Class AA: Five Sleeper Teams to Watch in 18-19
What team will make the surprise trip to state this March? It could come from our list of 2018-19 sleepers today.
Rochester Lourdes. Lourdes who has all their key pieces back but a year older and ready for a run: Matthew Hayford, Colin Meade, Antewan Webber. Hayford is the top returning scorer and guard for Lourdes after putting up 16 a game in 17-18. Meade is a power forward who produces another 16 a game who is tough to keep from finishing at the Class AA level. Then you have Webber, the wild card. He’s an excellent slashing athlete that has the ability to score even more than the 20 a game he put up last year.
Cristo Rey Jesuit. We aren’t saying that Cristo Rey is going to knock off Minnehaha Academy but we do feel that this is a team that could set up camp in the top ten and maybe stay there for awhile. Junior James Sommer averaged nearly 20 points per game as a sophomore plus had an excellent off-season playing at the 17 and Under level with Mentality Minnesota. Also, sophomore Eric Burgess has played like a star in the making and brother Derrick (also a sophomore) is quite talented himself.
Rockford. Standing in the shadow of the metro schools (Mpls North, Maranatha, Breck, BC) is Rockford with Luke Pepin and Nick Manthana returning. Rockford won with balance a year ago and it was Manthana that the team relied on for offensive production more than anybody. Nick could have a huge senior season and Pepin is another that should have a big year.
Barnum. They could be sub-section favorite entering the year. A 20-win team a year ago with leading scorers Tyler Nynas and Samuel Goodwin back to lead. Nynas is one of the state’s top under the radar seniors. Pillager moves on to a new era with Spencer Schaefer and Ty Swenson taking the torch from last year’s 17-win seniors.
Hawley. Hawley seems to have the momentum. Noah Glad and Jayden Carlisle are experienced as near 20 point per game scorers that had a nice end of the year run that finished with a two score loss to Breckenridge in the playoffs. Glad is a frontcourt player that scored 18 a game as a junior and good teams had a lot of trouble slowing him down. Carlisle is the top backcourt producer who scored 16 a contest.
Five More
Le Sueur-Henderson
St. Croix Prep
Pine City
Osakis
East Grand Forks