Three Up, Three Down: Class AAA

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Northfield is thinking top ten, Camden is on a run, and how about undefeated Apollo!!!! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three Up</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Northfield (5-1)</strong>. Are the Raiders top ten level? Their opening schedule was Big Nine favorites Mayo, Mankato East and Faribault and the Raiders came out of that run really strong. They beat top ten ranked Mayo, knocked off the sluggish Falcons, and played East to a one score game. On a five game winning streak and they could head into the next East game somewhere between 13-1 and 11-3 if they keep playing like this. [player_tooltip player_id='1521424' first='Kayden' last='Oakland'] has been the All State level player that we know he is averaging 22.5 points, 9.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists a game and his brother is an up and comer at nine points a game making 47.6 percent of his threes! But the depth and toughness of this team has been the biggest thing. Senior point guard Tyler Upton is scoring 14 points a contest making 39 percent of his threes and 6'3 junior forward JT Graupmann is averaging ten points and 8.4 boards a contest. Balanced, tough and pushing for that wide open 1AAA bid (and a league title, and a top ten spot in their class). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Minneapolis Camden (4-3). </strong>The youngsters had tough games against veteran teams from South St. Paul, St. Paul Central and Minneapolis Southwest and while they had moments, those games went to the veterans. That said, Camden has bounced back with quality wins over St. Croix Prep and Maranatha Christian plus they defeated teams they should beat in North St. Paul and Minneapolis Edison. The young players - [player_tooltip player_id='2821845' first='Malik' last='Martin'] (who hint hint, is about to be in the national recruiting idea very quick) and [player_tooltip player_id='2955406' first='Lamar' last='Mcbride'] - are scoring their combined 30 plus a game but junior [player_tooltip player_id='2897055' first='Traequan' last='White'] is making quite an impression as well. The 6'4 multi-sport junior athlete leads the team in scoring and is making everybody take notice of his 20 point per game potential. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>St. Cloud Apollo (5-0)</strong>. Before Apollo gets their ultimate test tonight against top ten Class AAAA team Alexandria we need to celebrate their 5-0 start. Beating Bemidji by two scores was an early season surprise and at one point we thought games with Brainerd and South St. Paul were 50-50 games, and they won those as well. We have spoken a lot about the great start of [player_tooltip player_id='2569233' first='De'Anthony' last='Sells'] who is averaging 25 points and 9.4 rebounds a game. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2560535' first='Trevor' last='Terfehr'] has also been outstanding and his averages say: 17 points, 8.4 rebounds and nine assists a game! That is insane numbers for a 6'3 2028 player. Goay Hoth is scoring ten points a contest and the twins - [player_tooltip player_id='1874917' first='Micah' last='Nwachukwu'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1874853' first='Ikenna' last='Nwachukwu'] - are combining for 30 points a game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three Down</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>St. Anthony Village (2-4)</strong>. We do this on the swing back. SVA had lost three in a row and they picked up a very nice win over Southwest last night. The early schedule was tough but we could see this team back over .500 by the second weekend of January. Isaan Kitila has had a great start to the season leading the team in scoring a few times. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Duluth Denfeld (2-3)</strong>. A team we thought that would contend for the section title lost to South St. Paul by 33 points and lost by 36 against St. Thomas Academy. They did beat winless North Branch, won a close game over restarting Cloquet and lost by 11 to key section opponents Grand Rapids. With three starters back from a state team they should be able to rebound with a number of winnable games in the next two-three weeks. Despite the team struggles, we are starting to see high potential junior [player_tooltip player_id='2877064' first='Carter' last='Brown'] prosper as he's averaging 27 points and 13 boards a game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Fergus Falls (0-4).</strong> A lot of change for the Otters which is the likely reason they have started the year with four straight double figure losses. They have a chance to get their next three games though and 6'4 junior Trenton Drouillard is off to a great start individually. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->