Class AAAA Title Contender Series: Buffalo

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Buffalo lost Nate Dahl, a Mr. Basketball top ten finalist. Will they fade or continue to win? We think it's option B.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Wins in 22-23 (23-8)</strong>:  Chanhassen, Waconia, St. Francis, Moorhead (x2), Eden Prairie (x2), Hopkins (x2), Minnetonka, Minnehaha Academy</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Oops</strong>: Minnetonka, Edina (x2), Wayzata (x2), Brainerd, Lakeville North, White Bear Lake</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Moving On</strong>: Buffalo had two seniors last year: Nate Dahl who is at St. Cloud State now, and deep bench reserve Jacob Bakeberg. Dahl and the SCSU Huskies play their first game next Friday against Pittsburg State. Dahl scored 24.5 points per game for Buffalo last year and had one of the best seasons of any player in Buffalo history. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Returning Starters (4)</strong>.  Six-foot-3 glue guy worker Nolan Mahannah was a regular starter for his defensive work and offensive decision making as a junior. He was not a scoring option but he was a key piece balancing the line-up. Then you have [player_tooltip player_id='1284137' first='Grady' last='Guida'] who works has butt off. Guida gets after it on defense, he runs the offense efficiently, and he scores 14 a game. One of the most underrated players in the state. Six-foot-4 active forward [player_tooltip player_id='1288702' first='Kai' last='Penney'] is another key defensive piece for Buffalo. Penney's agility and length allow him to defend several spots plus he scored 6.5 points a contest. Third leading scorer [player_tooltip player_id='1288787' first='Brody' last='Wishart'] (nine points a game) is another defensive piece that plays hard and they will use him defending several spots. He's getting more skilled, Wishart has some explosion and he's a player that I could see taking a big jump as a prospect. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Reserves Playing a Bigger Role</strong>. Now junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='2104439' first='Ty' last='Torgrimson'] is a tough ball handler who came off the bench last season. He can handle, he scored a couple buckets a game a year ago, and Ty should have an increased role in the backcourt as the team looks to replace Dahl. Six-foot-2 wing [player_tooltip player_id='2104444' first='Mitchell' last='Friesz'] was another sophomore that came off the bench last year averaging a couple buckets a contest and adding depth. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Potentials from the JV</strong>. This is one of those unique situations where there isn't too much that can come from the JV. Between four starters back, two reserves back, and a player back from injury, that's a seven man rotation and Buffalo used a seven man rotation a year ago. Friesz jumped into the rotation later in the year - from the JV - because injury required it. The team only had two seniors a season ago so the 4-5 players that were sophomores exclusive to the JV will likely be the juniors exclusive to the JV. The question will be the four juniors that were on JV last year, will they have varsity roles as seniors? It would be a deeper bench reserve role. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If I were to look to a player to make the move to varsity it would likely be somebody that could do something around the basket. That would take us to [player_tooltip player_id='2460856' first='Trevor' last='Kotilinek'] who is a 6-foot-3 230 pound interior lineman on the football team. Trevor is a junior and could be the player Buffalo throws onto bigger players in the post. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Return from injury.</strong> Six-foot-3 wing [player_tooltip player_id='1284217' first='Torii' last='Johnson'] was scoring nine plus points a game through 16 games and then he got hurt in early February. Johnson will be ten months removed from his torn ACL when practice starts but it's tough to know where he will be at the start. The hope is that Johnson can give the team good minutes the second half of the season at the very least.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Final Thoughts</strong>. Buffalo found seven guys last year that battled and played the right way. And they won a lot of games doing that. Johnson went down, Friesz stepped in and they continued to have success. This year's team will be different without Dahl but I think Guida and Wishart are about to take big steps forward while Penney and Torgrimson should have near double figure scoring seasons. With Friesz, Mahannah, and hopefully Johnson back, there are your seven. Plus Kotilinek can get out there to bang in the post and set screens. I like this team winning at least 20 games again. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->