The Metro West Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Benilde-St. Margaret's goes for their fourth straight league title and they have a shot in a completely wide open race. It will be fun race!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Last Year</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>On the Money</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Everybody was picked within one spot of their finish with the exception of Waconia who finished far above expectations.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Yikes</em> <em>RJ</em>!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Waconia was much better in the league than I expected them to be finishing three spots better than expected and keep that in mind this year because they can do the same this year (as in exceed expectations). You can also throw in picking Orono over BSM to win the league, which they didn't, but Orono went to state so to me I still feel like the top spot ranking gets a nod.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State</strong>: Orono</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I can't pick Orono to win this league as they simply have too much to replace after the lose of four seniors who did so much for their program. That said.... two starters back, a couple solid transfers, and a nice group of up and coming players, I think they will be top ten in Class AAA, especially considering Class AAA is not what it was last year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State Potential</strong>: Chaska, BSM</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>BSM is defending their title and looking for fourth straight. I would have easily had them number one coming into the season had [player_tooltip player_id='2575642' first='Kobbe' last='Willis'] not hurt his knee this summer. Here's to hoping Willis has an Adrian Peterson like speedy recovery and we see him later in the year. But when you take out Willis, you consider that Wilson, Stuttley and Donley are gone, and some reserves graduated as well, BSM has a lot of spots to fill. Watts and Nuahn are good players that each averaged a couple buckets a game last season but are surely ready to step into bigger roles. There are upcoming JV kids that will be very good for Coach Johnson as well. There is just a lot of production to fill in to expect them to be the league favorites coming into the season. Can they go four straight? They sure could. But let's let them mesh together first and find a chemistry. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That brings us to Chaska who I think is the lead favorite. They have the best lead guard in this league in [player_tooltip player_id='2126118' first='Tyler' last='Forrest'] who along with [player_tooltip player_id='1560741' first='Will' last='Kirsch'] make up the top pair in this league. Forrest is simply an outstanding floor general that can score but he makes sure that others score, and with two other starters back, a couple bench guys ready for bigger roles, and a key transfer moving into the line-up, I think Chaska has the best combination of talent and experience in this league for the upcoming year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Title Contenders</strong>: Waconia, Chanhassen</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When we saw wide open, I say five different teams could contend for the title. And I don't think you can just not consider St. Louis Park either, this will be wide open. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Waconia and Chan will both be in good spots to have a great year in the league. [player_tooltip player_id='1560741' first='Will' last='Kirsch'], who was just offered by Concordia-St. Paul and that is great to see, will be the top scorer in this league and there are three or four pieces coming back with Will that could allow the Cats to surprise. Chan has their go to guy in [player_tooltip player_id='2140561' first='Benett' last='Barger'] plus supporting players returning and youth on the come up. They will be in the race too. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: St. Louis Park</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I don't think StLP is going to slip as far as some might think. I believe [player_tooltip player_id='2362161' first='Matthew' last='Johnson'] is set to have a big year after scoring nearly ten a game playing in a frontcourt with the Curtis twins. Between Johnson and [player_tooltip player_id='2121351' first='Tanner' last='Rose'] this is a team with two good pieces and some reserves returning. Rose did a great job moving the ball and playmaking for Select this summer and this is the year he has been pushing to. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rebuilding</strong>: New Prague, Jefferson</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>New Prague has three solid players back and I think they will be better. How much better is tough to know but better. Jefferson had a rough season last year and graduated much of their line-up and the key guys coming back transferred. They are pretty much starting over. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>25-26 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Metro West Power Rankings</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(1) Chaska</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(2) Orono</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(3) Benilde-St. Margaret's</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(4) Waconia</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(5) Chanhassen</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(6) St. Louis Park</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(7) New Prague</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(8) Bloomington Jefferson</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All Metro West</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126118' first='Tyler' last='Forrest'] of Chaska (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560741' first='Will' last='Kirsch'] of Waconia (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2140561' first='Benett' last='Barger'] of Chanhassen (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2424180' first='Grant' last='Hansen'] of Orono (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2362161' first='Matthew' last='Johnson'] of St. Louis Park (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Second Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2839785' first='Evan' last='Atkinson'] of Chaska (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2140671' first='Milton' last='Nuahn'] of BSM (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126475' first='Conner' last='Watts'] of BSM (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2121351' first='Tanner' last='Rose'] of St. Louis Park (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560777' first='Nathan' last='Ramler'] of Chanhassen (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Third Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126143' first='Kalin' last='Jochum'] of Chaska (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2561052' first='Chase' last='Maetzold'] of Chaska (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2447537' first='Jaxen' last='Holmlund'] of Waconia (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1874818' first='Dane' last='Skime'] of Orono (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560782' first='Kolby' last='Christl'] of Chanhassen (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Fourth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2853091' first='Myles' last='Tietz'] of New Prague (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2113031' first='Eli' last='Herzog'] of Chaska (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2560476' first='Isaac' last='Johnson'] of Chanhassen (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cameron Best of BSM (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2381981' first='Andrew' last='King'] of New Prague (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2140622' first='Henry' last='Wisniewski'] of Waconia (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Fifth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2560720' first='Meech' last='Williams'] Jr of BSM (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Colten Henke of Waconia (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gain McGuirk of Orono (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Josh Rickford of St. Louis Park (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Latif Squires of Bloomington Jefferson (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2381978' first='Alex' last='Meyer'] of New Prague (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brennan Doherty of Orono (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->