Section 6AA: First Look

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Albany pair [player_tooltip player_id='1575328' first='Ezekiel' last='Austin'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1286547' first='Sam' last='Hondl'] have already had a historic career but they are looking to finish strong as seniors. Both recently committed to D2 schools - Austin to Jamestown and Hondl to Minnesota State-Moorhead - and now their focus is league, section and state titles. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Summer Summary</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Albany won a state title two years ago and two of the top three players on the team - Zeke Austin and [player_tooltip player_id='1286547' first='Sam' last='Hondl'] - were leaders on that team.&nbsp; Last year they earned third in state and entering this next season we think that Austin and Hondl will be joined by returning depth and up and coming talent to be a title contender once again.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Annandale will be right there too.  Last year they were a top five area team in the state and they hit that level with a number of underclassmen talent playing key roles.  That [player_tooltip player_id='2126448' first='Colton' last='Purcell'], [player_tooltip player_id='2118467' first='Ben' last='Walter'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2488736' first='Gabe' last='Westman'] backcourt will be one year better, and joined by some classmates with more seasoning.  Then you add in [player_tooltip player_id='2445568' first='Gavin' last='Wang'] up front and that's a contender as well (Wang was recently injured though, that said I don't know much about the severity and timeline of the injury). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Legacy Christian lost two of their top four scorers but everybody else is back plus [player_tooltip player_id='1895712' first='Daniel' last='Zoa'] is a future star up front.  They will contend plus watch out for Mora with [player_tooltip player_id='1584900' first='Gage' last='Braiedy'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1535036' first='Noah' last='Oberfeld'] as well as players from Sauk Centre and Foley who return and should make their teams quality, even though they lost key pieces.  Keep an eye on Holdingford and Kimball Area who should be better as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top 3 6AA Players</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1575328' first='Ezekiel' last='Austin'] of Albany</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1584900' first='Gage' last='Braiedy'] of Mora</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1286547' first='Sam' last='Hondl'] of Albany</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three Teams That Should Improve Their Record</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mora (14-13)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kimball Area (8-19)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Holdingford (9-18)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three Teams That Might Not Match Last Year's Win Total</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sauk Centre (21-7)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Legacy Christian (24-5)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Spectrum (24-5)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->