The Iron Range Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The six team Iron Range Conference had a very distinct difference in the top three and the bottom three (won by Deer River). What will the league look like this year? </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 Potential</strong>: Deer River</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Deer River will start in about the top 15 area of Class A basketball and be the favorite in this league. With [player_tooltip player_id='1582113' first='Cale' last='Jackson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2103407' first='Caiden' last='Schjenken'] returning they have two of the best three or four players in the league plus a couple key role players reserve. They will be in the thick of things again bordering on the top ten.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Rock Ridge, Chisholm, Greenway</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Keep in mind Rock Ridge is now in Class AAA basketball so they will not be a top ten caliber team with that but they will be league contenders for the Iron Range Conference. Like Deer River they have two starters back and four players back from last year's main rotation. Chisholm is one of the better 35 or 40 teams in Class A most likely. Stop me if you have heard this before, they are a team with four players back from their rotation including two of their better players. Greenway only won four games last year so they aren't likely to be at the same level as the other three but with [player_tooltip player_id='2100912' first='Stephen' last='McGee'] returning (by far the best prospect in this league) and [player_tooltip player_id='2442535' first='Gage' last='Olson'] entering his junior year they should push to at least ten wins. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rebuilding</strong>: Mesabi East, International Falls</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mesabi East won only three games total last year as they are building with a good class of 2025 kids. It might be another year before they can push the better teams in the league but they should be better. International Falls lost games by nearly 50 points a night last year. They played a lot of young kids but it might take another year or two before the scores aren't ugly. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>23-24 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Deer River</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Rock Ridge</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Chisholm</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Greenway</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Mesabi East</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>International Falls</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All Iron Range Conference</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2100912' first='Stephen' last='McGee'] V of Greenway (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1582113' first='Cale' last='Jackson'] of Deer River (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2103407' first='Caiden' last='Schjenken'] of Deer River (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Casey Aune of Rock Ridge (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sean Fleming of Chisholm (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='2442535' first='Gage' last='Olson'] of Greenway (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2446759' first='Hayden' last='Sampson'] of Mesabi East (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Phil Barnard of Chisholm (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jalen Miskowitz of Rock Ridge (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1388089' first='Zane' last='Lokken'] of Rock Ridge (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Third Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hendrix Torgerson of International Falls (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284110' first='Colton' last='Hemphill'] of Deer River (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cameron Jones of Mesabi East (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ethan Lauzen of Chisholm (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thomas White of Deer River (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Fourth Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Max Williams of Rock Ridge (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Trent Forsline of Chisholm (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Landin Budris of International Falls (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cooper Sickel of Mesabi East (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Carter Line of International Falls (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->