Teams to Watch: 1A Div. II

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The road to the championship will go through through Tribune (which is Hwy. 96 on your way into Colorado, in case you didn't know). The 1A Div. II champ is going to be tough to beat again this year. But there will be some other good teams to watch this year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are some teams to watch in 1A Div. II:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Returners:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Greeley County – The Jackrabbits won a thriller last year to complete a 24-2 season. They will be even better equipped this year, having most of their team back. They're led by all-stater [player_tooltip player_id='1080198' first='Jaxson' last='Brandl'] (pictured), but he'll have help from a couple of top guards in [player_tooltip player_id='1588413' first='Lincoln' last='Shafer'] and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1350726' first='Titus' last='Sherer']</strong>. They are the overwhelming favorite.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Challengers:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Northern Valley – The Huskies have to replace some really good seniors. But they won't have to rebuild, because they return some guys who were big in the run to the third-place finish. Senior <strong>Foster Brands</strong> was huge in the state tournament and he's a 6-foot-2 veteran who will lead a group of talented junior guards led by <strong>Kenton Thalheim</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pawnee Heights – Scoring points shouldn't be a problem. Not with [player_tooltip player_id='1212165' first='Alec' last='Carlson'] back for another year. He's an experienced leader who will team with returners <strong>Davin Hamby</strong> and <strong>Dakota Ryan</strong> to try to make another run to state.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dighton – The Hornets were really young last year, led by a sophomore and a freshman. 6-foot-4 [player_tooltip player_id='1378446' first='Carson' last='Shimer'] was a double-double machine as a sophomore. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1588418' first='Daniel' last='Cramer']</strong> aveaged in double figures as a ninth grader. They'll be helped by senior <strong>Max Neeley</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Unknown:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Caldwell – There's not a lot of question about the players the Bluejays return. It's that there's so few of them. They only took six players to state last year. Seniors <strong>Teagan Thompson</strong> and <strong>Keiondre Smith</strong> are athletes. They'll need a lot of help.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->