The Mississippi 8 Preview

<p>Today we feature the Mississippi 8, a league that has undergone some change but is still a quality basketball group with some good talent. </p> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <p><strong>Potential Top Ten:</strong>  Cambridge-Isanti, Monticello</p> <p>The Bluejackets lost five seniors from their nine man rotation including three of the team's top four scorers.  That said they still have two excellent shooters and creators for the team in potential mega scorer Henry Abraham and Micah Ladd.  The Magic lost five of their top six guys but one of those players is Austin Wetter and there are two reserve guards returning as well. </p> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Princeton, Rogers, Big Lake, Chisago Lakes</p> <p>Will Princeton be as good as last year?  Of course not.  They were 27-5 and one of the elite teams in Class AAA.  The senior class comprised five senior double figure scorers.  But will they fall off? No.  Princeton has a heck of a PG and another nice group of seniors. Rogers was 11-16 last year, graduated three starters, but has a nice group of senior guards/wings this year.  Should be around or just below .500.  Big Lake shortened the rotation last year to seven and the five starters of the group graduated.  That said, there are enough good players to come close to that 13-win year, maybe. Chisago Lakes won seven games last year but return three of their key guys and could hit double figure wins. </p> <p><strong>Rebuilding:</strong> St. Francis, North Branch</p> <p>St. Francis won five games last year with a good post in Schroeder and a senior line-up around him.  They could be good as I believe the guards should be okay but if they couldn't win more than five games last year I don't know how this year can be much different. North Branch has a couple good players back from last year's team so they could make a jump if they have the depth. </p> <p><strong>19-20 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <ol> <li>Cambridge-Isanti</li> <li>Monticello</li> <li>Princeton</li> <li>Rogers</li> <li>Big Lake</li> <li>Chisago Lakes</li> <li>North Branch</li> <li>St. Francis</li> </ol> <p><strong>Preseason All Mississippi 8 Conference </strong></p> <p><strong><u>First Team</u></strong></p> <p>Henry Abraham of Cambridge-Isanti (Sr)</p> <p>Austin Wetter of Monticello (Sr)</p> <p>Wyatt Schroeder of St. Francis (Sr)</p> <p>Tate Laabs of Princeton (Sr)</p> <p>Micah Ladd of Cambridge-Isanti (Sr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Second Team</u></strong></p> <p>Thomas Glad of Rogers (Sr)</p> <p>Jack Iverson of Big Lake (Jr) </p> <p>Drew VanEerden of North Branch (Sr)</p> <p>Jake Hemann of Rogers (Sr)</p> <p>Beau Backes of Chisago Lakes (Sr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Third Team</u></strong></p> <p>AJ Koehler of Chisago Lakes (Jr)</p> <p>Hayden Stay of Princeton (Soph)</p> <p>Calvin Schmitz of Monticello (Jr)</p> <p>Ryan Cox of Cambridge-Isanti (Sr)</p> <p>Sam Simpson of Rogers (Sr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Fourth Team</u></strong></p> <p>Brady Josewski of Big Lake (Sr)</p> <p>Jake Bebeau of Princeton (Sr)</p> <p>Jakob Keller of Monticello (Sr)</p> <p>Carter Whitman of Chisago Lakes (Sr)</p> <p>Connor Braaten of Cambridge-Isanti (Jr)</p> <p>Ryan Sanvik of Chisago Lakes (Jr)</p>