2023-24 4A Preview: Top Five and All-State

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2023-24 Boys Basketball Season starts all across the state today, so let's take a quick look at the 4A level with our pre-season Top-5 and projected All-State team:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pre-Season Top-5</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1A) Cascade<br>1B) Baker<br>3) North Marion<br>4) Seaside<br>5) Henley</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Analysis</strong>: </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It can be hotly debated which teams belong in the 3-5 range, but few people–if any–will contest who should be in the top two spots. Cascade and Baker both bring back immense talent from a season ago and, with the implementation of a shot clock, have had the<br>landscape shift even further in their favor. Both teams are athletic, fast, and deep. Anything short of a championship game appearance by either, with the exception of them going head-to-head in the semifinals, might plausibly be seen as a letdown by both squads. There are other contenders in the 4A classification, which is once again loaded with talent and wildly gifted athletes, but Cascade and Baker are preeminent favorites coming out of the gates. Others to watch for: Marist, Crook County, Philomath.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pre-Season All-State Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1380947' first='Isaiah' last='Jones'], Baker<br>RaSean Jones, Baker<br>[player_tooltip player_id='1368277' first='Landon' last='Knox'], Cascade<br>[player_tooltip player_id='1368276' first='Cole' last='Hammack'], North Marion<br>[player_tooltip player_id='1908817' first='Markus' last='McCreadie'], Henley</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Analysis</strong>: </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Should Baker and Cascade be as dominant as predicted, watch out for both squads potentially getting two first-team all-state selections after the season has concluded. The Jones brothers in Baker may be the best one-two punch in small school basketball, though the upside of [player_tooltip player_id='1368277' first='Landon' last='Knox']–who showed a level of play in the state title game last year few Sophomores have ever displayed at the 4A level–makes him the leading contender for POTY. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Note: [player_tooltip player_id='1111365' first='Eddie' last='Freauff'] of Crook County, a first team All-State player in 2022-23 is out for the 2023-24 season due to an injury sustained on the Football field this fall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Preview provided by Robby Scharf of Mid-Major Media</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->