2018 in Review – Breakout Team of the Year Candidates

<strong>2018 in Review: Breakout Team of the Year</strong> <strong>4 teams increased their wins by 10 or more</strong><strong> </strong> We have identified 4 candidates for our Breakout Team of the Year award. Each of them improved their win total by at least 10 games over a year ago. In alpha order, they are Brooklyn Center, Eden Prairie, Mankato West and Stewartville. <strong>Brooklyn Center</strong> We just saw the Brooklyn Center boys playing in the state tournament for the 1^st time in 35 years, and playing very well. Good things can happen in Brooklyn Center. But lately they hadn’t happened for the Centaur girls. Their record in this decade was 26-134 (.163) going into this season. But coach Mario Reese and company really turned things around, going 16-6, with a 22 point turnaround (from a 12-point loss to a 10-point win) against Mpls. Roosevelt, and a 41-point turnaround against Mpls. Southwest (from a 55-13 loss to a 51-50 heartbreaker). Continuity helps. Players help. Now there’s a young nucleus of players who have been with the team 2 and 3 years, though they include a freshman, 2 sophomores and a junior. The sophomores lead the way, and the linchpin is post Maleah Confair. She scored 5 ppg as an 8^th grader 2 years ago, then missed last season with injuries, which contributed to their win total of just 4 games. This year she scored a team-high of 13 points. Meanwhile, sophomore guard Shamia Hudson, in her 3^rd year with the program, scored 11 ppg, and her running mate in the backcourt, junior Rachel Sulonteh, in her 2^nd year, scored 11. 9^th grader Nayeli Williams scored 6 ppg and 8^th grade Tkierah Warren added 7. That’s a healthy total of 47 points that, hopefully, will be back in the Centaurs lineup next year. There’s no reason they won’t be better yet next year, and maybe soon enough they can follow the boys back to being a tough matchup for any opponent. <strong> </strong> <strong>Eden Prairie </strong> With the unexpected departure of coach Chris Carr and his daughter before the 2016 season—and the subsequent transfer (out) of several more players—the Eagles suddenly found themselves seriously undermanned in the state’s toughest conference, the Lake. The result was an 11-43 record over the past 2 years. Expectations for 2018 were not particularly high despite the hiring of an obviously well-qualified and experienced coach in Ellen Wiese. Well, forget that. Eden Prairie lost their 1^st 2 games but fought back to 3-3. Then they started beating good teams like Moorhead, Waconia, Edina, Minnehaha, Holy Angels and Edina again. A section loss to Prior Lake was a disappointment, to be sure, but the Lakers subsequent win over Minnetonka—at Minnetonka—in the section final put that in a different light. So, all in all, an increase from 5 wins to 16—against a fiendishly challenging schedule—looks a lot like success and a promise of more. Forward Nneka Obiazor, who scored 15 ppg, returns. Centers Abby Johnson and Natalie Mazurek, who scored 9, return. Point guard Brooke Lewis and forward Kemara Watson, who scored 7, return. With only 2 seniors on this year’s roster, next year should be a good one. &nbsp; <strong>Mankato West </strong> Mankato West was the stealth state tournament entrant, the one that nobody seemed to know anything about. Well, yes, 2-guard Ashley Gustavson had impressed as a long-range shooter in summer ball. But, otherwise, who were these girls? They were and are the girls who could. Well, OK, they lost a pair at state. But they increased their win total from 11 a year ago to a nice, round 21 this year, taking 3^rd in the tough Big 9 behind Northfield and Owatonna, then defeating New Ulm and upsetting Waseca 47-37 in the section. In this case, the Scarlet’s top 2 players—Gustavson, a junior, and Holly Wiste, a sophomore, the starting guards—were joined in the starting lineup by 3 seniors, so more improvement next year is not a given. On the other hand, 8^th grade guard Lani Schoper played a terrific tournament, so there is hope. &nbsp; <strong>Stewartville</strong> Finally, out of 400-plus school, the Tigers had the biggest jump of all, from 9 wins last year to 24 this year. Most of the heavy lifting was done by freshman Erin Lamb and sophomore Lily Welch, who scored 37 ppg between them. Among their 24 victims were some names—Rochester Lourdes, Byron, Norwood Young America, Goodhue. The question here is whether Lamb, also a standout on the volleyball court, might be inclined to give up basketball at some point. We’ll just have to wait and see. &nbsp; <strong>Breakout Team of the Year</strong> So those are the candidates. And, our choice for the Breakout Team of the Year is…. Brooklyn Center. Stewartville improved the most measured in games, by 15. But the Brooklyn Center program had to cancel games two different years in the last 5 because it didn’t have enough players. Coach Mike Contreras resurrected the program and now coach Reese has helped them get over a big hump with a winning record with something to spare. Congrats to everybody at Brooklyn Center for breaking out and for being our Breakout Team of the Year. &nbsp;