Class AAAA: EP leads Three Up, Three Down

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Who is off to a hot start? Eden Prairie leads our group of surprising teams to start the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three Up</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eden Prairie. The Eagles are 3-0 so far and they have a lot of talent that is gelling together early and looks quite tough to deal with. The season started with a three score win over Washburn followed by 20+ point wins over Shakopee and St. Louis Park. Guard [player_tooltip player_id='1560851' first='Hamze' last='Yusuf'] has scored 73 points over three games leading the team. [player_tooltip player_id='2119596' first='Cooper' last='Fahning'] is averaging a 16 point and 10 plus board double-double and [player_tooltip player_id='2137323' first='Carter' last='Pulrang'] is scoring 17 points a game with his shooting touch. Throw in explosive sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2380768' first='Jamir' last='Davis'] and senior [player_tooltip player_id='1560877' first='Grant' last='Sprute'] and this is a very solid team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Blaine. Blaine isn't just 3-0, they had 20+ points wins over Andover and Forest Lake plus they knocked off Coon Rapids by two scores. We have seen a nice balance from Blaine with four guys scoring in double figures led by seniors [player_tooltip player_id='1874931' first='Shiloh' last='Ayitey'], DaRoyce Mills, and Tuulla Gemta, plus the emergence of sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2954043' first='Henry' last='Semans']. Blaine has surprised us once again, and maybe we need to stop being surprised by Blaine and start expecting this. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Park of Cottage Grove. It's about to get much tougher for Park but they are 3-0 to start the year and they did just beat Stillwater 52-47 this week so it's been a good start. Games with Roseville, Rosemount and White Bear Lake will truly tell us what the Pack is but for now, we should celebrate this group or their first few weeks. Its been a balanced effort led by [player_tooltip player_id='2423150' first='Aaron' last='Sandin'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2834228' first='Justin' last='Ebbers'].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three Down</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prior Lake. The Lakers challenged themselves the first two games with Wayzata and Totino-Grace and I highly doubt anybody else had challenges like this to start their season. Not this tough anyway (TG and the [program_tooltip program_id='2075965' first='Trojans' last=''] are preseason number ones). You can learn a lot from a schedule like this and you can think.... it can't get any tougher! But when you lose another home game to Waconia 77-71 and you have Tonka, Edina and Farmington coming up, people are going to start to wonder.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Anoka. It's been a rough start for our 7AAAA favorite. They are 1-4. That said, they have lost those four games by a combined six scores! Yes, the losses to Champlin Park, Forest Lake, Stillwater and Andover were by a combined 14 points (plus Anoka beat Rogers). Expectations are high for [player_tooltip player_id='2121367' first='Dre' last='Ellis'], [player_tooltip player_id='2486564' first='Kolden' last='Johnson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1819128' first='Bryce' last='Gaustad'] and they are all scoring twenty a game, and once the chemistry comes together Anoka will start winning these close games. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bemidji. The Lumberjacks were a top 20 team for us led by a pair of D2 caliber talents in [player_tooltip player_id='1560797' first='Jaxon' last='Boschee'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2175436' first='Austin' last='Riewer'] but a two scores loss to Apollo and a one score loss to Detroit Lakes was a bit unexpected. The schedule is set up for Bemidji to get their first, second and third wins soon but they will need the depth to develop to be a state contender. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->