The Prairie Conference Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Half of the Prairie teams were 20+ win squads last year with Osakis winning the league by three games over both Upsala and Browerville-Eagle Valley. What's the story in 2024-25?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Contenders</strong>: Osakis, Upsala, Browerville-Eagle Valley</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Osakis was the best team in the league last year but they lost four starters and some reserves to graduation. That said, they still have a high potential returning frontcourt player in [player_tooltip player_id='2445581' first='Seth' last='Staloch'] and some reserve guards moving into a bigger roles. Upsala returns two starters and some reserves but their returning players (Primus and Laliberte) were among the team's top scorers last year so the Cards have an edge as the season starts. Browerville-Eagle Valley was the other 20 game winner and their story seems a tad different. Their two best players graduated but three starters are back as are two-three reserves. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Swanville, Long Prairie - Grey Eagle</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Swanville beat the two teams under them twice each, and lost to the three teams above them all six times. Can they close the gap on the upper half? Maybe? They have their best two players back and pretty much all of their key players but all the games to Upsala, Osakis and Browerville-Eagle Valley were double figure losses. Long Prairie - Grey Eagle had the worst overall record in the league last year but they played a very young group last year and return Boston Mitzel from injury. They should be more competitive. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rebuilding: </strong>St. John's Prep</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. John's Prep was 1-9 in the league and a 7-game winner overall. They lost their best player to graduation and top three players overall. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>24-25 Conference Prediction</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(1) Upsala</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(2) Osakis </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(3) Browerville-Eagle Valley</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(4) Swanville</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(5) Long Prairie - Grey Eagle</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(6) St. John's Prep</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All Prairie Conference </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2449397' first='Jack' last='Primus'] of Upsala (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2445581' first='Seth' last='Staloch'] of Osakis (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2441789' first='Samuel' last='Laliberte'] of Upsala (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brody Kircher of Swanville (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ryan Riedel of Browerville-Eagle Valley (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Second Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hunter Moore of Swanville (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wyatt Klimek of Osakis (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ryan Decock of Browerville-Eagle Valley (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ephraim Swartzentruber of LPGE (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2472964' first='Austin' last='Dickinson'] of Osakis (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Third Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Boston Mitzel of LPGE (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dirk Fellbaum of LPGE (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Isaac Miller of Swanvile (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fraylin Melenciano of Browerville-Eagle Valley (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tom Wang of St. John's Prep (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->