Section 5A Preview
Playoffs?!? The playoffs are right around the corner. With small-school section tournaments set to begin next week, it’s time to turn our attention to the postseason. See Previous Section Previews Here Section 1A Section 2A Section 3A Section 4A Here’s…
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Continue ReadingPlayoffs?!? The playoffs are right around the corner. With small-school section tournaments set to begin next week, it’s time to turn our attention to the postseason.
See Previous Section Previews Here
Here’s what you need to know about Section 5A
Section 5 has a number of quality teams though it looks the most likely of all the sections to see the same section final as last year given the way the seedings and subsection lines might shake out.
Favorite: Cromwell-Wright, Hinckley-Finlayson
Cromwell-Wright will win more than 20 games this year and head into the postseason as the top seed in the north subsection of 5A. Micah Pocernich is one of the best guards in the state, averaging 18.9 points and 5.7 rebounds along with 2.8 steals per game while knocking down 44 percent of his 3-pointers. Marcus Pocernich stuffs the stat sheet as well, averaging 12.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists and Cameron Cahoon averages 11.1 points and 6.9 rebounds.
The Cardinals haven’t faced a lot of the top-end teams in Section 5A, so it’s difficult to say they’ve been tested much at this point. But they went deep in the section tournament a year ago and look primed to go deep again thanks to a combination of terrific shooting and excellent defense.
Hickley-Finlayson went to state a year ago and while the Jaguars have had to retool after graduating a big chunk of their core, they’ve got the athletes and the overall talent to make a return trip. They’ve played a decent schedule and seem to be peaking at the right time with six straight wins.
Dion Bearstail is solid inside and Anders Prater, Cedric LaFave and Lavone Kroschel give them three reliable perimeter options.
Contenders: Nevis, Pine River-Backus
Nevis has been solid this year and looks like a dangerous team out of Section 5A-North. Michael Landquist is back in the lineup, giving the Tigers some stability up front. He’s not necessarily the go-to guy though as junior Luke DeWulf and Freshman Eddie Kramer give the Tigers an excellent perimeter duo. Those two have really emerged as go-to scorers and Derek Lindow provides a solid third perimeter scorer.
Pine River-Backus will win more than 20 games by the end of the regular season and will likely settle into the No. 2 seed in the north subsection. The Tigers have a really good core of young players led by junior guard Brady Raph. Raph leads the team in scoring at 18.5 points per game while knocking down 42 percent of his triples. Torry Hirschey is a senior guard who makes things go as well, as he leads the team in rebounding (6.5 per game) and assists (5.2) plus averages 16.8 points.
In the Mix: Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley, Browerville/Eagle Valley
WHA has one of the best offenses in the section, averaging better than 66 points per game. Cole Rasmussen, Cole Nelson and Zach Josephson give the Wolves three strong scoring options.
Browerville/Eagle Valley leans on its defense to win games as it surrenders just 52 points a night. The Tigers have enjoyed a lot of success against the rest of the section and has been competitive in the losses against top teams in the section.
Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa looks like the second best team in the south subsection behind Hickley-Finlayson. Senior guard Evan Wiener and freshman guard Ashton Dingmann give the Jaguars two gamebreakers on the offensive end of the floor.