Capitol-North Conference Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another day and two more conferences are getting special attention as we await the upcoming high school season. We're starting with one of my favorite conferences in the Big Rivers, then heading back towards the Madison area to peek at the Capitol-North.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lake [player_tooltip player_id='884522' first='Mills' last='']</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last season, the L-Cats were a team good enough to play at state. Lake [player_tooltip player_id='884522' first='Mills' last=''] was led by now D1 post Bella Pitta, who'll apply her craft in Nashville, Tennessee, at Lipscomb. However, the L-Cats will have plenty of kids returning to help try to recapture another Capitol-North title, which would be their sixth in a row. The two most prominent players outside of Pitta last season were the Wollin sisters, Taylor and Emily. Both Wollin's were among the leaders in scoring, rebounding, and assists for the L-Cats, and likely will be again this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Columbus</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Cardinals had their fair share of seniors graduate this past season, but one kid I'm eager to see with a more prominent role is [player_tooltip player_id='329560' first='Madison' last='Ehlenbach']. Among five Columbus kids receiving All-Conference recognition, Ehlenbach is the only one back this season. She's a better all-around scorer than people think, and I believe she could get better with a more significant offensive burden because she can score it in any way imaginable.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lakeside Lutheran</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Warriors have things they must figure out after losing four of their top six scorers from last season. Ava Stein and Katie de Galley are their two top returners, but they're likely not used to the defensive attention that comes to them early in the season. I'll be interested to see how they figure things out throughout the season and how they look in February.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Poynette</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The one name to know from this group this season will be Avalyn Albrecht. She's a newcomer standing at 6-1 who's most comfortable playing on the wing and using her speed. There's a chance she challenges for a Player of the Year award this season, but only time will tell. She'll improve this Puma group the second she steps onto campus.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lodi</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Taylor Reese and Grace Clary are sophomores that Lodi can continue to build with this season. Each had solid first seasons of high school and now has the experience they didn't at this time a year ago. Expect continued growth from this Blue Devil group.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Watertown Luther Prep</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After the graduation of now D1 sophomore Grace Schmidt, this program had a rough year, as most smaller schools would. However, [player_tooltip player_id='528124' first='Nora' last='Wendorff'] had a stellar campaign in her sophomore year with 14 points and four assists. I'd expect more than four wins from this group next season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">My Predictions</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Lake [player_tooltip player_id='884522' first='Mills' last='']</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Columbus</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Poynette</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Lodi</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Lakeside Lutheran</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Watertown Luther Prep</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list -->