The Northwest Suburban 1 Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We start our three article preview of the Northwest Suburban Conference by looking at the half the league that used to be named one! Keep in mind, they are not using these divisions any more, but it's easier to preview this way because it's a huge league. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Contenders</strong>: Andover, Maple Grove</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Andover is an interesting group. They did lose seven of their ten guys that regularly played but this summer they looked really good. The three returning players should mix with the junior varsity and up and comers to stay a very good team. Maybe not 23 wins but still a good team. Maple Grove and Andover split their games last season, Maple Grove won 21 games to Andover's 23, and the Crimson have four guys back from their rotation which includes [player_tooltip player_id='1293966' first='Henry' last='Stang']. I think the Crimson have a slight edge coming into the season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Blaine, Champlin Park, Anoka</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I think Blaine is close, and they are a veteran team, but before I can stick them in that top contenders spot we got to see something first: a competitive game against Maple Grove or a win over Andover for example. The Bengals won 15 games last year with three juniors helping leading the way meaning a step forward towards 18-20 wins could be the goal. And that could happen, but need to see a bit of it first before putting them in the contention area. But I think they are close. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Champlin Park is a bit of a mixed bag: they won ten games last year and lost three of their four double figure scorers so that is a tough thing, but [player_tooltip player_id='1288785' first='Amory' last='Peterson'] is one of the best players in the league and their underclassmen talent is very, very good. The Rebels are coming although when and where is not certain. Can that young talent mix with the veterans? Will the transfers out hurt? </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Anoka. What do we do with Anoka? I am big on backcourts and Anoka has one of the best with Borchers and Podany entering their junior year. On the other hand, they were 6-13 against NWSC teams last year and they lost three starters. Honestly I am not totally sure where to go because very good guards entering their junior year should come with a jump, but results last year were ugly sometimes. I am still leaning Anoka's guards leading them to a good year. And the ex-factor? The potential return of AJ Howze to the court should play a big part as he averaged 13 points per game as a sophomore. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Centennial and Coon Rapids will be better this year. I think they were more rebuilding phase last year and this year they will be competitive teams that win a few more games. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>23-24 Northwest Suburban 1 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Maple Grove</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Anoka</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Andover</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Blaine</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Champlin Park </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Centennial</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Coon Rapids</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All <strong>Northwest Suburban 1 Conference</strong> </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1288785' first='Amory' last='Peterson'] of Champlin Park (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1293966' first='Henry' last='Stang'] of Maple Grove (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1639305' first='Ethan' last='Pettis'] of Blaine (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1288713' first='Trey' last='Borchers'] of Anoka (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1574226' first='Peyton' last='Podany'] of Anoka (jr)</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='1441798' first='Chase' last='Pemberton'] of Andover (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1288812' first='Alvin' last='Payne'] of Blaine (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gannon McGuire of Maple Grove (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1411676' first='Ty' last='Burgoon'] of Centennial (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1983127' first='Braedy' last='Laliberte'] of Maple Grove (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='2362559' first='Jerry' last='Freeman'] of Coon Rapids (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1592856' first='Jackson' last='Driessen'] of Centennial (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2174606' first='Jordan' last='Lyon'] of Blaine (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1984806' first='Jaxon' last='Young'] of Coon Rapids (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aj Howze of Anoka (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2361394' first='Luke' last='Dehnicke'] of Andover (sr)</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='1975522' first='Jevon' last='Kiros'] of Champlin Park (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560760' first='Kyler' last='Pust'] of Champlin Park (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1547625' first='Jackson' last='Hettwer'] of Coon Rapids (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1288710' first='Josh' last='Femrite'] of Maple Grove (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1450039' first='Cameron' last='Begalle'] of Andover (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->