The Central Lakes Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Alexandria won the CLC by three games a season ago with Brainerd earning second place. Can anybody catch Alex this year? The answer is, no. But there are now ten teams in the league! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten</strong>: Alexandria, Sauk Rapids-Rice, Fergus Falls</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Alexandria is a contender for the state championship. They are the deepest team in this conference and it's not close. Their 6th and 7th men would both start for eight of the teams in this league. Sauk Rapids-Rice is a top ten state tournament caliber team. If their chemistry is right they can win a game at state. Fergus Falls is ranked 10th in Class AAA as they are a solid CLC team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Brainerd, St. Cloud Apollo, Sartell-St. Stephen, Detroit Lakes, Rocori</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brainerd was second in the league last year but lost a lot to graduation. They still have four good rotation players back including Roseman and Gilbertson. Apollo is interesting. They had a rough, rough previous year but between Washington, Fields and Obang moving back, they have talent to win. Sartell-St. Stephen also has a lot back, basically everything back. Then you have Rocori who has three solid guards returning. Detroit Lakes has three of their top seven back from last season but they did lose four all league players. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rebuilding</strong>: Willmar, St. Cloud Tech</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Willmar was winless in the league last year but Christensen was a 17 ppg guy and the Schnickels brothers will be good as well. Good enough to get to the middle? That would be amazing but maybe just out of last. As for Tech, they lost so so much it's really tough to predict their season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>24-25 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Alexandria</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Sauk Rapids-Rice</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Brainerd</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Fergus Falls</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>St. Cloud Apollo</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Sartell-St. Stephen</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Detroit Lakes</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Rocori</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Willmar</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>St. Cloud Tech</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All Central Lakes</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1572690' first='Chase' last='Thompson'] of Alexandria (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1574216' first='Azayah' last='Washington'] of St. Cloud Apollo (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1579917' first='Keller' last='Hanson'] of Sauk Rapids-Rice (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1617798' first='Spencer' last='Swenson'] of Sauk Rapids-Rice (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2118449' first='Mason' last='Witt'] of Alexandria (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='2103377' first='Ryan' last='Hirst'] of Fergus Falls (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1579918' first='Hudson' last='Omoke'] of Sauk Rapids-Rice (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1559916' first='Korde' last='Roseman'] of Brainerd (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2118495' first='Talan' last='Witt'] of Alexandria (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1586881' first='Henry' last='Bethel'] of Fergus Falls (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='2575638' first='Izayah' last='Cook'] of Sauk Rapids-Rice (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560795' first='Maddox' last='Lewis'] of Sartell-St. Stephen (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1579924' first='Grant' last='Tylutki'] of Rocori (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2119642' first='Avery' last='Christensen'] of Willmar (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2435956' first='Caden' last='Strand'] of Detroit Lakes (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Fourth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Obang Obang of St. Cloud Apollo (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2104474' first='Garrett' last='Gilbert'] of Brainerd (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2119640' first='Bennett' last='Bommersbach'] of Sartell-St. Stephen (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Andrew Nelson of Sartell-St. Stephen (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1946855' first='Samson' last='Hagstrom'] of Alexandria (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Fifth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2119601' first='Thomas' last='Hinrichs'] of Alexandria (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2435962' first='Namarion' last='Fields'] of St. Cloud Apollo (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2617276' first='TJ' last='Starkey'] of Rocori (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2104469' first='Drew' last='Lieser'] of St. Cloud Tech (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2423728' first='Tyler' last='Bye'] of Detroit Lakes (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Sixth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2115658' first='Myles' last='Gray'] of Alexandria (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2115657' first='Gavin' last='Roderick'] of Alexandria (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2560448' first='Cooper' last='Schnichels'] of Willmar (Fr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560789' first='Grant' last='Johnson'] of Brainerd (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2435960' first='Tyler' last='Prom'] of Rocori (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->