The Metro East Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tartan was once again the class of the league in 25-26. What does the upcoming winter look like? Who are the best 30 players in the league? Who can challenge the Titans? We dive in NOW. Note..... five of the nine teams have a new coach. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Last Year</strong> <strong>Predictions </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>On the Money</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Seven of the nine spots in our preseason predictions last year were either right on the money, or a few were one spot off. It was a solid prediction before the season last year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Yikes</em>&nbsp;<em>RJ</em>!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hill-Murray finished solid so they finished a few spots better than expected a season ago while Two Rivers was a veteran team we picked to finish fifth last year and they finished in 8th place. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State</strong>: Tartan, Mahtomedi</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tartan starts the season ranked 5th in AAAA, Mahtomedi will be ranked 5th in AAA. Both teams will be among the best in the respective classes. Tartan will have a serious shot at returning to the state tournament while the Zephyrs are stuck in the same section as DeLaSalle meaning getting to state seems next to impossible, even for a team as good as Mathomedi. As for the league, the Titans will be deeper in talent and they will be a big favorite. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: STA, Simley, Hastings, SSP, Hill-Murray</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This group of five could finish in just about any order. St. Thomas, Hill-Murray and South St. Paul all have new coaches and each have some players that could help the new transition but it's going to take some time to implement their systems and styles. Hill-Murray has an all league frontcourt, SSP has some guards and wings that will score, STA has the most to replace. As for Simley and Hastings, they have veteran coaches with some returning players that should make them good teams. How good is tough to know but they should both be solid. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Two Rivers, North St. Paul</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>NSP year after year seems to lose good players to transfer, and they have to start over year after year. Right now the NSP job seems as tough as they get in big school Minnesota basketball. Two Rivers is a school that usually has more talent but right now they have a new coach and have to replace five of their top six guys so its a rebuild. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>26-27 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Metro East Power Rankings</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Tartan</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Mahtomedi</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Hastings</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Hill-Murray</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>St. Thomas Academy</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Simley</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>South St. Paul</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Two Rivers</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>North St. Paul</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All Metro East</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></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='2560458' first='Emmanuel' last='Oyesanmi'] of Tartan (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2140712' first='Willie' last='Roelofs'] of Mahtomedi (Sr).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126460' first='Donte' last='Branch'] of Tartan (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2521853' first='Justus' last='Dayee'] of Tartan (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Second Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2858361' first='John' last='Omoyeni'] of Hill-Murray (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2398951' first='Brady' last='Hendrickson'] of Hastings (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2843078' first='Joey' last='Wright'] of Mahtomedi (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2560501' first='Koa' last='Fuller'] of Hill-Murray (Jr).</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='2405556' first='Tre' last='Lovelace'] of Simley (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Third Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2421555' first='Max' last='Hayes'] of St. Thomas Academy (Sr).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1808444' first='Liam' last='Bernatz'] of Hastings (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126155' first='Taurean' last='Williams']<em> </em>of South St. Paul (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2978874' first='Marlowe' last='Strain'] of Hastings (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2544137' first='Acaurii' last='Clark'] of Two Rivers (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Fourth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2560720' first='Meech' last='Williams'] of Simley (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='3622975' first='Joseph' last='Daniel Varner'] of Tartan (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jack Wills of St. Thomas Academy (Sr).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2893786' first='Adonis' last='Williams Jr'] of South St. Paul (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Terence Horton II of North St. Paul (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2887249' first='Brody' last='Schmidt'] of Hill-Murray (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->