First Look: 7AA
Aitkin. After six wins and being last in section they can only get better.Barnum. There are some pieces back but they lost their top guy Newman. Crosby-Ironton. Move sections joining NE teams vs the NW squads. Esko. Working on a…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingAitkin. After six wins and being last in section they can only get better.
Barnum. There are some pieces back but they lost their top guy Newman.
Crosby-Ironton. Move sections joining NE teams vs the NW squads.
Esko. Working on a 4-peat. Have a PG/C combo that few have.
Eveleth-Gilbert. .500 last year, there is a little hype with this team
Greenway. 1 win in this hockey crazy place
Hinckley-Finlayson. Of all the Class AA teams over .500, they gave up the most points.
International Falls. 22-6 last year but lost a lot of seniors.
Duluth Marshall. Lost games by an average of 17 points last year.
Mesabi East. Tough times for a proud program. 0-11 vs section teams.
Pequot Lakes. Under .500 last year but bring back nearly all guys.
Pillager. Moved up from class A.
Proctor. This is a program that can score with just about anyone.
Two Harbors. Started good last year, then lost 10 of 11.
Virginia. Had some great years, best may be coming.
Moose Lake/Willow River. How average were they? Scored the same amount of points for the year that they gave up.
Thoughts
- Esko is going to be hard to beat. Why? First off they are going for their fourth straight trip to state and this team is as deliberate on the court as any.
- Why else? They have a PG in Jaxson Turner that has already been apart of 79 wins and he is one of the best leaders in the state. Has a state title medal already as a starter.
- Why else? A 7-foot-1 center building offers from D1 programs in Adam Trapp. Nobody is going to be able to score around the basket against them and when he has the ball by the rim he's going to get hammered or he will finish.
- Adam Trapp is the talk of the area as far as future prospects go and rightfully so. That said, Ethan Youso of Virginia is also going to be listed among the best in 2018 because he's agile, long, skilled, plays with back to the basket or facing, and is very productive.
- Virginia held teams to under .500 points per game last year and they are going to keep getting better behind Ethan. That said, all their top scorers were seniors a year ago. Dietrich Friebe is the top senior.
- Go C-I Go they say and yes, they always keep going. The program is always good. Coach Galovich and Tesdahl are always putting up strong records and keeping that fan base packing the stands.
- This year they have an excellent big in Noah Gindorff plus Jack Silgren and Ben Jordan are nice returning players as well. The Rangers are going to be very good these next couple seasons.
- Rival Pequot Lakes is in a good spot as well. They struggled last year but Hunter Larson and CJ Borleis combined for 29 a game last year and both are back.
- Barnum has Christopher Carlson and Hunter Fetters as top returning players ready to carry the Bomber program into the upcoming years now that Brandon Newman has moved on to college hoops.
- Hinckley-Finlaysion. The house that Rob Shoenrock built (haha). Look at that stat I put up earlier, looking through numbers they gave up the most points of any Class AA team with a winning record.
Section Team
CJ Borleis, Pequot Lakes
Hunter Fetters, Barnum
Dietrich Friebe, Virginia
Noah Gindorff, Crosby-Ironton
TJ Johnson, Hinckley-Finlayson
Hunter Larson, Pequot Lakes
Jack Silgren, Crosby-Ironton
Adam Trapp, Esko
Jaxson Turner, Esko
Ethan Youso, Virgnia