Conference preview: The Lake is loaded... again

Every year around this time Prep Girls Hoops offers up conference previews – not all of the conferences mind you but some of the more interesting circuits in Minnesota. We’re going to do the same this year but with a little different approach. I have 8-10 leagues on my list of potential conferences to preview between now and the Breakdown Tipoff, the event marks the beginning of the high school season on Nov. 22. This time around our focus will be on the top players in the conference, not just the order of finish and team outlook. We’re all about prospects and our conference previews will be, too. Traditionally one of the last leagues to enter competition has been the Lake Conference, which annually boasts some of the top teams in the state. Last year I left the Lake for last until it essentially became a preview of the epic Wayzata vs Hopkins contest. This season I’m going to begin with the Lake, which welcomes new members St. Michael-Albertville and Buffalo to the fold. Because there are so many top prospects in the conference – a total of 48 top 100s among the four classes – it doesn’t do the Lake justice to pick just the top 10 players or something similar. Rather I thought it would be interesting to look at just how much top 100 talent there is and, more importantly, how the distribution of that talent will affect the final standings. After all, it takes a variety of ingredients to make a winning recipe but the single most important ingredient is talent. Here we offer up a likely order of finish based on the talent pool that each team has available. Scan the list and it’s obvious why Hopkins is favored to win it once again, albeit with a formidable challenge from Wayzata. I think you can toss a coin on Edina vs Minnetonka. I suppose you might argue the same Eden Prairie and STMA, but we'll give the edge to the Eagles. Hopkins On paper Hopkins has an enormous advantage with two clear #1s, a pair of joint #1s, a #2 and 13 total players in the top 100, not all of whom will see varsity minutes. It’s interesting, though, that the Royals do not have any ranked players in the Class of 2021, an anomaly to be sure. <ul> <li>Seniors – #1 Paige Bueckers (UCONN), #28 KK Adams, #34 Jaide Pressley</li> <li>Juniors – none</li> <li>Sophomores – #1 Maya Nnaji, #2 Amaya Battle, #21 Alayna Contreras, #32 Selam Maher, #73 Alicia Bates, #87 London Salberg-Thornton</li> <li>Freshmen – #T1 Taylor Woodson, #T1 Nunu Agara, #24 Kelly Boyle, #37 Jasmine Dupree</li> </ul> Wayzata Wayzata graduated a pair of pretty stout Division 1 players – Kallie Theisen, the #1 prospect in the Class of 2019 who is at South Dakota State, and highly rated point guard Mimi Schrader of Navy. That leaves the Trojans with a #2, a #4, a pair of #16s and a total of six players in the top 50. Who knows if the two freshmen - #16 Abby Krzewinski and #49 Brynn Senden will play varsity, but it is a formidable roster to be sure. <ul> <li>Seniors – #16 Annika Stewart (Nebraska), #35 Jasmine Smiley, #64 Lydia Hay (MSU-Moorhead), #85 Alivia Arnabeck (UW-LaCrosse)</li> <li>Juniors – #2 Jenna Johnson</li> <li>Sophomores – #4 Mara Braun</li> <li>Freshmen – #16 Abby Krzewinski, #49 Brynn Senden</li> </ul> Eden Prairie It’s amazing how Eden Prairie, in a very short period of time, has gone from a program with cupboards that seemed very bare, to program that is loaded with young talent. The nice thing for the Eagles is the fact that the talent is spread across the four grades. EP has 11 players in the top 100. Eight or nine of them will likely play varsity. <ul> <li>Seniors – #8 Nneka Obiazor (Youngstown State), #17 Natalie Mazurek (South Dakota)</li> <li>Juniors – #37 Katie Leisen, #54 Destinee Bursch, #78 Allison Miranda</li> <li>Sophomores – #5 Nia Holloway, #28 Myra Moorjani</li> <li>Freshmen – #6 Molly Lenz, #12 Savanna Jones, #27 Ashley Fritz, #32 Priyanka Satish</li> </ul> St. Michael-Albertville STMA has been one of the top teams in the state for a long time now but they have had difficulty getting over the hump in the post season. The Knights were in the Mississippi 8 where there wasn’t nearly as much competition as they will face in the Lake Conference. Still, STMA is a talented group with two of the premier players in the state in senior Mackenzie Kramer and freshman Tessa Johnson. The Knights have six top 100s in all. <ul> <li>Seniors – #4 Mackenzie Kramer (Lehigh), #56 Lily Tennyson (MSU-Moorhead), #66 Vanessa Alexander</li> <li>Juniors – #24 Kendall Cox</li> <li>Sophomores – #17 Emma Miller</li> <li>Freshmen – #3 Tessa Johnson</li> </ul> Edina Minnetonka and Edina is essentially a coin flip, so I'm not really picking one ahead of the other here. Both teams are kind of rebuilding but will still be competitive. The Hornets have five top 100 talents. Four are varsity mainstays. It will be interesting to see how the new coaching staff decides to utilize that quartet. <ul> <li>Seniors – none</li> <li>Juniors – #45 Caiya Wulf, #50 Allie Murphy</li> <li>Sophomores – #25 Dorothy Stotts, #27 Ella Campbell</li> <li>Freshmen – #31 Sierre Lumpkin</li> </ul> Minnetonka Minnetonka won the class 4A state championship in 2016 but the Skippers haven't been back to the big dance since. That will most likely still be the case this time around as Minnetonka has just four ranked players and only one in the top 50. They do have Emma Dasovich, however, a talented 8th grader who will no doubt be near the top of the list when we rank the 2024s one year from now. <ul> <li>Seniors – none</li> <li>Juniors – #55 Sophie Haydon, #97 Piper Terry</li> <li>Sophomores – #8 Desiree Ware. #76 Abby Grussing</li> <li>Freshmen – none</li> </ul> Buffalo Buffalo is the second program that will play in the Lake for the first time this year. The timing of their move from the Mississippi 8 couldn’t be worse as the Bison lost the two most impactful players in their program in Jordan Zrust (Mayville State) and Reese Wishart (Mary). Although there are some good young prospects only one has cracked the top 100. That would be sophomore guard Lauren Feddema, who will be relied upon for an awful lot. <ul> <li>Seniors – none</li> <li>Juniors – none</li> <li>Sophomores – #81 Lauren Feddema</li> <li>Freshmen – none</li> </ul> Top photo: 4th-ranked senior Mackenzie Kramer of St. Michael-Albertville is the top newcomer to the Lake Conference in 2019-20. (Photo courtesy of StarTribune)