The Central Lakes Preview

Alex and Sauk Rapids shared the CLC last year. It's doubtful the Witts will let any sharing occur in 2025-26.   Last Year   On the Money   The top and the bottom on the money, the rest were right around their area, some of it was easy predicting, but at the same time we had just about everybody in the right spot, teams were at most two spots off.   Yikes RJ!   No yikes although Sartell was two spots better than predicted so they can have the "biggest" I told you so.   Conference Commentary   Top Ten in State: Alexandria   Alex is going for back to back titles, only they want to go AAA title to AAAA title. Can it happen? They have the coaching to get it done. They have the skill to get it done. They have the experience in the returning players to get it done. But do they have the depth? Alex surely has the depth to get to state and win a game at state, but do they have the depth that Wayzata, Hopkins, Tartan, Maple Grove, and CDH have when they try and win at state? That is the big question. And a player that could make the difference is.....   [player_tooltip player_id='2115657' first='Gavin' last='Roderick']. [player_tooltip player_id='2118495' first='Talan' last='Witt'] is an All State honored standout and champ. He is going to have a big year. Mason Will is an All State honored standout and a champ. Gavin is a champ, all league and a heck of a player. Roderick scored in double figures last season. But the 6'4 athletic finisher hasn't hit All State status yet, but we think it could happen this year if Alex is to take the next step. Roderick had a great 17u season and has a lot of qualities to be that wing scoring option that finishes in several ways.   Top Ten Potential: Willmar and Sartell-St. Stephen   Each of these teams is a top 20 level team in Class AAA this year despite losing records a season ago. Why? They return almost their entire line-up and each of them has a D2 committed talent ([player_tooltip player_id='2119642' first='Avery' last='Christensen'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1560795' first='Maddox' last='Lewis']). They also have good returning players along with them and if things click right.... one will go to state at 8AAA and maybe, just maybe sneak into the top ten at AAA   Compete with Most: St. Cloud Apollo, Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, Brainerd   Apollo lost a star but added a couple nice transfers and they return the rest of their line-up. DL has two all league double figure scorers back, Fergus Falls lost a lot but they have a good coach and some good up and comers, and Brainerd also lost a lot but is a bigger school usually coached well. Why do we like Apollo and DL here?   [player_tooltip player_id='1874917' first='Micah' last='Nwachukwu'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2728383' first='Damarion' last='Moss']. Micah is an athletic attacking player that put up 14 a game last year and has the potential to be Apollo's top scorer at 18 a game. In this league Micah should have some big scoring nights.   As for Moss, he might just be the smartest player that not enough people know about. Very good distributor and communicator, Moss can also score as he made 40 percent of his threes last season and rarely misses a foul shot. Moss averaged nearly 15 points a contest last year and I think he can lead his team to a surprising season.   Rebuilding: Tech, Sauk Rapids, Rocori   Tech's man rebuilding season was last year, but they still have another step to take this year. It doesn't mean they can't get near .500 this year, but the guys that played last year now have to take another step. Sauk Rapids lost four college basketball players plus some other seniors. They have so much to replace that it's a sure rebuilding. And Rocori, they have so much to replace and there have been some rough nights for the younger teams lately.   25-26 Conference Predictions   CLC Power Rankings   (1) Alexandria   (2) Sartell-St. Stephen   (3) Willmar   (4) St. Cloud Apollo   (5) Detroit Lakes   (6) Brainerd   (7) Fergus Falls   (8) Sauk Rapids-Rice   (9) Rocori   (10) St. Cloud Tech     Preseason All CLC   First Team   [player_tooltip player_id='2118449' first='Mason' last='Witt'] of Alexandria (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2118495' first='Talan' last='Witt'] of Alexandria (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2115657' first='Gavin' last='Roderick'] of Alexandria (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='1560795' first='Maddox' last='Lewis'] of Sartell-St. Stephen (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2119642' first='Avery' last='Christensen'] of Willmar (Sr)     Second Team   [player_tooltip player_id='1874917' first='Micah' last='Nwachukwu'] of St. Cloud Apollo (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2728383' first='Damarion' last='Moss'] of Detroit Lakes (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2115658' first='Myles' last='Gray'] of Alexandria (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2119601' first='Thomas' last='Hinrichs'] of Alexandria (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2119640' first='Bennett' last='Bommersbach'] of Sartell-St. Stephen (Sr)     Third Team   Brody Woods of Rocori (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2560448' first='Cooper' last='Schnichels'] of Willmar (Soph)   [player_tooltip player_id='2434316' first='Micah' last='Johnson'] of Fergus Falls (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2126865' first='Grady' last='Starzl'] of Alexandria (Jr)   [player_tooltip player_id='1874853' first='Ikenna' last='Nwachukwu'] of St. Cloud Apollo (Sr)     Fourth Team   [player_tooltip player_id='2382519' first='Eston' last='Bethel'] of Fergus Falls (Soph)   Dawson Vonruden of Detroit Lakes (Sr)   Moulid Abdi of St. Cloud Tech (Sr)   [player_tooltip player_id='2560535' first='Trevor' last='Terfehr'] of St. Cloud Apollo (Soph)   [player_tooltip player_id='1560789' first='Grant' last='Johnson'] of Brainerd (Sr)     Fifth Team   [player_tooltip player_id='2833323' first='Luke' last='Merseth'] of Brainered (Soph)   [player_tooltip player_id='2833317' first='Ty' last='Rudolph'] of Sauk Rapids (Soph)   [player_tooltip player_id='2910350' first='Isaac' last='Bergstrom'] of Sartell-St. Stephen (Sr)   DeAnthony Sells of St. Cloud Apollo (Jr)   Nick Brakes of St. Cloud Tech (Jr)

Alex and Sauk Rapids shared the CLC last year. It's doubtful the Witts will let any sharing occur in 2025-26.