The Polar (Big) Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The league up on the North Shore is our focus today starting with the bigger group. And once again Esko is the top team coming in. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State</strong>: Esko</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With five of the top six/seven back from last season and also having the most underappreciated multi-sport high school superstar in recent time ([player_tooltip player_id='2093687' first='Makoi' last='Perich']), Esko is a top ten team in the state. As for Perich, he averaged 23/7/3.5/3 last season and he is doing this while also being a top 100 football player in the nation. If he lived in the Twin Cities or close to it every athletic move he made in public would be documented by video guys (come to think of it, lol, he pry relishes not having that). Perich, [player_tooltip player_id='1961792' first='Dalton' last='Spindler'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2104463' first='Sam' last='Haugen'] lead the way for a team that will be among the elite in state. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State Potential</strong>:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Two Harbors, Moose Lake-Willow River, Barnum, Cook County</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two Harbors will be solid because they have a couple sturdy/solid guards returning and they are a good program. They do lose five of their top seven guys including Trent Gomez so a step back has to be expected this year. I think Moose Lake-Willow River can be in the top quarter of teams in Class AA but not likely in the top ten. They lose one very good player but bring back the majority of their line-up from a 16-win team. They could take home twenty wins this year. Barnum is an interesting program being one of the smaller Class AA teams but a good team that wins games against teams closer to their size. They have two returning double figure scorers. Cook County should be better. They return all but one player from last year's team so they naturally have to improve. Can't pick them out of the bottom yet after they scored just 49 a game last year in 19 games but they should be more competitive. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rebuilding</strong>: South Ridge</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>South Ridge not only lost a ton to graduation, they had a 13 player roster last year and nine of those players graduated. They do have some regulars returning so it's not a total rebuild but they will look much different than last year's 15-win team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>23-24 Polar Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Esko</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Moose Lake-Willow River</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Two Harbors </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Barnum</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>South Ridge</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Cook County</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All&nbsp;Polar Conference</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2093687' first='Makoi' last='Perich'] of Esko (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2376031' first='Adam' last='Neumann'] of Moose Lake-Willow River (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1961792' first='Dalton' last='Spindler'] of Esko (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nolan Nelson of Moose Lake-Willow River (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2375111' first='Hayden' last='Charboneau'] of Barnum (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Second Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Carlos Breckstrand of Barnum (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2104463' first='Sam' last='Haugen'] of Esko (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Isaiah Heitla of Two Harbors (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Theo Yellow Robe of South Ridge (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Denali Blackwell of Cook County (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Third Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Luke Dewey of Moose Lake-Willow River (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2375115' first='Braedyn' last='Male'] of Esko (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cash Williams of Two Harbors (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eli Youngs of Moose Lake-Willow River (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gavin Willeck of South Ridge (fr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1456173' first='Jacion' last='Owens'] of Esko (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->