Big South Conference Preview

I suspect that by now most of you know that the Big South is the merger of the old South Central (the Big South-East) and the old Southwest Conference (Big South-West). For all practical purposes, they still play separate schedules in girls basketball. The South Central was always pretty wide open. Over the past dozen years now, St. Peter and Waseca have four conference or division championships, Fairmont three, Blue Earth and New Ulm two, and even now-lowly St. James one. Nowadays, New Ulm and Waseca are Class AAA, the others AA. Last year New Ulm, St. Peter and Waseca all tied for 1st at 8-2. In 2016 the same three teams tied at 7-3. For 2018, Waseca is favored, with Fairmont and St. Peter (we think, but not New Ulm) breathing down their necks. In the Southwest, Marshall and Worthington have dominated. (They’re Class AAA, everybody else is AA.) Marshall has 7 conference or division titles in the past 12 years, Worthington has 3, and Jackson and Pipestone one each. Pipestone is the defending champ; they did not win the conference the year they won the state AA title (2007). Marshall did. But Marshall has slipped just a bit, and with Pipestone rebuilding from last year’s championship season, Worthington seems poised to slip in there for the 1st time since 2010. Marshall would seem to be the only challenger. Big South—East 1. Waseca 8-2 (8-2, tied 1st last year, lost to Holy Angels 64-47 state tournament QF) Waseca has lost guards Breanna and Emily Karsten but they return people with all of the same skills that the Karstens provided—Gus Boyer and Madison Gehloff are crack shooters and scorers, Taylor Hiller a solid 1. And Breanna Highum (5-10 junior) replaces Hallie Mercier (5-11, 2017) in the middle. There’s still not a lot of size and there’s a little less depth. But the top talent has another year under their belts and, in fact, Waseca has a pretty good shot at being a state Class AAA semi-finalist. 2. St. Peter 7-3 (8-2, tied 1st last year, lost to Glencoe-SL 76-53 in section 2AA QF) The Saints season will ride on Olivia McCabe’s recovery from an injury sustained in the sections last year. Without her, St. Peter got demolished by GSL in a game it coulda/shoulda won. Jacey Welp, Kayla Oeltjenbruns and Sienna Wiebusch can play, too, but as we found out in that section game, St. Peter needs McCabe at full strength. 3. Fairmont 6-4 (3-7, tied 4th, lost to Waterville-E-M 57-49 in Section 2AA 1st round) The Cardinals have been pretty solid through the years—23-5 before dropping to 6-14 the past 2 years. It seems their due for a rebound. Taylor Crissinger, Alli Lardy, Breanna Carter and Mallory Mosloski all provide size, while Abby DeWitt, Lexie Lunn and Brooke Hunwardson are experienced guards. 4. New Ulm 5-5 (8-2, tied 1st, lost to Waseca 61-56 in section 2AAA final) New Ulm loses Meleah Reinhart and her 27 ppg, but returns her running mate at the guards Joey Batt and her 16 ppg. They could be better—that is, better balanced—if forwards Morgan Eikinger and Iyanna Weiland (11 ppg between the a year ago) really break out. 5. Blue Earth 3-7 (3-7, tied 4th, lost to NRHEG 59-39 in section 2AA SF) The Buccaneers have power forward Caitlin Rorman and her 13 ppg but it’s not clear how much help she’s going to have. 6. St. James 1-9 (0-10, 6th, lost to NRHEG 53-23 in section 2AA 1st round) The Saints have struggled to compete for the last decade, now, and there’s no reason to think 2018 will be any different. Big South—West 1. Worthington 10-2 (9-3, tied for 2nd last year, lost to New Ulm 74-34 in section 2AAA 1st round) The Trojans have been runnerup in the Southwest or the Big South—West 4 times in 6 years now since their last title. Is this the year of the breakthrough? Maybe. They’ve got 6-0 sophomore Nyamer Diew, who played for Marshall’s state runnersup two years ago, and who scored 13 ppg last year in limited availability. Then there’s 5-11 senior Emma Thuringer who scored 12 ppg for the year, and 5-10 junior Evelyn Othow, who scored 7. So there’s pretty good size for these parts. Around the perimeter there’s Anneke Weg, Rebecca Alwal, Anna Kill, Payton Sauerbrei and Madyson Huisman, all of whom scored from 5 to 10 points. So size and depth. Nice combination. The only real issue is all those runnerup finishes. The only thing that’s really needed now is some killer instinct. This could be a very, very good team. 2. Marshall 9-3 (9-3, tied for 2nd last year, lost to Faribault 37-28 in section 2AAA 1st round) Marshall also returns some pretty good depth, and there’s a little bit of size. 5-11 senior center Whitney Schwartz, junior forward Erica Jones, junior guards Maddie Marks and Kaia Soekeer, and sophomore guard Lenai Estrada all scored 7 ppg last year. All it will take is for one of them to have a real breakout type of year. 3. Luverne 7-5 (4-8, 5th, lost to Minneota 72-38 in section 3AA 1st round) These Cards have had one winning record since 2007, but they return 4—count ‘em, 4—double figures scorers from a year ago, all of whom scored 11, as it happens. They are seniors Rachel Oftedahl, Sierra Schmuck and Joci Oye and junior Jadyn Anderson. A winning season would hardly seem to be out of reach. 4. Jackson County Central 6-6 (5-7, 4th, lost to Martin County West 58-48 in section 3AA 1st round) Jackson has had one winning record since winning a conference title in 2011 but they return three double digit scorers led by 5-4 sophomore Alaina Wolff. Seniors Molly Brinkman and Lauren Murphy also scored in double digits. But, none of them is bigger than 5-6. 5. Pipestone 4-8 (12-0, 1st, lost to Minneota 50-47 in section 3AA QF) The Arrows were 12-0 last year, and were one of Minnesota’s last unbeatens at 20-0 before losing to Tracy-Milroy-Balaton. They then had a disappointingly short run in sections. And, now, most of their firepower is gone. Sophomore guard Zoe Velde leads the way, along with senior Shelby Bloemendahl. 6. Redwood Valley 4-8 (1-11, 6th, lost to Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 76-47 in section 3AA) Redwood has had just 2 winning records in the past decade, though they were pretty recently in 2014 and 2015. They’ll be a little better with 8 contributors returning. Sydney Sommers (12 ppg) leads the way, along with 5-10 senior post Rose Frank (9.5 ppg) and 5-3 junior guard Harlee Ahrens (7 ppg). The only catch is that this same group won just once in the conference last year. 7. Windom 2-10 (2-10, 5th, lost to Pipestone 69-40 in section 3AAA 1st round) Here is yet another team that has had a long dry spell—one winning season out of the last 12. Junior forward Maurissa Isaacs and sophomore center Autumn Hauge, but two players are not enough to turn it around. All-Big South Center—Nyamer Diew, Worthington, 6-0, sophomore, 13 ppg Power Forward—Caitlin Rorman, Blue Earth, 5-10, junior, 13 ppg Small Forward—Emma Thuringer, Worthington, 5-11, senior, 12 ppg Point Guard—Joey Batt, New Ulm, 5-6, junior, 15.5 ppg Shooting Guard—Madison Gehloff, Waseca, 5-8, junior, 12 ppg 2nd Team Center—Alli Lardy, Fairmont, senior, 9.5 ppg Power Forward—Taylor Crissinger, Fairmont, junior, 7 ppg Small Forward—Rachel Oftedahl, Luverne, senior, 11 ppg Point Guard—Olivia McCabe, St. Peter, senior, 15 ppg Shooting Guard—Alaina Wolff, Jackson, 5-4, sophomore, 13 ppg 3rd Team Center—Rose Frank, Redwood, 5-10, senior, 9.5 ppg Power Forward—Sienna Wiebusch, St. Peter, senior, 8 ppg Small Forward—Erica Jones, Marshall, junior, 7 ppg Point Guard—Taylor Hiller, Waseca, 5-6, senior, 9.5 ppg Shooting Guard—Gus Boyer, Waseca, 5-7, sophomore, 9.5 ppg Stock Raisers Center—Autumn Hauge, Windom, sophomore, 7 ppg Power Forward—Paige Andries, Marshall, sophomore, 5.5 ppg Small Forward—Madyson Huisman, Worthington, sophomore, 6 ppg Point Guard—Zoe Velde, Pipestone, 5-7, sophomore, 14 ppg Shooting Guard—Lenai Estrada, Marshall, sophomore, 7 ppg