The Wright County East Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mound-Westonka won the league last year AND earned their way to the State Tournament. How will they rebound? Who will be their top contender? We break it down now!</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>: Holy Family</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Holy Family will take the court with one of the state's top point guards, two returning starting wings, and two bigs that have singed with division one schools. [player_tooltip player_id='1287442' first='Kole' last='Hanson'] is a top junior, [player_tooltip player_id='962212' first='Boden' last='Kapke'] is the Class AA preseason player of the year, [player_tooltip player_id='1492564' first='Collin' last='Mulholland'] is headed to Chattanooga, and there are worker wings back. The pieces are in place for a special season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State Potential</strong>: Mound-Westonka, Delano</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mound-Westonka was 23-9 last year but so many players graduated. Can they rebound from the experience lost? We think so. There are enough players back for this well coached team to win a of games next season. Delano? Top ten in state potential? They were 8-19 last year! Yes it was bad last year. That said, they have some of the best shooters out there and a big in [player_tooltip player_id='1223080' first='Jackson' last='Stewart'] who is very good. They have the potential to push to the top ten even though they were bad last year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Jordan</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Hubmen will be smaller, they lost a 25ppg scorer, and they only have a few back from last year's rotation. That said, this team is consistently well coached and consistently is better than people expect so yes Jordan will be a tough team to face once again. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rebuilding</strong>: Hutchinson, Southwest Christian</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sam Rensch has graduated, injuries have dinged this team, and things are pretty much starting over for the Tigers. They have a new coach and they will be younger. SW Christian will look completely different with less size and less experience. Expect some youth in their line-up as they build for the future. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2022-23 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Holy Family</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Delano</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Mound-Westonka</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Jordan</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Southwest Christian</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Hutchinson</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All Tri-Metro Conference</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962212' first='Boden' last='Kapke'] of Holy Family (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1287442' first='Kole' last='Hanson'] of Holy Family (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1492564' first='Collin' last='Mulholland'] of Holy Family (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Will Standemo of Delano (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1223080' first='Jackson' last='Stewart'] of Delano (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Second Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962225' first='Reese' last='Vanderwilt'] of Mound-Westonka (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1585944' first='Max' last='Kraay'] of Mound-Westonka (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560739' first='Max' last='Iversen'] of Delano (fr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Michael Richelson of Holy Family (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1492567' first='Braylon' last='Cummings'] of Holy Family (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Afton Koch of Jordan (sr)</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='1492592' first='Aiden' last='Monke'] of Delano (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mack Schmidt of Jordan (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Carter Runge of Jordan (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Luke Leonard of Mound-Westonka (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sam Arnold of Southwest Christian (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284096' first='Carter' last='Verhasselt'] of Hutchinson (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->