Is Waconia the 2AAAA Favorite?

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>**** to subscribe use the holiday code "ryanjames30" for a discount</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We took in Waconia's 81-73 victory over Eastview last night and then walked into the freezing cold with two basketball thoughts in mind: 1) Is Waconia the 2AAAA favorite right now? and 2) there were are lot of prospects to run through after last night's game (and we do that now).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Section 2AAAA</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Preseason top five in 2AAAA: 1) Prior Lake, 2) Minnetonka, 3) Eden Prairie, 4) Chaska, 5) Chanhassen</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Current top five in 2AAAA: 1) Eden Prairie (4-0), 2) Waconia (4-1), 3) Chaska (4-1) 4) Chanhassen (1-1), 5) Minnetonka (1-1)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>So what is going on? Prior Lake is 1-3 and has to figure out how to put their most talented players in the best positions to succeed. There is a lot of time to do that. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Minnetonka is playing a very young group and will likely have ups and downs because that is what happens with three or four underclassmen playing against the highest level of Minnesota high school basketball competition. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eden Prairie and Chaska are off to great starts, even better than expected. They are surely potential favorites. Waconia is also a potential favorite. How did that happen? Lots of reasons that we list here after seeing them live twice and once more on film:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One. The Cats are far deeper than expected. I don't think many expected the Cats to be this deep which is a huge reason they have beaten Eastview, Prior Lake, Shakopee and Southwest Christian.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two. Nick Perrin has done a really nice job so far with the way this team. It's only a few games but this is a group that looks confident, calm and comfortable with their roles and what they are doing. Each player really seems to know their role. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Three. They have a player (Alex Kirsch) to handle the ball at times so [player_tooltip player_id='1560741' first='Will' last='Kirsch'], at times, can be the full focused scoring option they need him to be (at times). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Four. There is size. [player_tooltip player_id='2493846' first='Luke' last='Hill'] might have the strongest arms in all of Minnesota high school basketball and between he and [player_tooltip player_id='2447537' first='Jaxen' last='Holmlund'] the Cats are getting good play from their forwards (although they don't have true center size).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Five. Shooting! Will and Alex can shoot it but Luke can also shoot it some and so can [player_tooltip player_id='2421469' first='Colton' last='Henke'] who knocked out three last night. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Can they beat Eden Prairie and Chaska? That is a tough question. I still think I would lean to EP because of [player_tooltip player_id='2119596' first='Cooper' last='Fahning'] giving the team a size edge up front but the Cats are right there. And Prior Lake is going to be motivated to bounce back at some point I would expect. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Player Review</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Waconia</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Alex Kirsch (Jr). I was very impressed with Alex last night. His ability to handle against athletic Eastview pressure was very important to the win. It allowed Will to be a scorer at times and Alex scored for the team as well with 16 points on seven of ten shooting. Also had six boards and four assists. His growth this year has been a great thing to see. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560741' first='Will' last='Kirsch'] (Sr). He is getting to the basket at will right now. He was face guarded but once fouls became an issue the quick first step and then the crafty rim finish pushed the Cats to the win. Will scored 28 points on 10 of 18 field goal shooting and 9 of 12 foul shooting, and all of that included no threes made. Will is a good shooter but he rarely took threes as he didn't need to. If your team is going to stop him, you need to play good help defense and we haven't seen a team do that vs Will yet, even Washburn who won the game with Waconia handily. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2447537' first='Jaxen' last='Holmlund'] (Sr). Jaxen has been the second scorer for the Cats this year, a top defender and an explosive finisher. He had 19 points to beat Shakopee and 16 points in the win over Prior Lake. At 6'4 he is the type of athlete and matured player that would be very good at a D3. Last night his offensive chances were limited because of foul trouble but such a key piece. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2493846' first='Luke' last='Hill'] (Sr). Luke has quickly become one of my favorite players in the state to watch. When something bad happens he has this "oh man" with a smile to him and then he just goes about his business defending, rebounding, and scoring five or six times a game. A much better face up shooter than you would expect and he has to get the John Cena award for biggest and strongest arms in Minnesota high school basketball. He is scoring 13 a game and really helping this team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2421469' first='Colton' last='Henke'] (Jr). Last night when the Cats were making their run, Colton made his run. His three second half threes were huge and he grabbed a game high ten boards. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Eastview</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Lighting use two seniors. They are a very athletic team but a young team as only one guy in their rotation really has any varsity experience. When they learn team defense and when they learn to move the ball (which comes with experience) the right way, this is going to be a tough team. There is a lot of athleticism and speed on this team, it's just very inexperienced. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2848199' first='Asani' last='Kennedy'] (Jr). Kennedy is long and as quick and athletic as just about anybody. Before he had to deal with fouls his denial defense on [player_tooltip player_id='1560741' first='Will' last='Kirsch'] really helped the Lightning take Waconia out of what they were doing for a long time. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560881' first='Ja'carion' last='Green'] (Sr).When Green catches in space - ie..when the ball moves to him in space as the defense is scrambled or when he has it in transition - he is one of the most unstoppable downhill players in the state. Green's strength and athleticism allow him to get deep and finish on balance which is how he got his 26 points on 11 of 22 shooting. The one thing that I look at him worry about is not his fault at all, its his strength. He is on balance so much that he can take contact and I think that hurts him with officials. [player_tooltip player_id='1560741' first='Will' last='Kirsch'] and JC Green were down hill equally as much last night, they were contacted by the defense in a very similar way, but Will shot a dozen foul shots and JC shot six. Why? Because Green is far stronger and played through the contact, and the refs don't call the contact even though they should have. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560790' first='Daniel' last='Mekonnen'] (Sr). Daniel had one of the best basketball games of his entire career. He scored 21 points on 8 of 15 shooting with six rebounds and the 6'3 wing did it with two threes and with later game attacks into space as the defense tired. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Trey Sanders (Jr). The 6'1 guard had his moments against Kirsch in defending him and the athletic guard scored ten points making half of his eight shots. He's a player with potential and joins guys like Kennedy, [player_tooltip player_id='2140646' first='Justice' last='Demarco'], [player_tooltip player_id='2140606' first='Ethan' last='McGrath'], and Gabe Granger that are really nice pieces that will grow this year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->