The Junior All State Team
Minnesota’s Junior All State Team has been named today starting with the first and obvious choice, state champ Tre Jones of Apple Valley.
First Team
Tre Jones of Apple Valley. The state champion, the player of the year, the state’s top player, and an all around champion. On both ends. Jones put together two of the better high school games I’ve seen from a player at the state tournament last weekend. Westbrook Numbers? Closest thing we have with 23.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 7.5 assist. Plus he has two rings.
Daniel Oturu of CDH. Oturu took his team full of juniors to state, he led the state in boards, led the state in blocks, and he scored between 17 and 18 a game this year. Oturu was better than I think most expected. Fantastic season inside.
Gabe Kalscheur of DeLaSalle. Gabe is a two year starter and a three time varsity player for the six time defending champs. Gabe scored 17-18 in a game playing along side of Goanar Mar. A champ again.
Race Thompson of Robbinsdale Armstrong. At 20 points, nine boards, and four assists a game Race led the Falcons to a better season than many expected them to have. The Falcons won 18 games.
Calvin Wishart of Delano. Wishart put up 27.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 8.2 assists a contest. His team won 20 games and Wishart was a constant highlight show all year. He’s the closest thing to a Minnesota Harden numbers wise.
Second Team
Owen King of Caledonia. Another 25 wins for the Warriors, another season sitting at the top of the Class AA rankings, and another year that Owen King was a playmaker in many ways. 18 points, six rebounds, and nearly seven assists a game.
Adam Trapp of Esko. Trapp averaged a double-double and was one of the state’s leaders in blocks again plus led his team to 26 wins. Also scored 16 points a contest (with 14 boards and five plus blocks) and few teams even tried to attack him inside.
Goodnews Kpegeol of North St. Paul. The Polars had a better season than expected with 17 victories and it was Kpegeol stepping forward with 21 points per game and doing some of everything.
Michael Schaefer of St Cloud Cathedral. Led his team to state with 21.5 points and ten boards a night. A double-double average for a team that got past the hurdle of state and Michael led the way.
Michael Jones of Woodbury. Scored over 25 a game in aggressive style for a 20 win Royals team that was ranked in the top ten even after some player losses. Jones had to carry the offense at times and did it well.
Third Team
Both Gach of Austin. Both scored 16 plus a game, dished out over four assists a game, grabbed four boards, hit 40 plus percent of his threes, and led Austin to the title game.
Jarvis Thomas of Orono. His average of 16 points and ten rebounds a contest helped Orono win 23 games and come closer to beating DeLaSalle than anyone.
JaVonni Bickham of Minnehaha Academy. The big on the Class AA state champs had a season of 15 points and nine plus rebounds a game. Bickham missed nine games to injury and still came back strong.
Ryan Larson of CDH. Led the state in assists with 8.8 a game, led his team to state after winning a title last year, and scored 13.7 a night.
Odell Wilson of Minneapolis North. The Polars won another state title and Odell averaged a double-double of 17 points and ten boards a game.
Fourth Team
Matt Todd of Monticello. An average of 25.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and five assists a night. Huge numbers for a team that struggled early but did get better.
Duoth Gach of Austin. Duoth scored 16 a game like his bother and improved his three point shooting to 43 percent for the Class AAA runner-up.
Wendell Matthews of Columbia Heights. Double-double guy for a state team averaging 16 a night and earned all state tourney for his efforts.
Mitchell Plombon of Cathedral. 19 points and 8.5 boards a game for a state team that got past some obstacles they couldn’t get past in previous years.
Zach Theisen of Osseo. The Orioles don’t go away, they just have varying type of good seasons. Zach had 22 points a game for a 21 win season.
Max Bjorklund of Orono. The top scorer for the Spartans who put up 20 a game this year and led Orono to being the second best Class AA team in state.
Fifth Team
Nathan Rund of Fergus Falls. Led the Otters back to state with 13 points, three boards, and four assists a game.
Luke Martens of Apple Valley. Second leading scorer and an high level defender for the state champs.
Noah Kannegiesser of Hancock. The Owls had a fantastic season led by the 26 points per game from Noah. One of the state’s best scorers that people may not know.
Brevyn Spann-Ford of St. Cloud Tech. Tiger leader put together 14 a night for the 22 win Tigers with 7.5 rebounds.
Aaron Gill of HSRA. Aaron had an explosive 28 points and 11 rebounds a contest this winter.
Ethan Youso of Virginia. 19 points a night for a 26 win team plus ten boards.