Well, the 2019-2020 basketball season is now 1/3 over. The "pre-season" is over. Up next, the grind, the "regular season." And, after that, what we all live for, the "post-season."
Among the boys, the surprises to date are very few and far between in Class AAAA, and then they become more and more numerous as you climb the ladder to AAA, AA and A.
Class AAAA
At this point, I've changed just one of my section favorites--that would be from Wayzata to Hopkins in Section 6AAAA, and that's a weak change. In other words, the Trojans got off to a terrible start due mostly to injuries. So, I'll bite. I'll move the Royals back up into the favorite's spot. But, if Wayzata gets healthy, as they are now showing signs of doing, I might regret the change. Elsewhere, the favorites continue to be Lakeville South, Eden Prairie, Eastview, Cretin, Park Center, Cambridge and Maple Grove.
Even more than the change at the top of Section 6, the surprises are Eastview (7-1, my #3), Lakeville South (now 8-0, #4) and Rochester Mayo (6-1, #10). The big droppers are Wayzata (from #4 to #17), Prior Lake (#3 to #11) and Champlin Park (from #10 to outside the top 20). Also making the latest top 10 are Shakopee and Chaska.
Still, Eden Prairie and Park Center remain at #1 and #2, just in reverse order, and remain our picks to play for the state title. Eastview and Lakeville South are now my other semi-finalists, replacing Prior Lake and Wayzata. And, I see Park Center edging Eden Prairie 68-67 in the state final. You can see these same 2 teams play one another on Saturday, January 18, at Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Coon Rapids at 4:15 p.m.
Dawson Garcia is now hurt, which explains Prior Lake dropping, and so he now shares the lead for AAAA PoY with Dain Dainja, Park Center, and Ben Carlson, East Ridge.
Class AAA
Here, Minnehaha and DeLaSalle remain at #1 and #2. I've changed 3 of my section faves. In Section 2AAA, Marshall (8-0, up from #5 statewide to #3) inches ahead of Mankato East (7-1, down from #3 to #6). In 3AAA, St. Croix Lutheran displaces Holy Angels. In 7AAA, Princeton displaces Hibbing.
St. Cloud Apollo is the big surprise though they were the pre-season Section 8AAA fave, but they were #10 at the time--now unbeaten and #4. The other surprises are Princeton and Marshall. The droppers are Waconia, Holy Angels and Hibbing.
The other section faves after 'Haha, De, Marshall, St. Croix Lutheran, Princeton and Apollo continue to be Austin and Delano. Also in my top 10 is Torino-Grace.
PoY in AAA continues to be Jalen Suggs, of course, and I see Suggs' team beating Marshall 67-65 in the state final after Marshall upsets De in the semis.
Class AA
Class AA is a hot mess with new favorites in 5 sections. In 1AA, Caledonia (8-0) now takes a small lead over Lake City (8-1). In 3AA, unbeaten Tracy-Milroy-Balaton displaces Jackson County Central. In 4AA, St. Croix Prep moves ahead of Cristo Rey Jesuit. In 6AA, Annandale displaces Melrose, and in 7AA, Virginia takes over for Esko.
The big gainers are Annandale, but also Minnesota Valley Lutheran and Blake, all having moved from unranked to the top 10. The big droppers are Cristo Rey, Jordan and Maranatha, who drop from the top 10 and out of the top 15.
The other section faves remain Waseca, Mpls. North and Perham. I foresee Perham 66 Caledonia 65 in the state final.
Class A
There are also new favorites in half of the Class A sections--Blooming Prairie moving ahead of Rushford-Peterson in 1A, Southwest MN Christian ahead of Minneota in 3A, Legacy Christian ahead of Mayer Lutheran in 4A, and Nevis ahead of Cromwell in 5A.
The big movers are Waterville-Elysian-Morristown from #13 to #3, but still #2 in Section 2A behind BOLD; Southwest MN Christian from #14 to #2; and Nevis from unranked to #4. The big droppers are Mayer Lutheran, Minneota and Rushford-Pete.
The other section faves remain Henning, North Woods and Ada. I see Southwest Christian and Nevis replacing Ada and Mayer Lutheran in the state semi-finals, and Southwest Christian beating Henning 65-57 in the final.
Summary
So, overall, the most improved teams from pre-season expectations are:
1. St. Cloud Apollo was #10AAA pre-season. Still, 8-0 was not expected, including wins over Princeton, Cambridge and Maranatha.
2. Eastview was #8AAAA but the win over East Ridge was not expected. Now 7-1 with a loss only to #1 Eden Prairie, they've moved up to #3 ahead of folks like Cretin, Hopkins, Park Center and Prior Lake.
3. Waterville-EM has lost only to defending state champ Henning, and that in 3 OT, so they've moved from #13 to #3 in Class A. They still trail #1A BOLD in their section.
4. Lakeville South. Everything we said about Eastview applies here, and they've moved from #15AAAA to #4.
5. Annandale didn't even make the pre-season top 5 in Section 5AA. Now they're the fave (and #7AA overall) at 6-0 with a win over Maranatha.
6. Southwest MN Christian (6-0).
7. Princeton (7-2).
8. Rochester Mayo (6-1).
9. Marshall (9-0).
10. Minnesota Valley Lutheran (9-0).
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