Midwest Athletic Conference Preview
The MAC is known for it’s success on the football field, but 2021 showed us the conference has some basketball teams that can compete. New Bremen and Versailles won District Finals while St. Henry was a District Runner-Up. The conference…
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Continue ReadingThe MAC is known for it’s success on the football field, but 2021 showed us the conference has some basketball teams that can compete. New Bremen and Versailles won District Finals while St. Henry was a District Runner-Up. The conference appears to be quite top heavy this season as there are 3 contenders in the conference and everyone else is right around the same level. Which teams do you need to watch? Read below to find out.
Coldwater– The Cavaliers were at .500 a year ago, but lose their top 4 from a team that showed glimpses of competitiveness within the conference. The lack of experience is going to be a massive challenge to overcome for Coldwater as they try to continue to compete.
Delphos St. John’s– The Blue Jays only won 6 games a season ago, but are returning 4 of their top 5 from that team. Mainly a junior/senior heavy team, St. John’s will look to improve off of their rough year and depend on Nolan Schuinned (Jr) and Landen Grothaus (Jr) specifically. Even with the experience back, competing in the MAC is more about depth and execution than bigger and deeper teams.
Fort Recovery– The Indians were another team that finished .500 on the year, but have more experience back than other teams within the conference. Owen Jutte (Sr) and Cale Rammel (Jr) have been decent players in the system the past few seasons and now have bigger roles as the Indians look to continue the success in the MAC.
Marion Local– Flyers will return Brady Ronnebaum (Jr) from a season ago, but lose talented guard Alex Eyink to Capital University. Luke Knapke (So) is a name worth following as he impressed on the AAU scene this past Summer. The Flyers haven’t been the same since winning a state title in 2018. Can this be the year they turn things around?
Minster– Minster was hit hard by graduation after finding themselves in the running in the MAC last year. Much of their size and experience is gone leaving voids that can be difficult to fill when looking at the MAC as a whole. Johnny Dixon (Sr) plays a lot like his brother Justin and now has the keys to offense. The Tigers always have found ways to stay in the hunt even when they graduate a lot. Can they replace this much though?
New Bremen– Cardinals continued their athletic success onto the basketball court last year- qualifying to the Regional Finals before falling to a very talented Columbus Grove team. Bremen returns 3 of their top 4 which is a good combination of upperclassmen and underclassmen. Reece Busse (Sr) is the key player here and has a nice supporting cast with Aaron Theiman (So) and David Homan (Jr) around him. Bremen has to be Top 3 in the MAC this year and definitely could see themselves back in the Regionals come March.
New Knoxville– Rangers showed improvement in 2021, winning 5 games overall. They return Carson Bierlein (Jr) who has been a key part of the team since he arrived on campus as a freshman. Unfortunately though, New Knoxville needs more guys around Bierlein for us to feel confident in this team being a contender in the MAC. Expect this year to be another growing season.
Parkway– Panthers were under .500 a year ago and they lose leading scorer Dylan Hughes. Senior duo of Gabe Schaaf and Caden Slusher are back but is this enough to get Parkway back to where they were two years ago in the Elite 8 (Division IV)?
St. Henry– Redskins were District Runner-Ups last year and return some of their top guys from a season ago. Bennett Gels (Sr) can shoot the ball extremely well and has 1st Team All-MAC potential. Fellow senior Jaden Lange also returns and combined with Gels gives the Redskins a nice 1-2 punch. If there’s a team that has a chance of challenging Versailles and New Bremen, it has to be St. Henry.
Versailles– The Tigers surprised a lot of people last year making a run to the Regional tournament which included Sectional wins over higher seeded Arcanum, Dayton Christian, and Preble Shawnee. The Tigers are returning 3 of their top 4 from that team including Connor Stonebraker (Jr) and Jaydon Litten (Sr). Versailles plays quite a challenging non-conference schedule that prepares them for these tournament runs. I believe this group again is poised for a competitive season and possibly another Regional appearance.