The 4AAA Profile: Zephyrs most equipped to end De run

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Can anybody stop De from 15 straight? It's not likely but if somebody does it, it will be Mahtomedi, and we tell you why after giving you the power rankings and Section 15 (best 15 players in the group). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>4AAA Power Rankings</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>DeLaSalle</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Mahtomedi</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>St. Paul Johnson</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>St. Anthony Village</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Columbia Heights</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Minneapolis Camden</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Hill-Murray</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>North St Paul</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Minneapolis Edison</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Section 15</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>First Team</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2465510' first='Mark' last='Graff'] of Mahtomedi (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2557528' first='Ichima' last='Idoko'] of DeLaSalle (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560744' first='Evan' last='Miller'] of DeLaSalle (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126474' first='Kamar' last='Thomas'] of DeLaSalle (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126102' first='Jaeden' last='Udean'] of DeLaSalle (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>Second Team</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2140712' first='Willie' last='Roelofs'] of Mathtomedi (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brett Sirion of St. Anthony Village (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560859' first='Kenneth' last='Turner'] of St. Paul Johnson (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2533408' first='Deon' last='Wallace-Johnson'] of DeLaSalle (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2140591' first='Colin' last='Moore Jr'] of St. Paul Johnson (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2822606' first='Noah' last='Carlson'] of Mahtomedi (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>Third Team</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560860' first='Kahlil' last='Mkali'] of Columbia Heights (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2388674' first='Jonas' last='McCreary'] of DeLaSalle (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2821845' first='Malik' last='Martin'] of Minneapolis Camden (Fr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2120509' first='Guarino' last='Kamp'] of St. Paul Johnson (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2559428' first='Taaj' last='Whitlock'] of DeLaSalle (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>One Thought Per Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Columbia Heights. Coach Dedrick Jenkins and his team I think have a chance to surprise some people this year. I'm not telling you they are going to state but after a 6-21 season I think the players and the grit is there to take a step closer to about .500 this year. [player_tooltip player_id='1560860' first='Kahlil' last='Mkali'], [player_tooltip player_id='2381223' first='Judah' last='Caine'], Elijah Hill and others should be improved. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>DeLaSalle. The Islanders are looking for their 15th straight trip to the state tournament and chances are, nobody is stopping them from the TG vs DE collision course. Nick Saban would tell you this is rat poison, I am here to tell you the numbers work in their favor. All the numbers. This is one of those seven teams in Minnesota that has a stacked second five to go with their super talented first five. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hill-Murray. The Pioneers were 8-19 last year and they lost the majority of their team to graduation. They will be young, they will have a lot of new bodies on the court, and Hill will have a new coach. This is a rebuild and a start over but they have a nice player in [player_tooltip player_id='2560501' first='Koa' last='Fuller'] to start with. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mahtomedi. Can the Zephyrs overtake the Islanders and get to state? Obviously not a simple task but do they have a shot? Mahtomedi will have one of the better senior guards in [player_tooltip player_id='2465510' first='Mark' last='Graff'] so that is a start. They have a Birdman Chris Anderson like player in [player_tooltip player_id='2822606' first='Noah' last='Carlson'] to defend the wings which is good, and [player_tooltip player_id='2140712' first='Willie' last='Roelofs'] can be their frontcourt scorer and size giving them two long and mobile players up front. It's a good start, but there is more. The Zephyr JV lost only one game last year so there is up and coming talent to match the De up and coming talent. Role players [player_tooltip player_id='2822863' first='Andrew' last='Russell'] is an athletic forward that won the state high jump, [player_tooltip player_id='2822600' first='Joe' last='Sevenich'] is a shooter who will step into a bigger role, and Lawson DeGezelle had a great JV year and is ready for varsity. It's not De depth but it's an experienced, touch, agile, and long team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Minneapolis Camden. The Camden youth will catch eyes this year and they will likely catch a couple teams sleeping and earn some wins. Immediate youth thrust into the big spots is usually a three/four year plan to success, not immediate success but it can give immediate excitement and early good moments. This will be a dangerous team on nights this year while they grow. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Minneapolis Edison. Edison crawled out of a long, long struggle recently and it was great for basketball in the city conference but after a four win season with zero conference wins, it looks like Edison is right back where they used to be. Hopefully they can improve on the four wins. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>North St Paul. Elijah Adzimahe and Terence Horton are a couple of good senior guards that will keep the Polars in some games. The loss of Brown and King to Tartan is a real blow though as with those players this team had a chance for a nice season. Now they will need to depend on the guards heavily. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Anthony Village. Brett Sirion is about to have a monster season and the Kitilas - Galatan and Isaan - are good pieces to go with him. I would expect St. Anthony to be better this year flipping that 12-15 record around at least and being a top four team in this section. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Paul Johnson. Lost a transfer, gained a transfer, they have the guard play, they have size, and the Govs should be the second deepest team in this section talent wise. Can Johnson win the section? They have an outside shot but first they need to win their league title after missing by a game last year, and second they need to stop dropping games to teams that they know they should beat. Clean up about three or four of those Ls they had last year and they will be in great shape. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->