Section 7AA: First Look

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A smaller section that has Pequot Lakes who has been to state the last four years and are looking for a fifth. Let's have a first look at 7AA!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Super Summary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Can Pequot Lakes make it five in a row? We think so. They have six of their top guys back including [player_tooltip player_id='2127213' first='Tollef' last='Birkeland'] who should be a breakout player, plus Gus Bolz-Andolshek, Blake Spiczka, and Samuel Afagwu who were all important pieces to the team last year. The pieces are there for another run and Pequot is the favorite. That said...</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Somebody has to be a threat. And we think one threat will surely be Pierz. Pierz's Nathan Cekalla, [player_tooltip player_id='2439275' first='Nicholas' last='Virnig'] totaled 13 and [player_tooltip player_id='2439239' first='Jaxsen' last='Hardy'] are among the many key pieces returning for a team that won 16 games but more importantly, went 9-2 versus section teams a season ago. Pierz is in position to push PL as will be Esko who usually is. The thing about Esko is they will have some young players in key spots and it could take some time. They will not be senior heavy although Graham Hartlieb will be a good bridge.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Crosby-Ironton should take a step forward and you have to watch out for Aitkin and Greenway who both have future college basketball playing bigs in [player_tooltip player_id='1628773' first='Isaac' last='Asmus'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2100912' first='Stephen' last='McGee']. Aitkin and Greenway need the guards to step up but they have those rare pieces others don't. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top 3 7AA Players</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1628773' first='Isaac' last='Asmus'] of Aitkin</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Toffel Birkeland of Pequot Lakes</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2100912' first='Stephen' last='McGee'] of Greenway</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three Teams That Should Improve Their Record</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pequot Lakes (23-9 a year ago)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pierz (16-13 last year)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Crosby-Ironton (11-16 a year ago)</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>Esko (22-8 last season)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Duluth Marshall (12-16 last year)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mora (26-2 last year)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->