Section 7A – Is the Cherry Run Over?

<!-- 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>Cherry. The Tigers lost another Asuma, they lost their coach, and they really only have the last Asuma ([player_tooltip player_id='2126128' first='Isaiah' last='Asuma']) and a couple others with experience.  Good? Yes.  Contenders for state? Yes.  Top Ten?  Going to be tough.  Isaiah will have to pull a Kale Misegades of last year but with a new coach and pry less talent around him. All that said, they have been to state five years in a row, they need to be knocked off the pedestal. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Mt. Iron-Buhl.  Lost their top scorer and three of their seven players from the main rotation.  Two main players back which should keep them as contenders. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Deer River.  I half thought to put them above Cherry because they beat Cherry last year but the two losses to Mt. Iron-Buhl were not close and two starters did graduate (pair of double figure scorers including a 25ppg guy). </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>South Ridge. This is the team I expect to make a jump.  Only had two senior rotation guys lost, have their top player back, they lost close games with the best in the league, and their top guy is getting better. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>McGregor. A 17 win team back that returns their big number big and a couple other starters.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Barnum.  Top scorer is back but three of the top four scorers did graduate.  WIll still be good but a step behind contention it seems. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Ely.  Ely lost their top two players from a 21-win team.  Enough back to be a good team but the loss of Jack Davies will be tough to replace. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Cook County.  Two two scorers are gone from a 17-win team.  Those were the only seniors on the team though, can win 17 again. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Bigfork.  Return everything from a 10-12 team a season ago. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Cromwell-Wright.  A 13-win team that has two starters back but must replace five of top eight. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>North Woods.  The Grizz won seven games last season and return their entire team. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Chisholm.  Top four players back from a six win team, they should take a step forward this season. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Littlefork-Big Falls.  Leading scorer and three starters total have graduated after winning 13 games last year. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Fond du Lac Ojibwe.  They were 10-15 last season but there is no information about their roster at all to research. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Hill City/Northland.  Lost their top two scorers from a seven win team. </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Floodwood.  Five of the top seven are back from a five win team </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Carlton-Wrenshall.  Two of the top three guys are gone from a six win team.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Stella Maris Academy.  One win team last year that crushed Prairie Seeds for that one win!</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>All Section</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>First Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126128' first='Isaiah' last='Asuma'] of Cherry (Sr).. One of the top contenders on a short list for Class A Player of the Year.  A name for Mr. Basketball to watch, numbers are going to be huge.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2985466' first='Gavin' last='Willeck'] of South Ridge (Sr).  This is the senior class sleeper: a 6'7 agile forward that averaged 18 points and over ten rebounds a game last season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2569251' first='Kevin' last='Doerr'] of Deer River (Sr).  Top returning scorer at 14+ a game and a near 37 percent three point shooter, a 5'9 senior guard. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2813905' first='Cooper' last='Geyen'] of McGregor (Sr).  A 6'5 frontcourt player that scored 18 points a game as a junior with 9.6 boards a game.  Big senior year of 20 and 10 could be ahead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Izaiah Alto of Mt. Iron-Buhl (Sr).&nbsp; The 6'3 forward that is a returning double figure scorer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Second Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2814706' first='Patrick' last='Poirier'] of Barnum (Jr) . Scored nearly 20 points per game last season as a 5'9 guard.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kellan Isaacs of Deer River (Jr).&nbsp; A 5'11 guard that averaged nine points, four boards and three assists a season ago.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wyatt Tedrick of Ely (Sr).&nbsp; Tedrick, the 5'11 guard, is the returning player for Ely after scoring about a dozen a game.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Austin Nelson of Mt. Iron-Buhl (Sr).&nbsp; Nelson is the other returning double figure scorer, a 5'11 guard.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2978857' first='MaCoy' last='Fairbanks'] of Cook County (Sr). Scored 10/11 a game last year, a senior guard at 5'11.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Third Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ryden Olesiak of Cromwell-Wright (Soph).  Top returning scorer from Cromwell, Ryden score 11 a game as a freshman. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Levi Ruotsalainen of Cherry (Sr).  The other returning starter from last year's team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Drew Nyberg of Cromwell-Wright (Sr).  The 5'11 guard that returns as a starter, scored four times a game last season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>TaySean Boshey-Wilkerson of North Woods (Sr).  The top returning scorer for North Woods. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Grant Oberg of Cook County (Sr). The 5'9 senior guard playmaker for the Vikings. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Fourth Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Shea Showalter of Chisholm (Jr).  A 5'10 guard that scored ten a game last year, top returning player.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dylan Ferguson of Littlefork-Big Falls.(Jr).  A forward that scored ten a game last season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nathan Niemela of Bigfork (Sr).&nbsp; Top returning scorer for his team at about 11 a game.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brayden Johnoson of Hill City/Northland (Jr).&nbsp; Top returning scorer for his team at 12 a contest.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Matthew Shaw of Carlton-Wrenshall (Sr).  A six foot senior forward that is the top returning scorer for his team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cade Schow of Chisholm (Sr).  Averaged eight and six last season as a six foot frontcourt player. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>7A Section Summary</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Can Cherry make it six straight?&nbsp; Man…. it will be tough.&nbsp; They lost their coach and have little support back for [player_tooltip player_id='2126128' first='Isaiah' last='Asuma'] but at the same time they have been to state the last five seasons.&nbsp; Somebody has to knock them off and we just saw last year what a superstar can do with little around him in Class A last year, and [player_tooltip player_id='2126128' first='Isaiah' last='Asuma'] is a Class A superstar.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Deer River seems like the the deepest returning top team but they have to get past their Mt. Iron-Buhl problem.&nbsp; And Mt. Iron-Buhl has to figure out how to beat an Asuma in the playoffs (they haven't done it in a long time).&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As for up and comers, I would watch for South Ridge and McGregor stepping up to try and contend for the section title.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->