Section 1AAA: Is Stewartville ready for a state return?

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We move to Class AAA basketball and we start with southeastern Minnesota.... where basketball legends compete! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Section Power Rankings</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Stewartville - The Tigers are the team that I think has the talent to represent 1AAA at state.  They have a really good guard in Tschetter and the next prospect in the section in Simmons. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Northfield - The Raiders are really interesting to me.  They lost their top three scorers including an All State first teamer in Kayden Oakland.  That said, they returning five guys from their rotation including two starters.  They surely have a good chance to get back to state. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Byron - The Bears won 11 games last season and they bring back half of their rotation (four players).  The potential is there to be a contender this season. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Kasson-Mantorville.  Not really sure what to do with this team.  They have a really good junior class (2028) and those players were on the court a lot like you would expect, but the KM admins thought a move needed to be made for who knows what reason and now we are left unsure of what to think of their future.  We do know there are good players in the program. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Austin - if I am seeing this right the 16-12 Packers will graduate seven of their top eight guys in the rotation.  Severin is one of the best in the section but it appears the Pack have a ton of spots open in the rotation. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Winona - the Winhawks won five games last season but they return six of their top seven players and they hope to take a step forward this winter.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Faribault - The Falcons were 10-17 last year with two of the elite players in the Big Nine and they lost their top six guys.  This seems like a start over with some rough spots.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Preseason All Section 1AAA</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>First Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2417228' first='Liam' last='Oakland'] of Northfield (Jr).&nbsp; Oakland scored nine a game last year and will move into the key scorer role for the Raiders.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2381766' first='Xzayveun' last='Severin'] of Austin (Sr).&nbsp; Severin is one of the top shooters and scorers in the group.&nbsp; He scored 16 points a game as a junior.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Peter Tschetter of Stewartville (Sr).&nbsp; Tschetter is the top returning scorer for the Tigers at 11-12 a game and the guy to lead the Tigers back to state.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2393884' first='Dexter' last='Simmons'] of Stewartville (Soph). All the potential is there as an agile, athletic 6'8 talent with skill. Averaged eight and four a season ago, when the consistency hits, look out.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2413138' first='Isaac' last='Sorenson'] of Byron (Sr). Sorenson scored 12 points a game last season which was second for the Bears. Hit a season high of 23 points twice last season (vs JM and vs Cannon Falls).&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Second Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2385464' first='Noah' last='Shubert'] of Kasson-Mantorville (Jr).&nbsp; Shubert scored 12 points a game last year as a sophomore and is ready for a big senior year. Good three point shooter.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2385471' first='Nolan' last='Lee'] of Kasson-Mantorville (Jr).&nbsp; Lee also scored nearly a dozen points a contest as a 6'1 guard.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eli Bengstrom of Northfield (Jr). &nbsp; The fifth leading scorer for the Raiders is a good role player and will step into a bigger role this winter.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2451548' first='Brett' last='Miller'] of Stewartville (Jr).&nbsp; Miller was a three/four bucket a game guy for the Tigers last season.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jordan Heimer of Byron (Sr). A 6'2 forward that scored 11 points a game last winter.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Third team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='3442991' first='James' last='Ramsey'] of WInona (Sr).&nbsp; Averaged a dozen points a game last season for the Hawks.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2391109' first='Keaton' last='Hansen'] of Byron (Jr).&nbsp; A 6-7 point per game player at 6'5 or 6'6, the potential is there for Hansen to make a big jump this winter (deal with injuries as a sophomore)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2979781' first='Tyler' last='Holz'] of Northfield (Sr).&nbsp; A 6'5 frontcourt player that grabbed four plus boards a game last season.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2396691' first='Walker' last='Fjerstad'] of Kasson-Mantorville (Jr). A 6'1 wing that put up 9-10 points a contest as a sophomore.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2824370' first='Colby' last='Mlynczak'] of Winona&nbsp; (Sr).&nbsp; A 6'3 wing that scored 11 points a contest as a junior.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2417231' first='Vincent' last='Pocius'] of Kasson-Mantorville (Jr).&nbsp; Lead guard that scored nine points a game.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>1AAA Summary</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The section is wide open for whomever finds the right chemistry for success.&nbsp; Northfield has five guys back from a state team but none of them were double figure scorers.&nbsp; Stewartville has the right mix of talent and size but maybe short on experience. Byron has half of their team back from last year and could be solid.&nbsp; The KoMets should be good but who knows know that they made an odd coaching chance.&nbsp; Austin losses so much from the year before from a solid team, Winona returns just about everything from a struggling team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>So all in all….. Wide open.&nbsp; There is no clear favorite for this group right now.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->