The Granite Ridge Preview

<p>The Albany/Mora rivalry started to heat up and it will be even hotter this year as they compete along with Pierz for the Granite Ridge crown.  Here is the Granite Ridge Preview.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <p><strong>Potential Top Ten: </strong>Mora, Albany, Pierz</p> <p>Mora, Albany, and Pierz are all top 20 teams in Class AA and if one of them goes on a 4-0 run against the others - or maybe even a 3-1 run - it will mean a league title and a likely spot in the top ten of Class AA basketball.  Mora brings back nearly everything from a 22 win team and they play great team basketball. Coming into the year they were my favorite in the league because of that team basketball and talent returning.  Albany was fairly young last year and they still won 18 games.  Albany also has the league’s best player in [player_tooltip player_id="567069" first="Nolan" last="Rueter"].  I also need to add that I recently had a change of heart, I believe I should have Albany over Mora in this section (had Mora higher in Breakdown book and Class AA top 25 here at Prep Hoops). The Huskies had some ups and downs last year that concerned me but Albany handled Mora late last year and they have so much back, plus the top guy is on their team.  Pierz has 20-win potential again (normalcy speaking game wise, not this year) and has another of the league’s top talents in [player_tooltip player_id="957617" first="Jonah" last="Prokott"].  </p> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Little Falls, Zimmerman, Cathedral</p> <p>When talking about this league championship a dark horse is Little Falls.  It’s a team that competes against a higher level non-league schedule, has a top player in [player_tooltip player_id="774872" first="Luke" last="Kush"], and they beat Mora twice last year. Little Falls went 8-6 in league play last season despite winning only ten games (2-10 outside of conference play).  Cathedral was damaged by losing four senior staters but should still be solid.  Zimmerman brings back most of their rotation although their all league players graduated. </p> <p><strong>Rebuilding</strong>: Foley, Milaca</p> <p>Foley went young a year ago and it was tough, they were 0-14 in league play and won just four games.  They will have a huge group of seniors hungry for more meaning a more competitive battle each night. Milaca lost it’s all top players but has a number of guys ready to step into bigger roles. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>20-21 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <ol> <li>Albany</li> <li>Mora</li> <li>Pierz</li> <li>Little Falls</li> <li>Zimmerman</li> <li>St Cloud Cathedral</li> <li>Milaca</li> <li>Foley</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Preseason All Granite Ridge Conference</strong></p> <p><strong><u>First Team</u></strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="774813" first="Andrew" last="Hahn"] of Albany (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="774872" first="Luke" last="Kush"] of Little Falls (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="957617" first="Jonah" last="Prokott"] of Pierz (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="567069" first="Nolan" last="Rueter"] of Albany (Sr)</p> <p>Ben Wright of Mora (Sr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Second Team</u></strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958795" first="Carter" last="Birr"] of Albany (Jr)</p> <p>Michael Leidenfrost of Pierz (Sr)</p> <p>Andrew Rassmussen of Mora (Sr)</p> <p>Jeff Lillienthal of Mora (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="957627" first="Nolan" last="Spence"] of Zimmerman (Sr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Third Team</u></strong></p> <p>Caleb Anderson of Mora (Sr)</p> <p>Isaiah Gerads of Albany (Sr)</p> <p>Zach Gwost of Little Falls (Jr)</p> <p>Garret Honstrom of Mora (Jr)</p> <p>Ethan Navratil of Albany (Sr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Fourth Team</u></strong></p> <p>Ryan Aanonsen of Zimmerman (Sr)</p> <p>Bradley Mattson of Foley (Sr)</p> <p>Laque Jefferson of Albany (Jr)</p> <p>Jonah Prom of St. Cloud Cathedral (Sr)</p> <p>Ryan Stuckmeyer of Pierz (Sr)</p> <p>Henry Truebenbach of Milaca (Sr)</p>