The Metro East Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Metro East. The Zephyrs are the favorites, the Titans are always right there, the Spartans have an outside shot, the Cadets are a top contender, and despite a lot of change, the Packers will have talent to defend their crown. The Metro East!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State:</strong> Mahtomedi</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The headliner with the Zephyrs is the backcourt of Underwood and Carlson together ready to make their run. The truth that scares other teams - when it comes to Mahtomedi - is that the Zephyrs were 18-8 last year without Underwood and they bring everything back. They are a senior dominated club that is tough as they come, a top five team in AAA.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State Potential</strong>: South St. Paul, St. Thomas Academy</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>STA is one spot from the top ten in Class AAA so a good start will mean they are a top ten team quickly. Khalid El-Amin did a better job than I think some people expected in his first season and I think with more talent, and more experience, his squad will make the jump to a 20-win squad this year. SSP is in the back end of the top 20 of Class AAA but if the collection of transfers - that are stepping in for the historic senior class - is as advertised, they could jump in that top ten at some point.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Tartan, Simley, Two Rivers</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Titans won 20+ games once again and with size up front, toughness in the backcourt, and a legacy of quality team basketball, Tartan will always be right there. My surprise team will be Simley. I really like their guard group coming off of an 18 win season, and it's possible that another 18 win season could come. Two Rivers lost too much to for me to win 16 games again, but they will not be a push over. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rebuilding:</strong> Hastings, North St. Paul, Hill-Murray</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The bottom third of this league is not very good and I don't think it will be much better. Hastings has a couple good players so I think that maybe they could win a few more than last year's five wins. North St. Paul was 4-23 last season and I don't know that it will be much better. Hill-Murray was by far the worst team in the division last season and I think with [player_tooltip player_id='1288719' first='Xavier' last='Daniels'] they could maybe beat NSP this year (one and two score wins for the Polars last season). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>22-23 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><li>Mahtomedi</li><li>St. Thomas Academy</li><li>Tartan</li><li>South St. Paul</li><li>Simley</li><li>Two Rivers</li><li>Hastings </li><li>North St. Paul</li><li>Hill-Murray</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All Metro East Conference</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962216' first='Will' last='Underwood'] of Mahtomedi (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1221176' first='Owen' last='Carlson'] of Mahtomedi (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962306' first='Michael' last='Kirchner'] of St. Thomas Academy (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kayden Reid of Simley (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1430801' first='Cole' last='Armitage'] of Mahtomedi (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1221160' first='Jack' last='Chamberlain'] of St. Thomas (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Second Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>De'Vaun Simmons of South St. Paul (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1293964' first='Brody' last='Radtke'] of Tartan (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>AJ McCleery of Mahtomedi (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284179' first='Luke' last='Dobbs'] of St. Thomas (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1244764' first='Owen' last='Bernatz'] of Hastings (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Third Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1287444' first='Gavin' last='Pendergast'] of South St. Paul (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Javan Harvey of Mahtomedi (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1378113' first='Elijah' last='Barrett'] of Tartan (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1221162' first='Michael' last='Thompson'] of St. Thomas (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1567964' first='Isa' last='El-Amin'] of St. Thomas (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Fourth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Deoviez Williams of Simley (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284183' first='Max' last='Mogelson'] of Two Rivers (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1288651' first='Marino' last='Porter'] of Tartan (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Elonzo Simmons of South St. Paul (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1288738' first='Zach' last='Jacobson'] of Simley (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Carson Christiansen of Two Rivers (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->