Section 5AAA: Can TG win their 5th in six years

Here is the Totino-Grace Eagles section they have to get through as they work towards a fifth title in six seasons.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Section Power Rankings</h2>   <ol class="wp-block-list"> <li>Totino-Grace. The champs. TG has won four of the last five titles and they have six players back from their top ten. They've lost a couple guys to transfer and still will be in position to be the preseason number one as favorite.</li>   <li>Zimmerman. Zimmerman lost their top guy but they return six players from their nine man rotation. We place them just above Becker who beat them twice by nine each, but Zimmerman has way more coming back with experience. </li>   <li>Becker. The Bulldogs had a great season last year winning 22 games. Unfortunately their seven man rotation included six seniors so they will need to fill a ton of spots. The good news is their playmaker/ball handler (Boyer) returns with some young guys. </li>   <li>Big Lake. The Hornets had their rough spots with the top teams in the second but the second game with Zimm was close before a late tough patch. The Hornets should be better with three of their top six back and [player_tooltip player_id='2413330' first='Judd' last='Layton'] should take a nice step forward as a main scorer. Like him with Reinert. </li>   <li>Princeton. The Tigers had a nice win over Zimmerman early but they had a tough time with the better teams in the section as the year went on. They lost their top three scorers but do have four of their eight man rotation returning. A couple good guards. </li>   <li>Fridley. The Tigers have their top scorer back and their top young player back but they lost so many seniors. Tough to see them losing that many senior contributors from a ten win team and winning more than last season. But still competitive. </li>   <li>St. Francis. Four players back from the seven man rotation and a couple those players are young. Likely the lowest team on the list next season but still a competitive group.</li> </ol>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Preseason All Section 5AAA</h2>   First Team   [player_tooltip player_id='2126117' first='Malachi' last='Hill'] of Totino-Grace (Sr). Hill is the top scoring lead guard in the senior class and he is coming off a great spring with [program_tooltip program_id='2075431' first='D1' last='Minnesota'].    [player_tooltip player_id='1895712' first='Daniel' last='Zoa'] of Totino-Grace (Jr).  A high school version of Jordan Murphy that scored 8.4ppg last year, if he can become more assertive in the paint he has the potential to be a college version.    [player_tooltip player_id='1956268' first='Shay' last='Jackson'] of Totino-Grace (Sr).  The top ball pressuring lead guard in the state is also one of the quickest in the state and a top leader.  Has a CSP offer for the D2 level.    [player_tooltip player_id='2126113' first='AJ' last='Taban'] of Totino-Grace (Sr).  The Draymond Green of the 17u season as he handles, passes, boards, scores in the paint and is vocal.  Next up is to play that role in more time this winter for the Eagles (won't need to handle for this team of course).    Isaiah Boyer of Becker (Sr).  Boyer scored 17 points a game last year for a 22-win team, he was also a playmaker and a 38.5 percent three point shooter.  Excellent track speed that is also basketball speed.    Second Team   [player_tooltip player_id='2126166' first='Jaylan' last='Hynes'] of Totino-Grace (Sr). A smooth shooting guard with a pretty shot and when he gets in a rhythm Hynes is very dangerous. Has a chance to really blossom this winter into a D2 guy.    [player_tooltip player_id='2140649' first='Keishaun' last='Rolle'] of Totino-Grace (Sr). Another TG guard that has had an excellent playmaking season for Minnesota Gold.  Plays with great pace and will make this backcourt deep once again.    [player_tooltip player_id='2413330' first='Judd' last='Layton'] of Big Lake (Jr). A six foot three wing/forward that scored 20 points a game last season and did so much of that with his fight and energy.  Layton has a chance to have a huge junior season.    [player_tooltip player_id='2140618' first='Griffin' last='Carroll'] of Totino-Grace (Sr).  Carroll has shown he can hit threes and play some defense for Fury Zurn (had a four three make game in the GPA semis) and with depth needed at TG, opportunity is there.    Edward Reinert of Big Lake (Sr).  Really like this 6'3 guard that can play both spots if needed because of his size and smarts.  Quality passer that led his team in assists but also scored 10.6 points a game.    Third Team   [player_tooltip player_id='2869610' first='Leroy' last='Hamrin'] of Big Lake (Sr).  Leroy is a 5'11 guard that gave his team 11.8 points a game last year and is one of three double figure options returning.    [player_tooltip player_id='2140668' first='Michael' last='Kincaid'] of Princeton (Sr).  The six foot guard is the top returning Tiger scorer at 11.3 points a game.    [player_tooltip player_id='2835369' first='Matthew' last='Hallberg'] of Princeton (jr).  A 6'1 all around guard that averaged nine points, 3.7 boards and 2.5 assists a game last season.    [player_tooltip player_id='2779906' first='Tyrone' last='Washington'] of Fridley (Sr).  Tyrone averaged 15 points a game as the Tiger leading scorer last season.  Should have a chance to be at 20ppg guy.    [player_tooltip player_id='2447455' first='Hunter' last='Olson'] of St. France (Sr).  Hunter is a 6'3 scoring wing that put up 15 points per game last season.   Fourth Team     [player_tooltip player_id='2425371' first='Jameson' last='Smuda'] of Zimmerman (Sr).  At 6'6. Jameson scored about 8.5 points a game and is one of the bigger players in this section.  Will be depended on for more scoring.    Joseph Larson of Zimmerman (Sr).  Larson is the top returning scorer for Zimmerman after he scored nine points a game last season.    [player_tooltip player_id='2424654' first='Lucas' last='Lemke'] of Zimmerman (Sr).  A 6'1 senior guard that gave his team seven points a game last year.    Dalian Lacy Martin of Fridley (Soph).  A 5'9 playmaking ball handler that averaged seven points a game as a freshman and is one of the better young playmakers in the group.    [player_tooltip player_id='2847919' first='David' last='Voss'] of Becker (Soph).  Voss was the other really good frosh last year, he's a guard at 6'2 that scored 7.5 points per game.    Fifth Team   [player_tooltip player_id='2449867' first='Rian' last='Schmidt'] of Zimmerman (Jr).  A 6'2 wing that came of the bench and scored a couple times a contest.    [player_tooltip player_id='2844242' first='Jayden' last='Krueger'] of St. Francis (jr).  A 6'4 forward who put up seven points a game next season.    [player_tooltip player_id='2906125' first='Tucker' last='Becker'] of Becker (Fr).  Becker was a freshman last year that played a bit of varsity and was a main player for the Bulldog JV last season.   [player_tooltip player_id='2918015' first='Owen' last='Westin'] of Becker (Fr).  Westin and Becker were the guys that filled spots when Becker went a little deeper (later in games when some regulars were on and mixed with JV, a few times when there was injury or fouls).   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">5AAA Summary</h2>   Can anybody in this section take out TG?  Um… no.  It would take more than a miracle effort, it would be a science fiction like occurrence.    The Eagles have six guys back from last year and Becker and Zimmerman likely had better teams last year than they will this year. The section has some good young talent coming up from just about every team, but it will be short on strong veteran teams that could make a run at TG.   The Eagles are the favorites once again not just for section but for the state title. Their backcourt ranks with the best in state along with Hopkins and DeLaSalle.

Here is the Totino-Grace Eagles section they have to get through as they work towards a fifth title in six seasons.