It’s Tuesday December 5 and Minnesota boys have already played 188 high school basketball games, so we’d better get caught up with that. Not only that but the Breakdown Boys Tip-Off Classic is next Saturday and it is of course one of the biggest days of the year in boys basketball (though of course it’s not really the “tip-off” anymore; by Saturday the boys will have played 499 games, but never mind that). First, we’ll preview the season. Later in the week, we’ll preview the Tip-Off.
Class AAAA
We’re going to preview the season as a whole by offering our predictions for next March’s state tournament. The rankings listed here are strictly those of the Minnesota Basketball News, which represent the work and wisdom of reporter Bruce Strand. Again below are my predicted state tournament matchups. And, by the way, you can see 9 of the top 10 AAAA teams, all but Shakopee, at Saturday’s Tip-Off.
#1 rank and #1 seed Park Center vs. #14 and unseeded Blaine. Park Center PG Casmir Chavis is very possibly the best or at least the highest impact player in the state.
#5 and #4 seed Shakopee vs. #9 and #5 seed Buffalo.
#2 and #2 Wayzata vs. #17 and unseeded Cretin. 1st Wayzata will have to come out of the state’s toughest section, 6AAAA, where Minnetonka and Hopkins lurk. Wayzata PF Jackson McAndrew is a 2nd very strong Mr. Basketball contender.
#3 and #3 Lakeville North vs. #10 and unseeded Eastview.
Watch for Park Center and Wayzata to meet for the state title for the 3rd straight year. I don’t think that has ever happened before in any class. If they do, it will be the rubber match, Park Center winning in 2022 and Wayzata last year in OT. Park Center returns Chavis, forwards Chiang Ring and Jackson Fowlkes, and also has transfer Temi Omotoyinbo. Wayzata has McAndrew and transfer Christian Wiggins, but lost its #2 through #6 scorers. We’ll take Park Center.
The top 5 players are Chavis, McAndrew, Jack Robison of Lakeville North, Jon Mekonnen of Eastview, and the top underclassman Jayden Moore of Hopkins.
Class AAA
It’s entirely possible that you’ll see Totino Grace and DeLaSalle in the Class AAA final, also for the 3rd straight time. Again, that’s never happened before but if it happens twice in 2024, well, just chalk it up to the rich-get-richer structure of this world we live in. But, while TG is rated #1, De is rated just #8 which, for them, is pretty much unheard of. One suspects they’ll be better than that. But while we expect AAAA to go more or less according to Hoyle, we’re picking a couple of upsets in AAA.
#1 rank and #1 seed Totino Grace vs. #11 and unseeded Hermantown.
#5 and #4 seed Delano vs. #6 and #5 seed Stewartville. Delano wins in section 6AAA in a big upset over #2 Benilde.
#3 rank and #2 seed Alexandria vs. #13 and unseeded New Ulm. New Ulm surprises #7 Mankato East in section 2AAA.
#8 rank and #3 seed DeLaSalle vs. #12 and unseeded St. Paul Highland Park. Highland surprises #10 South St. Paul in section 3AAA.
Again, it’s possible–in fact, we’ll say likely–that TG and DLS will meet for the 3rd straight year. Both teams lost a ton of firepower to graduation, and TG lost one prominent out-bound transfer. But TG returns 5 rotation players, 2 of whom are listed among the metro’s top 10 underclassmen. DeLaSalle has traded guards with Columbia Heights and returns 4 other rotation players, though none is of the stature of TG’s top guys. Still, you could have gone broke betting against DeLaSalle for the past decade, and I’m not starting now. Still, TG beats De in the final to make it a clean sweep. Alexandria and Delano, along with AAAA Buffalo, are Minnesota’s best “small town teams,” but not good enough to make the AAA final.
The top players in AAA are Grayson Groves, Alex; Abraham Soumis of Hermantown; Will Strandemo of Delano; Henry Tschetter, Stewartville; and Jalen Wilson, Benilde.
Class AA
#1 rank and #1 seed Breck vs. #7 and unseeded Esko. Breck returns 4 of their top 6 players from a 19-9 team, and then they added Daniel Frietag, a transfer from Bloomington Jefferson who is one of the top 5 players in the state.
#5 and #4 Minnehaha vs. #6 and #5 Eden Valley-Watkins. The RedHawks lost 2 outbound transfers but still have enough firepower to get to the Final 4.
#2 and #2 Lake City vs. #10 and unseeded Minnesota Valley Lutheran. Getting past Caledonia in Section 1AA will be tougher than this game.
#4 and #3 seed Albany vs. unranked and unseeded Perham. Defending state champion Albany returns just 2 of their top 4 but should make it to the Final 4.
I look for Breck and Lake City in the final with Minnehaha and Caledonia as the top roadblocks, respectively. Breck is the obvious favorite. The top players are of course Frietag; junior Sam Hondl of Albany; Hunter Lorentson, Lake City; Jerome Williams, Minnehaha; and Kole Hanson, Holy Family.
Class A
#1 rank and #1 seed Cherry vs. #19 and unseeded Fillmore Central.
#4 and #4 Nevis vs. #7 and #5 Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s.
#2 and #2 Cass Lake-Bena vs. #9 and unseeded Henning.
#3 and #3 Dawson-Boyd vs. #15 and unseeded Heritage Christian.
We’ll stick with Cherry in the upper bracket, while the lower bracket is wide open, but we’ll stick our neck out and say that whoever the lower bracket survivor is will pull an upset in the final. Flip a coin; we’ll take Cass Lake.
The top players are Minnesota Gopher recruit Isaac Asuma, Cherry; Kaydin Lee, Cass Lake; Alex Lester, Nevis; and Drew Werkman, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton.
All-State
PF- Jackson McAndrew, Wayzata, 6-9 (Creighton)
SF- Grayson Groves, Alexandria, 6-9 (Minnesota)
PG- Casmir Chavis, Park Center, 6-2 (Washington)
CG- Daniel Freitag, Breck, 6-2 (Wisconsin)
CG- Isaac Asuma, Cherry, 6-2 (Minnesota)
6th Player–Jack Robison, Lakeville North, 6-6 (Wisconsin)
2nd Team
PF- Jon Mekonnen, Eastview, 6-6 (Colorado State)
SF- Abraham Soumis, Hermantown, 6-4
W- Jalen Wilson, Benilde, 6-7, jr.
PG- Jayden Moore, Hopkins, 5-10, soph.
CG- Kole Hanson, Holy Family, 6-2 (UMD)
6th Player- Sam Hondl, Albany, 6-6, jr.
3rd Team
C- Chiang Ring, Totino-Grace, 6-9
F- Henry Tschetter, Stewartville, 6-4
PG- Hunter Lorentson, Lake City, 5-10
CG- Alex Lester, Nevis, 5-10
SG- Will Strandemo, Delano, 5-11
6th Player- Jerome Williams, Minnehaha, 5-10