The West Central Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The West Central Conference is one of the better leagues in Minnesota and this year the league should be completely wide open. Here is your West Central preview!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State</strong>: </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Contenders</strong>: West Central Area, Sauk Centre, BOLD, Melrose</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>West Central Area - who based on the Breakdown book and Minnesota Scores is now in this league - was my sleeper pick to make a Class AA run this year. I had them as a top 20 team in Class AA and the favorite for 3AA basketball because they have a lot back from a 22-5 team. Unfortunately their best player [player_tooltip player_id='1464341' first='Camden' last='Anderson'] is out for the season which of course hurts their ceiling but they will still be a good team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I currently have Sauk Centre listed at 13th in Class AA basketball meaning they are very close to that top ten in state spot. They have a star in Neubert, four starters back from last season, and depth from a very good sophomore class. They won 20 games last season and I think they are the favorite coming into this season in the West Central. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>BOLD should be right there in the mix as well. They lost three all league players but return an 18 point per game scorer, they have a top sophomore, and half of their rotation returning from a 20 win team. Watch for them in Section 2A basketball to make a section push. Melrose should be right back in that 20 win, contending area after a .500 season. The Dutchmen return their top scorer, three starters, and five of their top seven guys. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Montevideo</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Montevideo has enough back and some good players coming up in the younger classes so they don't had rebuild status but graduation took away a good amount of experience so being at .500 again in this league might be slightly tough. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rebuilding</strong>: Morris Area, Minnewaska Area, Benson</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Morris Area has only one guy back from their end of the season rotation last year so they will take a step back. That said, their JV was undefeated last year and their ninth grade team won 20 games. They will take a step back but I don't think it will be the big step some might think. They will need time to incorporate some new players to varsity. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Minnewaska Area went through a major change last year in players and coaching staff and those things will continue this year. They were a four win team last year and lost their top scorers. Benson should be a bit better this year as they do return two of their best players. That said, this is one of the smallest teams in the league and they were winless in the conference last year. They had by far the worst defense in this league last season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2022-23 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Sauk Centre</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>BOLD</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Melrose</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>West Central Area</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Morris Area/Chokia-Alberta</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Montevideo</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Minnewaska Area</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Benson</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All West Central Conference</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284153' first='Jay' last='Neubert'] of Sauk Centre (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1434979' first='Connor' last='Engelmeyer'] of Melrose (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ryan King of BOLD (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1492609' first='Cole' last='Anderson'] of West Central Area (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Matthew Warring of Sauk Centre (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Second Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284134' first='Ethan' last='Riley'] of Sauk Centre (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jacob Strunk of BOLD (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1587155' first='Jack' last='Gross'] of BOLD (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1492614' first='Tyler' last='Berlinger'] of Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Juan Espinoza of Benson (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Third Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mason Jerve of Montevideo (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hudson Vosika of BOLD (soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2375104' first='Andrew' last='Drevlow'] of Sauk Centre (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Connor Anderson of Melrose (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Devin Orbeck of Melrose (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Drew Storck of Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->