Section 5AAAA: First Look

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Maple Grove is in a great spot to make a state title push but the talent in Section 5AAAA will make for a strong blockade as they try and repeat as section champs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Summer Summary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Maple Grove went to state last year and now they are being talked about as a team that could possibly challenge to win state. The Crimson have two of their top three guys back in [player_tooltip player_id='2126467' first='Baboucarr' last='Ann'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1960892' first='Henry' last='Knutson'] plus a couple guys from the bench back in [player_tooltip player_id='2121337' first='Kaden' last='Harney'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2121341' first='Gavin' last='Elmquist']. Throw in the junior varsity from last year which included a nice list of names ([player_tooltip player_id='2126442' first='Bennett' last='Cizadlo'] who sat out as a transfer, sophomores-to-be in [player_tooltip player_id='2397567' first='Brody' last='Cook'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2416035' first='Ben' last='Banwart'], strong man [player_tooltip player_id='2575632' first='Cole' last='Johnson'], juniors to be [player_tooltip player_id='2414196' first='Grant' last='Mitchell'] and Akan Bersso) plus NDSU committed transfer [player_tooltip player_id='1560739' first='Max' last='Iversen'] and maybe another transfer, and this looks like one of the two deepest teams in state. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Park Center will have a say with that backcourt of [player_tooltip player_id='1560839' first='Xavier' last='Frelix'], [player_tooltip player_id='1560826' first='Joel' last='Saah'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2524650' first='Kwatamah' last='Silikpoh'] plus some good young talents up front. They will be a top ten team once again. [player_tooltip player_id='2126450' first='Gavin' last='Walter'] will lead Champlin Park who should be good again and keep an eye on Spring Lake Park. They won 11 games last year but they seem to have the returning talent to push for 20 wins this year. Osseo has a nice backcourt, Mounds View is always tough, and Roseville will have more experienced talent coaching on their bench than just about anybody as Roseville starts over this year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top 3 5AAAA Players</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(1) [player_tooltip player_id='2126467' first='Baboucarr' last='Ann'] of Maple Grove</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(2) [player_tooltip player_id='1560739' first='Max' last='Iversen'] of Maple Grove</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(3) [player_tooltip player_id='1560839' first='Xavier' last='Frelix'] of Park Center</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three Teams That Should Improve Their Record</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Maple Grove (23-9 last season)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Park Center (16-11 last season)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Spring Lake Park (11-16 last season)</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>Champlin Park (23-5 last season)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mounds View (20-8 last season)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Roseville (10-17 last season)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->