The Gopher Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hayfield and Maple River have been in control of the Gopher Conference for a few years now. There will be changes in 2023-24!</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</strong> <strong>Potential</strong>: Maple River, Kenyon-Wanamingo</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Maple River has a few players returning from their main group plus they have a nice core of young players coming back. This might be a bridge season but Maple River is still a top 20 level team in Class AA basketball. Kenyon-Wanamingo is a top 20 team in Class A basketball with Zach Mason returning along with a few others from a 19 win teams. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>:  Bethlehem Academy, Hayfield, Triton, Blooming Prairie, USC, JWP</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hayfield lost all their big pieces so they won't be quite the big name they have been as a title contender, but they are still going to be a good team. There are a couple solid role players back ready to hold up the name. JWP is one to keep an eye on as [player_tooltip player_id='1284185' first='Memphis' last='James'] will be fighting with [player_tooltip player_id='1625006' first='Daxter' last='Lee'] for league MVP. JWP has several pieces back and should be better. Also ready to take another step should be Triton, Blooming Prairie, and Bethlehem Academy. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rebuilding</strong>: Randolph, NRHEG, WEM, Medford</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Randolph is always a solid program but they have much to replace. Lee is really good for NRHEG for but they won only three games last season. WEM is a proud program in a rut. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>23-24 Conference Prediction</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>East</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Kenyon-Wanamingo</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Hayfield</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Bethlehem Academy</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Triton</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Randolph</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Blooming Prairie</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>West</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Maple River</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>USC</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>NRHEG</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Waterville-Elysian-Morristown</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Medford</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Overall</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Maple River</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Kenyon-Wanamingo</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>USC</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Hayfield</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Bethlehem Academy</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Triton</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Randolph</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Blooming Prairie</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>NRHEG</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Waterville-Elysian-Morristown</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Medford</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All Gopher Conference</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284185' first='Memphis' last='James'] of Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1625006' first='Daxter' last='Lee'] of NRHEG (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2376039' first='Hudson' last='Dillon'] of Bethlehem Academy (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2119578' first='Pierce' last='Petersohn'] of Triton (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aaron Pawlitschek of Maple River (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Second Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Trent Jellum of Hayfield (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Zach Mason of Kenyon-Wanamingo (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jonathan Martinez of USC (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gabe Hein of Blooming Prairie (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Colton Steberg of Kenyon-Wanamingo (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Third Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Isaac Fjerstad of Hayfield (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2109861' first='Wyatt' last='Birr'] of Maple River (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560810' first='Daulton' last='Bauer'] of Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brady Kittleson of Blooming Prairie (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jayce Leonardo of Triton (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2124218' first='Zach' last='Trio'] of Maple River (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->