The Metro East Preview
North St. Paul earned a Metro East title last year by two games. There’s been a lot of change in the league in the last eight months, who is the favorite now? Conference Commentary Top Ten in State – South…
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Continue ReadingNorth St. Paul earned a Metro East title last year by two games. There’s been a lot of change in the league in the last eight months, who is the favorite now?
Conference Commentary
Top Ten in State – South St. Paul
The Packers resurgence will take another step. As a young team they won 18 games. The group can no longer be called “young” with Marquise Gleb Marquise Gleb 6'2" | SF South St. Paul | 2021 State MN being a senior leader and producer, Alonzo Dodd Alonzo Dodd 6'2" | CG South St Paul | 2022 State MN one of the elite players in the class as a junior, Shawn West-Zimpel Shawn West-Zimpel 6'2" | SG South St. Paul | 2022 State MN as a transfer over ready for his junior year, and Max Wilson being a top ten sophomore in state. It’s a group of players ready to make a run, and that run should mean winning this league.
Top 25 in State – Tartan, Simley
Mark Klingsporn isn’t about to let South St. Paul just step in and take this. The Titans have been winning 20 or more games since I started paying attention to basketball (hopefully they get to play 20 games this winter). Dewayne Thompson Dewayne Thompson 6'1" | PG Tartan | 2021 State MN steps over from Henry Sibley and based on what I was reading in the Breakdown book, his teammates have Mr. Basketball award winner level faith in him. Both Thompson and Curtis Favors Curtis Favors 6'3" | SG Tartan | 2021 State MN on this team, Tartan will be very tough to beat. Another team that will be tough to knock off is Simley. With one of the league’s best backcourts returning from a .500 team – RJ Jioklow and Breyton Buysman Breyton Buysman 6'3" | SG Simley | 2021 State MN – Simley has a real chance to be a top three team in the Metro West.
Compete with Most – Hastings, Mahtomedi, North St. Paul
The Raiders of Hastings won’t fall far despite losing four starters. They play some of the best team basketball around meaning Evan McGinnis and Japhi Gudissa (the best two players back) are going to be tough to deal with. There isn’t much size on the team though. Mahtomedi is another team that plays a tough brand of basketball but lost a lot of talent. The transfer of Cal Greene Cal Greene 6'7" | SF Mahtomedi | 2021 MN to a school in Tennessee made things even tougher. Will Underwood Will Underwood 6'0" | PG Mahtomedi | 2023 State MN and Ryan Maule will be a tough backcourt. NSP won the league last season but has gone through a lot of change with four starters gone and a new head coach taking over. The hold over is Laron Thomas Laron Thomas 6'1" | SG North St. Paul | 2021 State MN , one of the hardest working active players out there.
Rebuilding – Henry Sibley, Hill-Murray, St. Thomas Academy
All three of these teams struggled last year. Sibley losses the most from last season so they will have the most change to go through. Hill-Murray has the most back but they struggled the most in league play. St. Thomas is likely the best bet to take a step forward, but they were only a two win team last year.
20-21 Conference Predictions
- South St. Paul
- Tartan
- Simley
- Hastings
- Mahtomedi
- North St. Paul
- St. Thomas Academy
- Henry Sibley
- Hill-Murray
Preseason All Metro East
First Team
Alonzo Dodd Alonzo Dodd 6'2" | CG South St Paul | 2022 State MN of South St. Paul (Jr)
RJ Jioklow of Simley (Jr)
Laron Thomas Laron Thomas 6'1" | SG North St. Paul | 2021 State MN of North St. Paul (Sr)
Maxsamus Wilson Maxsamus Wilson 6'3" | CG Hopkins | 2023 State MN of South St. Paul (Soph)
Shawn West-Zimpel Shawn West-Zimpel 6'2" | SG South St. Paul | 2022 State MN of South St. Paul (Jr)
Second Team
Breyton Buysman Breyton Buysman 6'3" | SG Simley | 2021 State MN of Simley (Sr)
Curtis Favors Curtis Favors 6'3" | SG Tartan | 2021 State MN of Tartan (Sr)
Marquise Gleb Marquise Gleb 6'2" | SF South St. Paul | 2021 State MN of South St. Paul (Sr)
Dewayne Thompson Dewayne Thompson 6'1" | PG Tartan | 2021 State MN of Tartan (Sr)
Will Underwood Will Underwood 6'0" | PG Mahtomedi | 2023 State MN of Mahtomedi (Soph)
Third Team
AJ Burns of Tartan (Jr)
Ryan Chamberlain Ryan Chamberlain 6'5" | SF St. Thomas Academy | 2021 State MN of St. Thomas (Sr)
Japhi Gudissa of Hastings (Sr)
Evan McGinnis of Hastings (Sr)
Luke Vandermeer Luke Vandermeer 6'5" | PF Simley | 2021 State MN of Simley (Sr)
Fourth Team
Yenika Fondongallah of St. Thomas (Sr)
Ramontay Harmon Ramontay Harmon 5'10" | PG South St Paul | 2022 State MN of South St. Paul (Jr)
Cameron Latvis Cameron Latvis 6'2" | SG Henry Sibley | 2021 MN of Henry Sibley (Sr)
Ryan Maule of Mahtomedi (Sr)
Sam Yanz of Hill-Murray (Jr)