Class AAAA State Preview: Backcourts to Watch

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s never too early for way-too-early season. With fall sports hitting the halfway point soon, attention will start turning to the winter season. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With that in mind, here’s a look at some of the top backcourts in Class AAAA for this upcoming season:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Rochester Mayo:</strong> Gabe Madsen, Mason Madsen and Andre Crockett Jr.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rochester Mayo may be the favorite in Section 1AAAA this year and the primary reason is the Madsen brothers. The two combined to average better than 45 points per game a year ago and while the team was mostly middling in the Big 9, those two are terrific. Crockett Jr. saw big minutes a year ago as a sophomore and averaged eight points per game. He’ll have a big opportunity to put up bigger numbers with so much opposing attention being devoted to the Madsen brothers.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Shakopee:</strong> Will Cordes and Caleb Druvenga</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Sabers will enter the 2019-20 season as a top-10 team in Class AAAA and the returning backcourt of Will Cordes and Caleb Druvenga is a big reason for the hype. Cordes has been on the up for a while now as he had a terrific junior season where he averaged better than 14 points per game. He built on that with an awesome summer with MN Matrix. He is one of the best point guards in Class AAAA. Druvenga is a multi-year starting combo guard for the Sabers and while his scoring went down during his junior year, his impact on the game remains high. Those two join forward Charlie Katona to form one of the best threesomes in the state.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Cretin-Derham Hall:</strong> Tre Holloman and Curtis Jones</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is likely the most purely talented backcourt in the state as Holloman is arguably the best point guard in Class AAAA despite being just a sophomore. He’ll have plenty of ink spilled on his behalf over the next few years but for now, he’s the heart and soul of this Raiders team and controls the game as well as anybody. Jones is a top-tier shooter and will have even more space to operate this year with the abundance of talent at CDH’s disposal.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Buffalo:</strong> Matt Willert and Brandon Maatz</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Buffalo took a big hit over the summer when Tony Dahl was lost for the season with an injury, but the Bison still have a backcourt capable of winning a lot of games. Matt Willert has been one of the most talented scorers in the state since he’s played varsity basketball and is one of the top guys in the 2020 class. He’ll have a bigger load and responsibility to impact the game in more ways than simply scoring now with Dahl and Aidan Bouman gone from the lineup. Maatz is a multi-year starter already. He can really shoot it and has shown he’s a solid secondary playmaker in the past. He’ll have more on his plate this winter as well, but he should be up to it.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Eagan:</strong> Kurt Ohlhues, Finn O’Malley, Cam House and Jack Carlson</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Eagan won 11 games a year ago but the Wildcats could be a lot better this upcoming year as Ohlhues and O’Malley are both returning to the backcourt. Ohlhues averaged 12 points per game a year ago and has the skill to put up close to 20 points a game. He’s a good long-range shooter and is extremely difficult to keep out of the paint when he wants to go the rim. O’Malley averaged 10 points per game as a junior and had a really solid summer on the AAU circuit. House and Carlson were both rotation guys a year ago. </span></p>