The Lake Conference Preview
At NHR we kick off the conference previews with the state’s biggest teams, the Lake Conference. Last Year. Hopkins went 31-1 and won the state title while Eden Prairie had a tough record but joined Hopkins at state. The Royals…
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Continue ReadingAt NHR we kick off the conference previews with the state’s biggest teams, the Lake Conference.
Last Year. Hopkins went 31-1 and won the state title while Eden Prairie had a tough record but joined Hopkins at state. The Royals won the Lake by a game last year (they were 7-1, Wayzata was 6-2) while Minnetonka and Eden Prairie fell to last place. EP beat Tonka in the playoffs, Edina had a nice run beating Jefferson and Prior Lake before falling to EP in sections, and Wayzata was upset by three to Cooper in the section semis.
Conference Commentary
State Contender: Hopkins
The Royals will be different because they don’t have the prototype Royal lead guard they’ve had forever, but they do have a lot of talent and will be contenders to defend their title. They have size in Simon Wright, Joseph Hedstrom, and Zeke Nnaji, a load of wings including Jon Martens, Daryl Mayfield, Ishmael El-Amin, and Anthony Davis, and a freshman lead guard in Blaise Beauchamp. Blaise, El-Amin, and Davis all have the talent to take care of the ball with Blaise being the pure PG but young. The talent is there for another run.
Top Ten in State Right Now: Eden Prairie
How do you look at EP right now? The team that went .500 last year and was 2-6 in the conference? Or the team that made the state tournament? We are looking at this squad and considering that they bring back leading scorer Owen Chose plus they have young guys with a lot of experience in Kyler Kluge, Austin Andrews, and Drake Dobbs who are very talented and likely ready to go despite their age. Add in that Antonio Montero, Will Pahl, and DJ Johnson are also experienced players that return.
Potential Top Ten: Edina and Wayzata
The Trojans are coming off a year where they won 21 games and six of eight Lake games but that loss to Cooper still stings. Edina was 18-11 a season ago and was a game away from state plus they bring back one of the better talents in the league in Walt McGrory. The Hornets have three of their top five scorers back in McGrory, Anders Nelson, and Jimmy Connell. The Trojans have a pair of double figure scorers returning in MN State Moorhead committed Gavin Baumgartner and UST committed Ryan Lindberg plus a handful of role players.
Compete with Most: Minnetonka
Tonka will have a fourth guy running their program now in three seasons of basketball but Ryan Freeberg has a teaching job at the school and is looking to be there for the long haul. Tonka doesn’t have the returning talent that others do but Burt Hedstrom and Zeke Carver-Bagley are coming off excellent summers and Tonka has some nice young players.
Conference Predictions
- Hopkins
- Eden Prairie
- Wayzata
- Edina
- Minnetonka
Preseason All Lake
First Team
Ishmael El-Amin, Hopkins, Sr.
Simon Wright, Hopkins, Sr.
Owen Chose, Eden Prairie, Sr
Walt McGrory, Edina, Sr.
Gavin Baumgartner, Wayzata, Sr
Second Team
Anthony Davis, Hopkins, Jr.
Ryan Lindberg, Wayzata, Sr.
Kyler Kluge, Eden Prairie, Jr.
Anders Nelson, Edina, Jr.
Burt Hedstrom, Minnetonka, Sr.
Third Team
Daryl Mayfield, Hopkins, Sr
Joseph Hedstrom, Hopkins, Jr
Zeke Nnaji, Hopkins, So.
Zeke Carver-Bagley, Minnetonka, Sr.
Jimmy Connell, Edina, Sr.
Drake Dobbs, Eden Prairie, Fr.