The Suburban East Preview
The Suburban East has been one of the better and more entertaining leagues in recent years. Today we look at the SEC continuing with our previews.
Last Year. The SEC races have been fun especially last year. East Ridge and Woodbury won the league with 14-2 records while CDH was right behind them at 13-3. CDH won the section though and went to state earning the biggest honor of the group for the year. Forest Lake was right behind them at 10-6 and there was something to be said for Roseville being 8-8 in league play (they went 1-10 outside of league play though).
Conference Commentary
State Contender: Cretin-Derham Hall, East Ridge
CDH is one of the three teams that many consider to be a very real contender for the state title along with Hopkins and Apple Valley. The Raiders were 23-9 a year ago and won consolation at state and they bring their entire team back. That team includes a nationally ranked top 40 player (Oturu), a D1 offered forward (Chatman), a D2 offered PG (Larson), a worker in Jake Prince, and a D2 committed shooter (King). Plus they have a lot of other talent returning that is athletic and now more experienced.
East Ridge is in that next group of teams that either has the talent or the pedigree, but they are still somewhat young. The Raptors surprised a lot of people by going 22-6 a year ago and now they have one of the state’s best young coaches in Bryce Tesdahl. With leading scorer Courtney Brown Jr back as a junior, Ben Carlson being a sophomore, and Kendall Brown ready to make a freshman contribution this team is top five worthy.
Potential Top Ten: Woodbury, Forest Lake
The Royals of Woodbury will likely start the year in the top ten as they have a well coached team and a strong scorer in Michael Jones who is committed to Davidson. Jones has support in David Alston up front, DJ Fleming at guard, and Ray Sean Treadwell on the wing so they are likely a top ten mainstay. Forest Lake will be up in the top four battling it out as well as they are the section 7AAAA favorite this season with an explosive backcourt of Manny Jingco and John Schrader.
Compete with Most: White Bear Lake, Roseville
We spoke of Roseville being 8-8 in the league and with talented kids back (highlighted by Drew Adams and Jovan Hunter as seniors) they should be able to hit that again plus improve their non-league record. White Bear Lake has been struggling for a long time but this should be the year that they climb into the double win area. Blake Charles and Sam Schwartz are nice players.
Question Mark: Park of CG, Mounds View
Mounds View went 12-16 last year with senior guards and now we really don’t know what they have coming back to lead this program of strong tradition. They are often given the benefit because they have been so well respected but this could be a year they slip. Park? The Wolfpack have some players we at Prep Hoops love in Charlie Gorres and Domenik Block but who will be there coach this year? The program keeps going through more and more changes. If Park gets a coach who can lead these guys in a solid way they could be very good.
Rebuilding: Stillwater
The Ponies went 3-24 last season and lost their best player Manny Jingco to transfer. We’ve seen some good young players recently but there is likely a long way to go.
Conference Predictions
- Cretin-Derham Hall
- East Ridge
- Woodbury
- Forest Lake
- Roseville
- Park of Cottage Grove
- White Bear Lake
- Mounds View
- Stillwater
Preseason All SEC
First Team
Courtney Brown Jr of East Ridge, Jr
Ben Carlson of East Ridge, Soph
Michael Jones of Woodbury, Sr
Ryan Larson of CDH, Sr
Daniel Oturu of CDH, Sr
Second Team
Sy Chatman of CDH, Sr
Charlie Gorres of Park, Jr
Manny Jingco of Forest Lake, Sr
Jaeden King of CDH, Jr
Jake Prince of CDH, Sr
Third Team
Drew Adams, Roseville, Sr
Kendall Brown of East Ridge, Fr.
DJ Fleming of Woodbury, Sr
Jovan Hunter, Roseville, Sr
John Schrader of Forest Lake, Jr.
Sam Schwartz of White Bear Lake, Jr