Back to State: 1A Div I Tourney Returners

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Looking back to last year's 1A Div. I tournament might give a peak at who will be this year's frontrunners.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are last year's 1A Div. I tournament teams who return significant pieces:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Olpe</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Can Olpe realistically challenge for a three-peat? Well, they graduated four seniors, but return some key contributors, who know nothing but how to win. The crew is led by 6-foot-1 <strong>Truman Bailey</strong>, who averaged 12 points as a junior and has come up big in big games. He scored 37 points in last year's tournament, showing off nice touch from deep.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Returners to the champion Eagles include seniors <strong>Blake Redeker</strong>, <strong>Darren Heins</strong> and juniors <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2387789' first='Blake' last='Skalsky']</strong>. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Is that group of returners enough to bring a third straight title to Olpe? We'll see.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Macksville</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This team is loaded. The Mustangs return essentially everyone from the club that took third-place a year ago. They have size on the front line in 6-foot-6 center [player_tooltip player_id='1213186' first='Ryan' last='Kuckelman'] and 6-foot-2 forward [player_tooltip player_id='1378395' first='Alexis' last='Barron']. They each averaged 12 points per game last year. 6-foot-1 <strong>Lance Lickiss</strong> is another forward who contributed buckets and boards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Mustangs' stacked senior class includes slick guards <strong>Rogelio Ibarra</strong> and <strong>Alvaro Ibarra</strong>. Sophomores <strong>Hector Gomez</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2169878' first='Diego' last='Esparza']</strong> had enormous freshman campaigns, combining to average about 16 points and 7 rebounds. They created a lot of havoc, each accounting for more than 2 steals a game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Norwich</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Eagles lost a good one in <strong>Chance Hilger</strong>. He averaged 17 points and 9 rebounds from the guard position. But they bring back 6-foot-3 forward Jace Gosch, who added 12.5 points and 7 boards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Norwich brings back nearly everyone from the team that went 22-1 before losing a heartbreaker to Solomon. The Eagles will look to seniors <strong>Dax Rosenhagen</strong> and <strong>Camden Smith</strong> to carry on the winning tradition.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Troy</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Troy had the unfortunate draw of Olpe in the first round of the tournament. That didn't go well. But a group of returners can put that experience to use this season. 6-foot-4 center [player_tooltip player_id='1146294' first='Jerrit' last='Norris'] has played a ton over the years and led the team last year with 15 points and 9 boards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Seniors back for more are <strong>Boden Benitz</strong> and <strong>Reagan Hartman</strong>. Juniors <strong>Seth Judd</strong> and Christian Etherton got a lot of experience a year ago.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->