPG) Honorable mention all league </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Luke Reid</strong> - 5'10-G-2023 (3.9PPG)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Braydon Oram</strong>-6'0-G-2023 (3.4PPG)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tanner Brewer</strong>-6'4-F-2023 (3.3PPG)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Outlook-</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The T-Birds got a taste of the state tournament last season bringing home some hardware. The expectations will be high this year. Brewer is one of the best guards in 2A and a player of the year candidate. Collins is arguably the best athlete in the league. A strong supporting cast makes Tumwater is legitimate state title contender. Brewer is good enough to get them there. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>W. F. West - 2nd place-2022 (14-9) 10-3-league</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key Returners-</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1270675' first='Soren' last='Dalan']</strong> - 6'10-C-2023 (14.2PPG 13RPG) 1st team all league</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tyler Klatush</strong>-2024-6'0-G (14.7PPG)*Rochester-2nd team all league </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1471162' first='Gage' last='Brumfield'] -</strong> 6'2-G (4.1PPG)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Outlook- </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bearcats have a huge presence in the paint with Dalan who is a matchup nightmare. Klatush transferred from Rochester after last season and will help provide scoring, along with Brumfield who looks like a break-out candidate. This is team should be fighting for a state tournament berth come late February. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Black Hills 3rd place-2022 (13-10) 8-5-league</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key Returners-</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Johnnie Stallings</strong>-6'0-G-2023 (14.1PPG) 2nd team all league</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Keagan Rongen</strong>-6'3-F-2023 (8.5PPG) 2nd team all league </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Simon Trujillo-Nysted</strong>-5'10-G-2024 (10.1PPG)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jaxsen Beck</strong>-6'1-F-2025 (4PPG)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Harrison Pilon</strong>-6'1-G-2023 (3PPG)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Outlook-</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wolves only lost two seniors from last year's team. They return a solid core and should also be in the mix for a state tournament berth.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Shelton 4th place-2022 (11-9) 7-6-league</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Outlook-</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lost almost all of their scoring from last season. Looks like re-build for the Highclimbers this season. Rochester, without Klatush, Centralia-lost a big-time scorer, and Aberdeen-a young team will all be looking for something to build on in the upcoming season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Centralia 5th place-2022 (6-11) 4-8-league</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Rochester 6th place-2022 (4-16) 2-10-league</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Aberdeen 7th place-2022 (2-16) 1-11-league</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->