Section 8A: Twenty top returning players

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Who are the top returning talents in Section 8A this coming season? We give you 20 of them! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Badger/Greenbush-Middle River</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Adrian Nelson (2029). Nelson scored 13 points a game last year as an 8th grader and now he has four seasons of high school to continue to lead the Gators. A matured 5'10 guard that got hurt last year and it hurt the Gators offense badly. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Clearbrook-Gonvick</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Grant Engen (2027). Grant is the top returning scorer for the Bears who were 12-15 last season. Grant is a 6'1 guard. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Fertile-Beltrami</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2434178' first='Drew' last='Gullickson'] (2026). A 6'8 center that averaged 14.3 points and eight boards a game with nearly two blocks a contest. Drew is an excellent low post defender and defensive rebounder, and he's getting better as a back to the basket scorer. Second team all league player. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560792' first='Preston' last='Hanson'] (2026). Preston averaged 20 points, six rebounds, three assists and 3.5 steals per game. At 6'5 Preston does some of everything for the Falcons. He does some ball handling, Preston is a good outside shooter, he can overpower players on the block as teams often have to defend Preston with their second biggest guy because of Gullickson. Helps Bryer Strem with the ball handling and because the Falcons also have 6'5 center Gage Henrickson as an all league player so Preston at times will be a 6'5 Class A wing. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Fosston</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2842647' first='Jack' last='Sekely'] (2027). Junior that shoots the ball really well and is one of the top returning players from a rotation that graduated a ton of players. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jake Howard (2027). Howard is an athletic player that attacks and slashes with regularity at wing and is a good defender. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Goodridge/Grygla-Gatzke</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Shay Jacobson (2028). Shay is an excellent all around player that scored 14 points a game as a freshman along with 6.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.8 steals per game. He's a 5'9 guard that was named all conference.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Kittson County Central</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2848274' first='Kellen' last='Johnson'] (2027). Johnson is a 6'3 wing that was all conference last season after scoring 15 points per game as a sophomore. All around scorer that has been named all league twice in his career already. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brody Scales (2026). Brody is a high work rate, constantly active player that was the third KCC player to average in double figures last season. A leader and a top shooter for his team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lake of the Woods</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>John Forrest (2028). John was an all league player as a combo guard last season when he was a freshman. Woods played both guard roles last year and is the top player for this program going forward. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Northern Freeze</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Alex Bray (2027). The 6'2 play every spot junior averaged over 16 points a game last year as an all league player in two different leagues and is the top player for this program as they work to flip their 12-15 record around at least. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2829793' first='Avynn' last='Ryba'] (2027). Ryba was a regular double figure scorer last season and another reason that the junior class is expected to help this program take another big step. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Red Lake County</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1628768' first='Connor' last='Duden'] (2026). Connor was an all State player as a junior after leading his team 31 wins and the state tournament. He averaged 20 points a game last season with six rebounds and a couple assists per game. Hard working two way player that gives as much effort as any player on the court. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Will Gieseke (2026). Will is an excellent shooter that was named all league after he scored 11 points per game last season with four boards and four assists per game. A leader that is also the main ball handler and top defender for his team. With Owen off to Crookston, Will steps into a big role and has the talent to take over at a high level. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Stephen-Argyle</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Shay Setterholm (2026). The quarterback on the football team is also the point guard and playmaker for the basketball team as well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Caden Pagnac (2026). A 6'5 big that averaged 15 points and 12 rebounds per game a season ago. Carter was named an all league talent and is considered one of the best rebounders in Class A basketball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Warren-Alvarado-Oslo</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kyden Kotrba (2026). A 6'3 slashing wing that scored 16.5 points per game last season as an All Star North Conference player. Good defender as well and the team leader. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Win-E-Mac</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2139200' first='Joe' last='Courneya'] (2027). Joe did a lot of everything for his team a season ago starting with the 23.6 points per game. Gave his team 5.5 rebounds, four assists and three steals a game a season ago and is one of the candidates to potentially score 30 point per game this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hayden Johnson (2027). A good shooter and a good defender that scored over 13 points per game as an all league player. At 5'11 Johnson grabbed five boards a game and should take a lot of the scoring load off of Courneya the next two years. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->