Section 5AA – Should Minneapolis North be Number One?

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Section Predictions</h2>   <ol class="wp-block-list"> <li>Minneapolis North. The Polars hired Jerome Williams as coach and a ton of high profile transfers followed Williams to play for North. It's a new collection of very very talented players and expectations will be high. </li>   <li>Maranatha Christian Academy. MCA opened a lot of eyes when they beat SW Chrisitan by 21 in the playoffs. That rotation was nine deep, sometimes ten deep, and it had only two seniors. MCA lost a scorer to transfer, but gained one it's place. Expectations should be high. </li>   <li>Holy Family. The Fire return two starters and two key reserves from last year's team. A top ten team from a season ago. </li>   <li>Southwest Christian. Very similar to Holy Family, the Stars have two starters back from a top ten level team, and then two reserves return as well. </li>   <li>Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted. The city teams better not forget about the 18 game winner that returning three starters including their two best players!</li>   <li>Hiawatha Collegiate. Hiawatha won 21 games last season with their top ten players not being seniors. They lost four of those players to transfer but we believe there are still six rotational players returning from that 21 win team. </li>   <li>Watertown-Mayer. The Royals return two starters from a 14-win team but one of those starters is their leading scorer Sam Plahn. </li>   <li>Dassel-Cokato. The Chargers have three starters back from a .500 team including a pair of double figure scorers. </li>   <li>Breck. Injuries set this team back last year leading to 11 wins, and now the Mustangs turn to the youth! </li>   <li>Providence Academy. This is a team that got better last year as they were a young team with no seniors in their line-up. They beat Rockford, Blake, and HLWW down the stretch.</li>   <li>Rockford. Rockford has four of their top six back from a 12-1in team including their leading scorer.</li>   <li>Blake. The Bears have a few frontcourt players back from a state team. </li>   <li>Jordan. The Hubmen were an eight win team that lost key players from last year but they have some youth like [player_tooltip player_id='2435334' first='Henry' last='Hanzel'] that will carry things forward. </li>   <li>Parnassus Prep. A team that played 23 games last year, lost to Jordan in the playoffs. </li>   <li>Brooklyn Center. A three win team that lost their best players.</li>   <li>Eagle Ridge Academy. A ten win team that lost its top guys, and really struggled against average and below average teams. </li>   <li>Cristo Rey. A three win team from last season that lost games by nearly 35 points a night. </li> </ol>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">All Section</h2>   First Team   [player_tooltip player_id='2569257' first='Marcus' last='Marshall'] of Minneapolis North (Sr).  This high octane scorer/playmaker makes his return to North after scoring 21.5 points a game for MCA as a junior.  Marshall had a really good 17u season for Real Phenom and he matured as a player for MCA as a junior.  Big senior year should be coming.    [player_tooltip player_id='2821845' first='Malik' last='Martin'] of Minneapolis North (Soph). The highest potential sophomore in the state brings his 17 points per game from Camden to North. Martin is coming off a solid number of point production playing for a number of AAU teams.   [player_tooltip player_id='2140617' first='Geno' last='Ward'] of Holy Family (Sr). Scored 14.5 points a game last season and led the Fury Goring team to 40 wins this year as the point guard.   [player_tooltip player_id='2423114' first='Lincoln' last='Busse'] of Maranatha Christian Academy (Sr).  Busse scored 26 points per game as a junior at GSL and now he looks to bring that scoring to MCA. He was one of the state's leading scorers in AA last season.    [player_tooltip player_id='2527105' first='Jameson' last='McCarthy'] of Southwest Christian (Sr).  McCarthy scored 10-11 points a game last winter and now moves into the main man role for the Stars.  Had a great season with [program_tooltip program_id='2075485' first='Gain' last='Elite'] as a rim running double-double worker.   Second Team   [player_tooltip player_id='2491720' first='Alex' last='Stueven'] of Howard Lake-Waverly (Sr).  The tough and relentless producer from HLWW scored nearly 23 points a game for an 18-win team and then he followed that up with a really strong season for Heat PBB   [player_tooltip player_id='2140577' first='Carson' last='Kuchenbecker'] of Holy Family (Sr). A 6'6 forward that scored a dozen points a game last season moves into the main frontcourt scoring role for his senior year.   [player_tooltip player_id='2635714' first='Tim' last='Holmes'] of Hiawatha Collegiate (Sr). Holmes had a strong season averaging 16 points a game last year with seven boards and now he is the top returning player for his program.   [player_tooltip player_id='2140640' first='Jayvion' last='Gardner'] of Minneapolis North (Sr).  The senior guard had a breakthrough season at Columbia Heights last year scoring nearly 17 points a game and helping the Hylanders surprise people.  Now Gardner is a part of a deep North squad.    Ira Thomas of Maranatha Christian (Jr).  Ira is one of the better attacking, ball pressuring two way guards I saw in Class AA last season.  He scored over 11 a game as a junior.    Third Team   Sam Plahn of Watertown-Mayer (Jr).  The 6'4 Plahn scored 17 plus points a game last season and he moves into the 20ppg area of expectations.  Never count out the Royals!    Kaleb Kraemer of Dassel-Cokato (Sr).  A 5'11 playmaking guard that scored 15 points per game last season and is ready for a big senir year.    [player_tooltip player_id='2438075' first='Talbot' last='Jones'] of Southwest Christian (Jr).  Jones scored ten points a game last year and is the top option in the backcourt this year. Stars have a really good junior class.    [player_tooltip player_id='2396187' first='Kristian' last='Ward'] of Minneapolis North (Sr).  The strong wing scored 12.5 points a game last year at Hiawatha Collegiate and had a really good season for Forward Thinking.  Key player for the Polars.    [player_tooltip player_id='2843337' first='Hunter' last='Bush'] of Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (Jr).  Bush scored a dozen points a game last year as a sophomore and he will step into an even bigger role this winter.    Fourth Team   [player_tooltip player_id='2698860' first='Peter' last='Kiedrowski'] of Breck (Soph).  As a freshman the skilled and maturing Kiedrowski scored ten points a game and could be a main option this season.    [player_tooltip player_id='2456461' first='Timmy' last='Thomas'] of Maranatha Christian (Soph).  The high octane attacking guard blew past a number of veterans for seven points a game last season and should take a big jump.   [player_tooltip player_id='2715225' first='Ethan' last='Robran'] of Rockford (Sr).  Ethan is a 6'5 forward that scored 16 points a contest for Rockford and he comes back with high expectations.    [player_tooltip player_id='2955912' first='Tramiell' last='White'] of Blake (Soph).  White emerged as the year went on, he scored ten points a game a season ago.    [player_tooltip player_id='2814409' first='Matthew' last='Schaffer'] of Providence Academy (Sr).  The 6'1 wing scored nearly 19 points a game last year for a team that improved last season.    [player_tooltip player_id='2768036' first='Jemierre' last='Davis'] of Minneapolis North (Soph). A really talented young guard that was on the [program_tooltip program_id='2075431' first='D1' last='Minnesota'] top 15s team this year because of his attack, pressure, and production.   Fifth Team   Zackery Gallus of Watertown-Mayer (Sr).  The 6'5 Gallus scored eight points in the frontcourt last season.   [player_tooltip player_id='2428302' first='Max' last='Munsell'] of Breck (Jr).  Max stepped up and averaged double figures last year as an underclassmen.    Chris Daniels of Maranatha Christian Academy (Sr).  A 6'2 worker that produced 7.5 points a game last year.    Montez Brown of Hiawatha Collegiate (Sr).  A guard that was the fourth leading scorer for his team last season.    [player_tooltip player_id='2832193' first='Erik' last='Bakke'] of Maranatha Christian Academy (Jr).  A 6'10 center that can get up and down.  Bakke gives MCA a shot contestor/blocker option many others don't have.    [player_tooltip player_id='2402106' first='Benji' last='Dillon'] of Blake (Sr).  Dillon is a 6'4 frontcourt player that scored ten points a game last year.    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">5AA Section Summary</h2>   Minneapolis North hired a new coach and then eight or nine players transferred in to play for the Polars.  That group includes [player_tooltip player_id='2821845' first='Malik' last='Martin'] and Marcus Marshal who are two of the better players in the state, and North added really good players from DeLaSalle, Columbia Heights, Hiawatha Collegiate, and Brooklyn Center.  Their line-up instantly moves into a top two spot when it comes to most talented in Class AA basketball and you can argue that they are number one (although there will be people that counter that argument from Minnehaha Academy).    Should Minneapolis North be preseason number one?    In the Minneapolis City? Of course.   In Section 5AA?  Definitely.   In all of Class AA?  You can make an argument for it but Minnehaha Academy brings back everything from a title time.  A team likely needs to play a game together before we start saying they are number one as this is a brand new group of players brought together.  But you can surely say they are second in state.    As for the rest of the section, don't forget about MCA, Holy Family and Southwest Christian who were all top ten last year and bring back good players.  North has to get through them.