The MCAA Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Top Contenders: Spectrum, Mayer Lutheran, Liberty Classical, Heritage Christian, PACT</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Spectrum has a high expectation this year because they have most of their rotation back AND they have a star of the league in [player_tooltip player_id='2140590' first='Cody' last='Benson']. Benson is the right player to lead the program to a big year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>PACT lost some key bodies but they do returning three of their top six players from a 19-win team. They should be strong and maybe have an outside shot at a conference run. The Mayer Lutheran Crusaders were also a 19-win team and they return all of their key pieces from last year meaning they could win the MCAA.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Liberty Classical will be in the race too. They have three starters back and while they lost some big names with big games, they will still have good players that will win a lot of games. Can Heritage Christian get by Liberty this season? They have the returning players to make it a game but last year Liberty had the edge every time. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Compete with Most:  Math &amp; Science, UCA, West Lutheran</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>UCA lost their top guy but they have most of their talent back from a team that improved. West Lutheran has their top four players back from a team that was 14-13 last season. Four starters returning. Math &amp; Science Academy returns their top players and have a chance to win double figure games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rebuilding: CHOF, Lakes International, Eagle Ridge, North Lakes</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CHOF lost their big man inside but return Elias Bratzel and the Sarbacker brothers at guard. Not as much of a rebuild as a figure out how to win more consistently. Lakes International won some games last year and they should be better in the league than they are in section opponent games. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>26-27 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>MCAA Power Rankings</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(1) Spectrum</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(2) Mayer Lutheran</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(3) Liberty Classical</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(4) Heritage Christian</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(5) PACT Charter</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(6) Math &amp; Science Academy</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(7) United Christian Academy</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(8) West Lutheran</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(9) CHOF</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(10) Lakes International</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(11) Eagle Ridge Academy</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(12) North Lakes </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All MCAA</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2140590' first='Cody' last='Benson'] of Spectrum (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2125730' first='Ben' last='Lindesmith'] of Mayer Lutheran (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2962770' first='Jacob' last='Balami'] of Math &amp; Science Academy (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2773880' first='Cruz' last='Triana'] of Liberty Classical (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Isaiah Coyle of Heritage Christian Academy (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Second Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Caleb Engelhart of PACT (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Max Voleker of Heritage Christian Academy (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2985450' first='Aaron' last='Palmer'] of Heritage Christian Academy (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1438524' first='Carter' last='Neitzel'] of Mayer Lutheran (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Logan Comfort of Heritage Christian Academy (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Third Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2825069' first='Jackson' last='Dowd'] of Lakes International (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jimmy Youtsey of Liberty Classical (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Evan Grover of United Christian Academy (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cody Oppitz of West Lutheran (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='3143924' first='Wyatt' last='Sunde'] of Mayer Lutheran (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Fourth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lucas Novitsky of PACT Charter (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Elias Bratzel of CHOF (sr) </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Simon Charlton of UCA (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2881424' first='Dylan' last='Sunde'] of Mayer Lutheran (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bennett Derosier of West Lutheran (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Fifth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Casey Douma of West Lutheran (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Andrew Rich of UCA (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='3467590' first='Teddy' last='Huberty'] of Spectrum (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hayden Christianson of Spectrum (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Julian Peterson of Spectrum (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>William Gilbert of Liberty Classical (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->