The Metro East Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mahtomedi and St. Thomas Academy were both 15-1 in the league last season but both were hit hard by graduation. We now look to the 11-5 teams from last year to be the top contenders (South St. Paul and Tartan). </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>: South St. Paul</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With SSP being a Class AAA team they are in the top ten and should be right there in that top ten area starting on the back end of the top ten and likely moving up and down around there all year. They have a nice senior group mixed with a solid group of young players. I also think SSP is a big favorite in their section.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State Potential</strong>: Tartan</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tartan has the most back from last season, they have some good young players coming back, they got a nice transfer, and they have a veteran coach. I think that mix will make them the league favorite coming in (SSP and Tartan split last season) as they just have more experience returning from the previous season. They are not in the top ten in state category though because they are a Class AAAA team that is ranked in the top 15 coming in but not top ten. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Two Rivers, Hastings, North St. Paul, St. Thomas Academy</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>STA has one starter back, they have one reserve returning, and the rest of the line-up will be new talents. With a new coach as well, STA does have a lot of new things going on. Hastings has one of the best players in the league and a nice share of their line-up back so they should have a solid season. NSP has two starters back from a team that won seven games, they will be competitive in the league. Two Rivers has a lot of young talent that could mix with some vets and have a good year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rebuilding:</strong> Mahtomedi, Simley, Hill-Murray, </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Zephyrs lost their top 11 producers from last season. That's a ton, and of course we know little and are just basing things off a good JV record. Simley won just four league games last season and they lost their top producers so they could have a rebuild. Hill-Murray was the worst team in the league and while they have a top player, they still have to develop things around Daniels. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>23-24 Metro East Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Tartan</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>South St. Paul</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>St. Thomas Academy</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Hastings</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Two Rivers</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Mahtomedi</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>North St. Paul</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Hill-Murray </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Simley</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All Metro East Conference</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1287444' first='Gavin' last='Pendergast'] of South St. Paul (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1378113' first='Elijah' last='Barrett'] of Tartan (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284179' first='Luke' last='Dobbs'] of St. Thomas Academy (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1990226' first='Elonzo' last='Simmons'] of South St. Paul (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1244764' first='Owen' last='Bernatz'] of Hastings (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='2103366' first='Cedric' last='Banks'] of Tartan (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1288719' first='Xavier' last='Daniels'] of Hill-Murray (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Julian Greer Jr of Two Rivers (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1628771' first='Sincere' last='McCampbell'] of South St. Paul (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1549758' first='Demetrius' last='Weems'] of Tartan (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='1293964' first='Brody' last='Radtke'] of Tartan (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jazayah Gayes of Tartan (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1288679' first='Kellen' last='Nuytten'] of Hastings (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560793' first='Lamont' last='Michaels'] of Two Rivers (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2104470' first='Manny' last='Smith'] of St. Thomas Academy (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Fourth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2109879' first='Ramzi' last='Rislove'] of Two Rivers (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Peyton Lee-Dean of Hastings (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2365718' first='Brevin' last='Conway'] of North St. Paul (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560773' first='Matthew' last='Foss'] of Hastings (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2104486' first='Jerror' last='Borsay'] of Tartan (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Fifth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560772' first='Micah' last='Schmidt'] of Mahtomedi (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126446' first='Mustafa' last='Mohamed'] of South St. Paul (fr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tre Lovelance of Simley (8th)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kevin Wilson Jr of Tartan (8th)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1548694' first='Keishion' last='Jarmon'] of South St. Paul (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ja'Carion Green of Tartan (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->