Class A: Region 5 Run Through

<h2>Teams</h2><p><u>Bon Homme. </u> The Cavs were 6-15 a year ago and they had no juniors on their roster.  None.   They graduated seven seniors but six sophomores received ample varsity and JV experience…<strong>Clay Wittmeier</strong> stands 6-foot-4 and should take over inside….Had a nice stretch of four wins in five games mid-year after losing eight of first nine but then couldn’t build on that at the end…<strong>Chase Kortan</strong> should do a lot of the ball handling as a junior point.  Chase had a lot of 10pt/7assist, 12pt/6 assist like games a year ago.  As a 5-foot-11 guard Kortan is also a very good rebounder…Junior <strong>Bryce Scieszinksi </strong>had some big games last year and more will be expected from him…</p> <p><u>McCook Central/Montrose.</u>  The Fighting Cougars are coming off of a 16-7 season but is graduating eight seniors including the versatile <strong>Cole Cheeseman</strong>…MCM had a small junior class that does including scorer Kylar Hansen…Freshman <strong>Kyle Winberg </strong>is a big kid at 6-foot-3 who picked up some experience a year ago…Matching last season will be tough as the Cougars lost five All Lake Central Conference players to graduation…Hansen came off the bench with senior <strong>Jesse Muth </strong>and junior <strong>Trevor Wilkinson </strong>last year so those are the three experienced talents expected to lead…</p> <p><u>Mt Vernon/Plankinton</u>.  The Titans played like rulers at the end of the year winning 11 of their last 12 and making the state tournament.  State was rough on them as they lost all three games by double digits but it was still a fantastic reward for a great end of the season…More than half of the rotation is back as the Titans only had four seniors …They are a small team though with only senior <strong>Cole Sonne</strong> returning as a guy who is six feet taller or more (he is 6-foot-1, the rest are under six feet)…<strong>Tate Deinert</strong> is a solid senior point guard to run this team.  He made a good impression last winter as well as during the sprint and summer with the SD Heat.  Down the stretch he had monster games like the 29 against Parkston and the 26 against Class B champion Hanson.  Deinert shot over 40 percent at the arc last season…Junior <strong>Hayden Schmidt</strong> and fellow junior <strong>Devin Rihanek</strong> were key pieces in the rotation last season…</p> <p><u>Parkston. </u> The Trojans started last year 7-2 but lost their last four games of the year…Parkston has a nice sized senior frontcourt with 6-foot-4/6-foot-5 <strong>Wes Genant and Dillan Thuringer</strong> back along with junior <strong>Kellan Clubert</strong>.  The entire frontcourt is back although there are a couple senior guards that need to be replaced…<strong>Josh Rands</strong> is a talented junior that will also figure heavily into the team’s success. </p> <p><u>Tri Valley.</u>   A 12-1 start burned out badly as the Mustangs lost seven of their last nine games a year ago…They graduated a ton of seniors so there will be only two seniors this year (<strong>Austin Arends and Alex Gonzales</strong>) but the strength is juniors <strong>Jayden Burggraff </strong>and big man <strong>Will Steineke.</strong>   Will is 6-foot-6 and one of the fastest rising prospects in the 2017 class of South Dakota players…<strong>Noah Jewett </strong>was up with the JV/V last year as a freshman.  He is now a 5-foot-9/5-foot-10 sophomore guard and as a frosh he was able to provide a scoring punch several different nights…</p> <p><u>Wagner.</u>  The Red Raiders were a pesky bunch for most winning eight games and competing hard in several others.  A pair of freshman were up with the Varsity/JV, <strong>Ryan Cournoyer and Alex Sully </strong>and both picked up valuable experience…The only experienced size they have is senior Hunter Hewitt who is just 6-foot-2…<strong>Trajan Holliday</strong> is a player they can lean on for playmaking.  He is a senior as is <strong>Trevor Holliday</strong> who will produce along side of Trajan. </p> <p><u>West Central. </u> The Trojans were up and down all year with a couple three game win streaks that were quickly followed by two game losing streaks…Seven seniors graduated but this team goes as senior guard <strong>Noah Vettrus</strong> goes. …Junior lead guard <strong>Nick Nagel</strong> gained valuable experience with the South Dakota Heat this off-season…Vettrus was first team all state last year after recording a ton of points in a fast pace up and down attack…</p> <h2>Conference Predictions</h2><ol> <li>Mt. Vernon/Plankinton</li> <li>Tri Valley</li> <li>West Central</li> <li>Parkston</li> <li>McCook Central/Montrose</li> <li>Bon Homme</li> <li>Wagner</li> </ol> <h2>Preseason All Region 5 Team</h2><p><strong><u>First Team</u></strong></p> <p>Noah Vettrus, West Central</p> <p>Tate Deinert, Mt Vernon/Plankinton</p> <p>Will Steineke, Tri Valley</p> <p>Chase Kortan, Bon Homme</p> <p>Wesley Genant, Parkston</p> <p><strong><u>Second Team</u></strong></p> <p>Josh Rands, Parkston</p> <p>Jared Burggraff, Tri Valley</p> <p>Hayden Schmidt, Mt. Vernon/Plankinton</p> <p>Kylar Hansen, McCook Central/Montrose</p> <p>Dillan Thuringer, Parkston</p> <p><strong><u>Third Team</u></strong></p> <p>Trajan Holliday, Wagner</p> <p>Trevor Holliday, Wagner</p> <p>Noah Jewett, Tri Valley</p> <p>Devin Rihanek, Mt Vernon/Plankinton</p> <p>Bryce Scieszinksi, Bone Homme</p> <p>Jesse Muth, McCook Central/Montrose</p>