Class AAA Section Darkhorses

Matt Bigelow

October 23, 2019 @ 11:00 AM

It isn’t often that the team that isn’t the favorite in its respective section doesn’t ultimately win it. But upsets at the high school level certainly can happen. Here are teams from each section that could surprise. Section 1AAA: Simley Favorite: Austin Austin has been the class of this section for a while now and the Packers will undoubtedly be the favorite again this winter. But Simley is a team that could be improved this winter and has the athletes to make things interesting in a section setting. Breyton Buysman and Ruot Jioklow were both double-figure scorers as underclassmen last year and appear poised to take the next step this upcoming season. If the team can improve on the defensive end, the Spartans are dangerous. Section 2AAA: St. Peter Favorite: Mankato East Mankato East and Marshall figure to duke it out for section supremacy here but don’t sleep on St. Peter making the jump from Class AA to AAA. Wyatt Olson is among the best players in the section and the Saints have the complementary talent plus experience to give any team a game Section 3AAA: South St. Paul Favorite: Holy Angels Holy Angels gets the ‘favorite’ label as the Stars return two starters from a state tournament team. But watch out for South St. Paul. The Packers won just eight games a year ago but were extremely young and return a number of talented players who should be even better this winter. Marquis Glebb and Alonzo Dodd give them a terrific backcourt pair and Marcus Brown is a potential double-double guy up front. Section 4AAA: St. Anthony Village Favorite: Minnehaha Minnehaha is the heavy favorite in this section and Totino-Grace will be up there among the elite teams in Class AAA. Don’t sleep on St. Anthony Village though, as the Saints always seem to produce solid teams. They went .500 a year ago before losing in the first round of section play but return star guard Tait Nelson who averaged 21 points per game as a junior. Max Kachman joins him in the backcourt to form a potentially deadly duo. Section 5AAA: Zimmerman Favorite: Delano Section 5 was arguably the weakest region in Class AAA last year and it figures to be anybody’s guess again this year. Delano returns the most talent from a year ago but even the Tigers face big questions. Zimmerman won just eight games last season, but the Thunder return stud forward Carter McEachern who is one of the five or so best players in the section. Jake Hagstrom, Nolan Spence and Aanonsen were all complementary players last year and are back too. If the Thunder batten down the hatches a little bit on the defensive end of the floor, they've got the firepower to put a scare into someone. Section 6AAA: Waconia Favorite: DeLaSalle DeLaSalle will be among the favorites to win the Class AAA title despite perhaps not having the kind of overwhelming talent of typical years. Still, there’s experience all over the floor, an instilled defensive culture and no shortage of athletic talent in place to carry the Islanders to a lot of wins. Waconia could be a solid challenger though. PJ Hayes is one of the best shot-makers in Class AAA and heads into his fourth year as a starter. Connor Schwob is a solid do-it-all type guy up front and the Wildcats always have solid, steady players ready to contribute. Section 7AAA: Hermantown Favorite: Hibbing Hermantown was one of the favorites from this section a year ago and while the Hawks won’t have quite the same kind of firepower they did a year ago, they’ve still got the best point guard in the section in senior Peter Soumis. Kaden Kucza returns on the wing to provide secondary playmaking. And the frontcourt of Sam Mesedahl, Dalton Everett and Kevin Thomas should provide plenty of defense, rebounding and finishing ability. Section 8AAA: Alexandria Favorite: St. Cloud Apollo Treyton Thompson’s departure certainly lowers the ceiling and floor for Alexandria, but don’t think the Cardinals don’t have a chance to be very good again this winter. Thompson’s exit didn’t come out of nowhere and there are a lot of excellent players still in the program, seemingly ready for big opportunity. Keep an eye on junior guard Colton Roderick. He’ll be in the mix for Player-of-the-Year in the Central Lakes. Carson Jones is rock-solid and Kristen Hoskins could be a breakout player on the wing.