Section 2AAAA: Can Chaska fight through their section?

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Chaska is now the hunted. And they are in a tough section with teams gunning for them. To beat Chaska, what has to happen for those contenders? And what does Chaska have to avoid so they can return to state?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Chaska (1). <em>Will Chaska get through their section?</em> Coach Hayes will have his team prepared for the fact that every opponent they face will be gunning for them with all effort. The Hawks return their top five scorers and they have earned their top preseason spot, but they won't have the ability to just coast. [player_tooltip player_id='2126118' first='Tyler' last='Forrest'] has to be [player_tooltip player_id='2126118' first='Tyler' last='Forrest'], and if you know Tyler, he will be. The Hawks bigs are skilled and they need to take a step forward. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prior Lake (2). <em>Is this the year things change?</em> Prior Lake has had a lot of good teams over the years but they have not been to state since 1978. Chaska has D2 commits up front in [player_tooltip player_id='2126466' first='Kobby' last='Sambrew'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2052332' first='Trey' last='Theis'], they have a really good scorer at guard in [player_tooltip player_id='2433515' first='Kolby' last='Thompson'], and they have up and coming skilled players that will keep them good. But can they overcome Forrest and his team this year to make that change happen? The potential is there but I would still bet on the Hawks. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eden Prairie (3). <em>Can the talent come together?</em> You could make the argument that EP will be one of the deepest teams in this section. They have the talent but do they have the experience playing together to be at their very best in a way that wins a lot of games? [player_tooltip player_id='2862271' first='Marshawn' last='Gray'], [player_tooltip player_id='2848521' first='Tyler' last='Chapek'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2127293' first='Phillip' last='Moita'] could all take big steps forward this year. [player_tooltip player_id='2380768' first='Jamir' last='Davis'], [player_tooltip player_id='2137323' first='Carter' last='Pulrang'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2842007' first='Hassan' last='Kakay'] all did good things last year, and they need to take another step forward to win this group. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Minnetonka (4). <em>Are they too young to make a run?</em> Minnetonka has some big years ahead of them. [player_tooltip player_id='2560540' first='Willie' last='Wright Jr'] is a very good junior, [player_tooltip player_id='2853260' first='Beckham' last='Nelson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2842170' first='Elliott' last='Thompson'] played well as freshmen, and overall Tonka lost just two guys from last year (one graduate and one transfer) plus they added some really good 2030 guards. The talent is there but are the years on their school ID old enough to make a push?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Shakopee (5). <em>Why did they only win seven games last year?</em> I got back and forth on if I think Shako is going to be a contending team or not. On the surface with [player_tooltip player_id='2126458' first='Luke' last='Schroeder'], [player_tooltip player_id='2126468' first='Blake' last='Betton'] (assuming he doesn't go to Penn State in the middle of the winter to start his football career), [player_tooltip player_id='2417389' first='Jake' last='Courts'], [player_tooltip player_id='2140691' first='Santiago' last='Connell'], these guys (and more) are all back plus we have seen [player_tooltip player_id='2955355' first='Andy' last='Auge'] emerge some at 6'9/6'10 so there is some size. On paper it looks like wins, but they were all on the team last year so what will the answer be? </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Chanhassen (6). <em>Can this team avoid a big blow?</em> There have been years I thought Chan was ready, and then Max Woods dealt with injuries. And then [player_tooltip player_id='2560476' first='Isaac' last='Johnson'] dealt with injuries. Chan always seems to be competitive but short on the depth needed to get where they want to go. This year they have [player_tooltip player_id='2140561' first='Benett' last='Barger'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2560476' first='Isaac' last='Johnson'] which is a very good combo, but do they have the guard play to be what they want to be?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Waconia (7). <em>Is Waconia the best bottom seed predicted seed in the state?</em> Yes, and you won't need the season to see it. The Cats are an upper half area AAAA team (of the 62 teams) but this is the deepest section of talent in the state (top to bottom) so they get the bottom spot while also being a top five Metro West team. The [player_tooltip player_id='2421469' first='Colton' last='Henke'], [player_tooltip player_id='2140622' first='Henry' last='Wisniewski'], Alexander Kirsch, and [player_tooltip player_id='2842041' first='Tyson' last='McDonald'] are a good core. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top 3 2AAAA Players</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126118' first='Tyler' last='Forrest'] of Chaska (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126466' first='Kobby' last='Sambrew'] of Prior Lake (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126458' first='Luke' last='Schroeder'] of Shakopee (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three Teams That Should Improve Their Record</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Shakopee (7-20 last year)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Minnetonka (11-16 last year)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prior Lake (21-7 last year)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three Teams That Might Not Match Last Year's Win Total</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Waconia (17-10 last year)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Chaska (28-4 last year) - maybe? </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nothing else to even come up with</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->