Way-Too-Early Preview: Jamestown
The Jamestown Bluejays were one of the final four teams standing at the end of the 2019-20 season when the state tournament was cut short. They reached the WDA championship game the week prior. They did all this with essentially…
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Continue ReadingThe Jamestown Bluejays were one of the final four teams standing at the end of the 2019-20 season when the state tournament was cut short. They reached the WDA championship game the week prior. They did all this with essentially the team that will return for the 2020-21 season – providing plenty of cause for excitement as a team that should contend for a state title.
Go-To Guy: Carson Lamp
Lamp is the frontrunner for the Player-of-the-Year in the WDA and undoubtedly a preseason All-State guy. He earned all-state honors last year, averaging nearly 16 points, 4.1 assists and 4.2 rebounds while maintaining excellent scoring efficiency. He’s a terrific two-way lead guard who can score, create for his teammates, guard up an opposing lineup and control the game.
Breakout Candidate: Jacob Hilgemann
Despite returning a huge chunk of last year’s team, there’s a number of guys who are reasonable bets to break out. Keith Levin was a distant fourth option on the team’s offensive totem pole last year and looks like a double-double guy going into next year. But that feels like an expectation. Shea Carroll should see an uptick in production with an increased role on the perimeter. There are a couple of juniors in Devin Beach and Luke Van Berkom in particular who should join the varsity lineup and provide juice.
But the guy who I expect to take a leap in productivity is senior guard Jacob Hilgemann. He was a rotation guy on Jamestown’s state title winning team as a sophomore and averaged seven points, four rebounds and four assists as a junior. He’s extremely smart, very efficient and a rock-solid defender. He’s capable of scoring more if necessary, but the Bluejays didn’t need it much last year with the firepower they had. With teams likely gearing up to slow down Lamp and Brooks Carroll, expect Hilgemann to score more while continuing to provide solid production in a lot of other areas too.
Question: What’s the depth look like?
The top five guys for Jamestown are rock-solid with Lamp, Brooks Carroll, Hilgemann, Levin and Shea Carroll. That core is good enough for the Bluejays to contend for WDA and state titles on its own. But after those five, the effectiveness of the depth guys remains to be seen. Matt Anderson saw some time off the bench as a junior and gives the team some size, and guys like Beach, Van Berkom and Ty Moser should be in position to earn minutes in complementary fashion. Developing that next wave of guys is going to be a priority for the Bluejays.
Outlook
There’s little doubt that the Bluejays are among the top-five teams in Class A heading into next year. Despite playing through the postseason without Boden Skunberg, they advanced to the WDA championship and reached the state semifinals. They’ve got excellent guard play with Lamp, Hilgemann and Shea Carroll. Brooks Carroll is one of the best shooters in the state and averaged 20 points per game in the postseason. Levin figures to be one of the best bigs in the WDA. And there’s reason to believe the depth is going to be a strength. It’s a complete team without a lot of clear weaknesses. Expect the Bluejays to top the polls when the season comes around.