The Pine to Prairie Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Pine to Prairie has a North and a South and they were led by Fertile-Beltrami and Mahnomen/Waubun last year. Who among the ten do we think will make a run this winter? Today the Pines and Prairies are broken down!</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>:&nbsp; Fertile-Beltrami</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Be aware, Fertile-Beltrami has a lot of graduated players to replace in key spots including the league MVP and top defender. For them to be the top team they could be, several JV players do need to step forward. That said, returning starters [player_tooltip player_id='1284094' first='Caiden' last='Swenby'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1284126' first='Derek' last='Sorenson'] are outstanding juniors that will rank with one of the best 1-2 punches in Class A basketball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State Potential</strong>: Ada-Borup, Fosston, Win-E-Mac</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ada-Borup has just about all of their pieces back and they are young. They are likely to be a top 25 team this year while contending, and next year they could be a title contender. And if they blend together quicker than expected, a run could be made this season, its that good of a group. Fosston also has most of their rotation back and will be the most experienced team in the league that is going for the league title. I'm not sure Win-E-Mac will be a top ten potential squad this year but surely next year. They have the best player in the league and they have a chance to win 20 games this season. Maybe more. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Lake Park-Audubon, NCEUH, Park Christian, Mahnomen/Waubun</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lake Park-Audubon won ten games last season and with three starters back they should be in about the same area as competitive each night. NCEUH is in a very similar situation as LPA when it comes to losing a couple all league guys from a team win team but also a few starters returning. And these two teams, both went 10-16, both went 5-8 vs league teams last year, and both lost games by an average of 6-7 points a game. Park Christian had the roughest year of the three from the South in this category, and they lose the most starters but they do return the best player in the bunch in [player_tooltip player_id='1625010' first='Kyler' last='Card']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mahnomen/Waubun is in a weird spot. They lost a senior class that had so much success but they do have key role players back that should keep them in a competitive spot. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rebuilding:</strong> Bagley, Climax-Fisher</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When you are winless the year before, you are rebuilding. But Bagley does have a good player in Alex Jobe so they should take a step forward. Climax-Fisher was a bit better than Bagley last year but was in a similar situation of having to rely on a few guys far too much. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>22-23 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>North</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Fertile-Beltrami</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Fosston</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Win-E-Mac</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Climax-Fisher</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Bagley</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>South</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Ada-Borup</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Mahnomen/Waubun</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Park Christian</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Lake Park-Audubon</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>NCEUH</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>League Power Rankings</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Fertile-Beltrami</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Fosston</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Ada-Borup</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Win-E-Mac</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Mahnomen/Waubun</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Park Christian </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Lake Park-Audubon</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>NCEUH</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Climax/Fisher</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Bagley</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All Pine to Prairie Conference</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284164' first='Justin' last='Courneya'] of Win-E-Mac (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aaron Norland of Fosston (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284094' first='Caiden' last='Swenby'] of Fertile-Beltrami (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1434978' first='Cameron' last='Spaeth'] of Ada-Borup (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cullen Norland of Fosston (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Second Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Carsen Bouchee of Fosston (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284126' first='Derek' last='Sorenson'] of Fertile-Beltrami (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1537473' first='Cadyn' last='Dahl'] of Ada-Borup (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2100615' first='Ryan' last='Kangas'] of Win-E-Mac (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1625010' first='Kyler' last='Card'] of Park Christian (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Third Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Zach Theis of Fosston (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dennis Ashley of Mahnomen/Waubun (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aidan Flaten of NCEUH (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Alex Jobe of Bagley (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tysen McArthur of Mahnomen/Waubun (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Fourth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Teigan Bjerke of Lake Park-Audubon (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ryan Morris of Climax-Fisher (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kaden Beske of Lake Park-Audubon (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Drew Jacobson of NCEUH (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Fifth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lance Kritzberger of Ada-Borup (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Darren Skala of Fosston (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1482041' first='Austin' last='McCraven'] of Ada-Borup (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ryan Van Den Einde of Fertile-Beltrami (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->