2022-23 3A Preview: Top Five and All-State

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2022-23 boys basketball season starts all across the state and today let's take a quick look at the 4A level with our pre-season top five and the projected All-State Team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pre-Season Top Five</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1. Cascade Christian<br>2. Westside Christian<br>3. De La Salle North<br>4. Dayton<br>5. Creswell</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Analysis: With much of their roster back - including the top player in the state in the Class of 2024, [player_tooltip player_id='1110567' first='Austin' last='Maurer'] - it's hard to not like Cascade Christian's chances of repeating. Westside Christian will try its best however and is bolstered by a handful of 6A transfers notably last year's top rebounder in 6A, [player_tooltip player_id='1232164' first='Jonah' last='Jones'] from Wells, and versatile guard [player_tooltip player_id='1586603' first='Colby' last='Ackerman'] from Lakeridge. De La Salle North and Dayton are traditional powers with veteran head coaches in James Broadous and Ron Hop, respectively, and will be right up there as usual. Creswell may have only been .500 last year but has a number of guys back to take them to the top of the Mountain Valley Conference.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>All-State Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1110567' first='Austin' last='Maurer'], Cascade Christian (POY)<br>[player_tooltip player_id='1232164' first='Jonah' last='Jones'], Westside Christian<br>[player_tooltip player_id='1586603' first='Colby' last='Ackerman'], Westside Christian<br>Dawson Little, Warrenton<br>Diesel Johnson, Vale</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Analysis: Barring injury, probably not a stretch to see Maurer repeat first team and player of the year in 3A. He's that dominant a player and that goes for any classification. Jones and Ackerman should be able to be dominant players from day one at Westside Christian. Haller is one of the few returnees from last year's all-state teams (he made third team) and Johnson is one of the better leapers and athletes in 3A who turned some heads at the state tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->