Section 4AAAA: 26-27 First Look

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What's going to look different? What will look this same? It's 4AAAA basketball time. </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>Tartan - The Titans return half of their eight man rotation from last year's 31-1 team including leading scorer [player_tooltip player_id='2560499' first='Kevin' last='Wilson Jr.'] and fellow 2028 starter [player_tooltip player_id='2560458' first='Emmanuel' last='Oyesanmi'].&nbsp; Tartan will be in the mix for state again but I don't think they will be as deep this year.&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":2} --> <ol start="2" class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Cretin-Derham Hall - The Raiders have three key players back from last season that scored in double figures (Schlagel, Smith and Frierson-Hollie) plus two guys who I think will take a big jump this year (Armstrong and Feller).</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":3} --> <ol start="3" class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>East Ridge - The Raptors don't have a star for the first time in a long time but they still have a deep and tough team.&nbsp; It will be a scrappy group with something to prove and I think they could be better than expected.&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":4} --> <ol start="4" class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Stillwater - The Ponies lost a few seniors from the rotation, they lost a few pieces to transfer that likely won't hurt that much, and they bring a nice handful of players that battled to be a .500 team.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":5} --> <ol start="5" class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Woodbury - The Royals return six of their top eight guys from a very balanced team that competed hard.&nbsp; This team lost their leading scorer but they played without him half of last season anyway so they will be ready.&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":6} --> <ol start="6" class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Two Rivers - A nine win team that lost their coach and four of their top six players, it's a bit of a reset for the Warriors.&nbsp; They do have a couple really good young players though.&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":7} --> <ol start="7" class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>White Bear Lake - The Bears return two starters from a nine win team but they lost their coach, they lost a D2 scholarship big, and they lost most of their rotation.&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true,"start":8} --> <ol start="8" class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>St. Paul Central - Central had a dozen seniors last year and most of them played.&nbsp; They had a really nice season but now they are restarting with pretty much a brand new rotation.&nbsp;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Preseason All Section 4AAAA</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>First Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2560499' first='Kevin' last='Wilson Jr.'] of Tartan (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126094' first='Ty' last='Schlagel'] of Cretin-Derham Hall (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2560458' first='Emmanuel' last='Oyesanmi'] of Tartan (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126154' first='Julian' last='Smith'] of Cretin-Derham Hall (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2834084' first='Kingland' last='Adeosun'] of Stillwater (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Second Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2419839' first='Dre' last='Frierson-Hollie'] of Cretin-Derham Hall (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Justus Dayee of Tartan (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2353671' first='Derek' last='Thompson'] of East Ridge (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126170' first='Isaac' last='Feller'] of Cretin-Derham Hall (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2833341' first='Anthony' last='Armstrong'] of Cretin-Derham Hall (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Third Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2353796' first='Jaylen' last='Greer'] of Two Rivers (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2392326' first='Max' last='Denson'] of East Ridge (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2419173' first='Ethan' last='Studer'] of Woodbury (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2140681' first='Owen' last='Stangl'] of Stillwater (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2836961' first='Ben' last='Koch'] of East Ridge (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Fourth Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2140684' first='Preston' last='Crider'] of White Bear Lake (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Acaurii Clark of Two Rivers (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>William McQuay of White Bear Lake (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Joseph Daniel Varner of Tartan (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126140' first='Zach' last='Krusemark'] of Stillwater (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>4AAAA Summary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Keep in mind it's mid-June and transfers could come in, five of the eight teams in the section got key summer transfers last year.&nbsp; But for now, we know where things are: Central is going to be brand new, White Bear Lake and Two Rivers have new coaches with teams that graduated a decent number of top scorers, Woodbury and Stillwater bring a decent amount back and should be steady, and East Ridge, CDH and Tartan are again the top of the league.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>East Ridge, CDH and Tartan all might not be quite as deep as they were last season (right now anyway) and I think they will look a bit different: East Ridge will be more balanced but no star power, CDH doesn't have the size they usually do, and Tartan is short senior standouts compared to other years.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I do think CDH and Tartan will be the final teams standing but I think East Ridge and Stillwater are going to surprise.&nbsp; And watch out for those pesky Royals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->