The Great River Preview
Last year The Great River was Pine City’s league, Rush City was on their heels, and the rest of the conference was under .500. Has anything changed? Yes things will change as several teams should move from under .500 to…
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Continue ReadingLast year The Great River was Pine City’s league, Rush City was on their heels, and the rest of the conference was under .500. Has anything changed? Yes things will change as several teams should move from under .500 to at that mark or above it.
Conference Commentary
Top Ten in State Potential: Pine City
Pine City lost four starters from a league championship, 18 win team. They do return Luke Wilson and most of their key reserves so the system will likely continue and push them as favorites once again.
Compete with Most: Rush City, Hinckley-Finlayson, East Central, Ogilvie, Braham
Rush City won 20 games last year and should compete once again. That said, they lose of a big senior class and little experience outside of Tony Daas means hitting 20 wins again might be tough. Hinckley-Finlayson is the team I would expect to make a jump. They were 12-15 last year but 7-5 in the league. More importantly point guard Cyliss Lafave might be the most talented player in the conference and the Jags bring back most of their rotation. The senior backcourt of East Central should keep them in the middle of the league and likely get them near that .500 mark. I have high expectations for Ogilvie. The Kenyon brothers Hunter and Kenyon were excellent as sophomores and will now be two of the best in the league as juniors. Hunter averaged 13 points and eight boards as a sophomore while Kenyon averaged ten points a game. They went 11-17 last year and we think they should flip that record at least. Braham should also be better. Caleb Schusted’s shooting touch will rank with the best in the conference as he will also contend for league MVP. Braham should also be better this winter.
Rebuilding: Mille Lacs
Mille Lacs was 2-24 last season but with only a few players lost to graduation and their best offensive talent returning they should take a step forward.
22-23 Conference Predictions
- Pine City
- Hinckley-Finlayson
- Ogilvie
- Rush City
- Braham
- East Central
- Mille Lacs
Preseason All Great River Conference
First Team
Luke Wilson of Pine City (sr)
Cyliss Lafave of Hinckley-Finlayson (jr)
Hunter Kenyon of Ogilvie (jr)
Tony Daas of Rush City (sr)
Caleb Schusted of Braham (sr)
Second Team
Tucker Kenyon of Ogilvie (jr)
Charlie Ausmus of Pine City (soph)
Kyle McDonald of East Central (sr)
Ashton Seals of Pine City (sr)
Third Team
Levi Deverstrom of Hinckley-Finlayson (sr)
Nathan Zielinski of East Central (sr)
Braden Grams of Brahan (jr)
Eric Pederson of Mille Lacs (jr)